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NHL Wild Card Standings 2025 - 2026

Eastern

Atlantic

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

1	Tampa Bay Lightning	22	13	7	2	28	10	69	60	+9	7-5-0	6-2-2	0-0	7-3-0	W4
2	Detroit Red Wings	23	13	9	1	27	9	69	74	-5	8-4-1	5-5-0	0-0	4-5-1	L1
3	Ottawa Senators	22	11	7	4	26	8	71	71	0	6-3-2	5-4-2	0-0	5-2-3	L1
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

Metropolitan

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

1	Carolina Hurricanes	22	14	6	2	30	10	78	65	+13	6-2-1	8-4-1	0-1	6-2-2	L1
2	New Jersey Devils	22	14	7	1	29	9	69	67	+2	8-0-1	6-7-0	0-0	5-4-1	W1
3	New York Islanders	23	13	8	2	28	9	71	66	+5	5-4-1	8-4-1	0-2	7-3-0	W1
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

Wild Card

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

1	Washington Capitals	23	12	9	2	26	11	76	63	+13	7-5-1	5-4-1	0-2	5-4-1	W1
2	Boston Bruins	24	13	11	0	26	8	75	77	-2	8-4-0	5-7-0	0-0	6-4-0	L1
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	21	10	6	5	25	10	64	58	+6	5-3-2	5-3-3	0-3	3-4-3	L2
4	Montreal Canadiens	21	11	7	3	25	6	72	76	-4	6-5-1	5-2-2	0-2	3-4-3	W1
5	Philadelphia Flyers	21	11	7	3	25	5	60	59	+1	8-3-2	3-4-1	0-0	5-3-2	L1
6	Florida Panthers	22	12	9	1	25	11	70	68	+2	8-3-1	4-6-0	0-1	6-4-0	W1
7	Columbus Blue Jackets	23	11	9	3	25	6	69	76	-7	5-3-1	6-6-2	0-1	4-3-3	L2
8	New York Rangers	24	11	11	2	24	8	61	63	-2	2-7-1	9-4-1	0-0	5-5-0	W1
9	Buffalo Sabres	22	9	9	4	22	7	71	75	-4	8-4-2	1-5-2	0-0	4-5-1	W2
10	Toronto Maple Leafs	22	9	10	3	21	6	74	82	-8	8-4-3	1-6-0	0-0	3-5-2	L2
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

Western

Central

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

1	Colorado Avalanche	22	16	1	5	37	15	88	50	+38	8-0-2	8-1-3	0-2	9-0-1	W9
2	Dallas Stars	23	14	5	4	32	11	80	65	+15	6-4-1	8-1-3	0-2	7-2-1	W1
3	Minnesota Wild	23	12	7	4	28	8	68	64	+4	7-3-3	5-4-1	0-0	8-1-1	W5
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

Pacific

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

1	Anaheim Ducks	22	14	7	1	29	9	80	69	+11	8-2-0	6-5-1	0-0	6-4-0	W1
2	Seattle Kraken	22	11	5	6	28	7	57	59	-2	6-1-3	5-4-3	0-3	5-3-2	L1
3	Los Angeles Kings	23	11	6	6	28	7	62	64	-2	2-4-3	9-2-3	0-4	6-2-2	W1
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

Wild Card

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

1	Vegas Golden Knights	22	10	5	7	27	9	68	65	+3	5-3-3	5-2-4	0-1	3-3-4	L2
2	Utah Mammoth	23	12	8	3	27	9	71	68	+3	7-2-1	5-6-2	0-0	3-4-3	W2
3	San Jose Sharks	23	11	9	3	25	5	68	72	-4	7-4-3	4-5-0	0-1	7-3-0	W1
4	Edmonton Oilers	25	10	10	5	25	5	77	95	-18	5-2-2	5-8-3	0-2	4-5-1	L1
5	Winnipeg Jets	21	12	9	0	24	10	67	59	+8	6-5-0	6-4-0	0-0	4-6-0	L2
6	Chicago Blackhawks	22	10	8	4	24	9	69	62	+7	5-4-2	5-4-2	0-1	5-4-1	L3
7	St Louis Blues	23	7	10	6	20	7	61	85	-24	3-5-4	4-5-2	0-2	3-3-4	L1
8	Vancouver Canucks	23	9	12	2	20	5	71	86	-15	3-7-1	6-5-1	0-0	3-5-2	L3
9	Calgary Flames	24	8	13	3	19	6	59	73	-14	4-4-2	4-9-1	0-2	5-4-1	W3
10	Nashville Predators	22	6	12	4	16	4	52	81	-29	5-7-2	1-5-2	0-0	2-6-2	L3
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	RW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK

The NHL wild card system is a key component of the league’s playoff format, allowing two additional teams from each conference to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After the top three teams in each of the four divisions earn automatic playoff spots, the next two teams with the highest point totals in each conference—regardless of division—are awarded wild card berths. This system ensures that strong teams in competitive divisions still have a chance to compete in the postseason, even if they don’t finish in the top three of their division.

The wild card format adds intensity to the final weeks of the NHL regular season, as teams on the playoff bubble fight for valuable points. Wild card teams typically face the top-seeded division winners in the first round, creating high-stakes matchups right from the start of the playoffs. Understanding how the NHL wild card race works is essential for fans tracking playoff scenarios, team performance, and postseason predictions. It brings additional excitement and strategic depth to the league’s already competitive structure.

Acronym	Stat Name	Definition
GP	Games Played	The total number of games the team has played during the season.
W	Wins	The number of games the team has won in regulation, overtime, or shootout.
L	Losses	The number of games the team has lost in regulation time.
OTL	Overtime Losses	The number of games the team lost in overtime or shootout. Teams earn one point for each OTL.
PTS	Points	The total number of points earned (2 for a win, 1 for an OTL, 0 for a regulation loss).
RW	Regulation Wins	The number of games the team won in regulation time (used as a playoff tiebreaker).
GF	Goals For	The total number of goals the team has scored during the season.
GA	Goals Against	The total number of goals the team has allowed during the season.
DIFF	Goal Differential	The difference between Goals For (GF) and Goals Against (GA): DIFF = GF – GA.
HOME	Home Record	The team’s win-loss-overtime loss record in home games (e.g., 18-9-3).
AWAY	Away Record	The team’s win-loss-overtime loss record in away games.
S/O	Shootout Record	The team’s record in games decided by a shootout (e.g., 3-2).
L10	Last 10 Games	The team’s performance over its last 10 games, typically shown as wins-losses-overtime losses.
STRK	Streak	The team’s current streak of wins, losses, or overtime losses (e.g., W3 for a 3-game win streak).