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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

2	Detroit Red Wings	46	27	15	4	58	20	145	142	+3	15-8-1	12-7-3	0-2	7-2-1	W3
3	Tampa Bay Lightning	43	27	13	3	57	22	153	114	+39	12-9-0	15-4-3	0-1	9-1-0	W9
1	Montreal Canadiens	45	25	14	6	56	16	151	148	+3	12-10-1	13-4-5	0-4	6-2-2	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	45	28	14	3	59	19	155	135	+20	16-8-1	12-6-2	0-2	6-4-0	W4
2	New York Islanders	45	25	15	5	55	16	134	125	+9	14-8-2	11-7-3	0-5	6-2-2	W1
3	Philadelphia Flyers	43	22	13	8	52	15	132	127	+5	12-6-5	10-7-3	0-3	5-3-2	L2
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	Buffalo Sabres	43	24	15	4	52	18	140	134	+6	14-5-2	10-10-2	0-0	9-1-0	W3
2	Washington Capitals	45	23	16	6	52	21	148	130	+18	13-8-3	10-8-3	0-5	4-4-2	W1
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	43	21	13	9	51	17	140	134	+6	10-7-5	11-6-4	0-5	7-3-0	L1
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	44	22	15	7	51	17	148	140	+8	16-5-5	6-10-2	0-1	7-1-2	W3
5	Boston Bruins	45	24	19	2	50	17	151	146	+5	14-8-1	10-11-1	0-1	4-4-2	W2
6	Florida Panthers	44	23	18	3	49	20	135	142	-7	14-9-3	9-9-0	0-1	4-5-1	W1
7	New Jersey Devils	44	22	20	2	46	15	115	137	-22	11-8-2	11-12-0	0-0	3-6-1	L3
8	New York Rangers	46	20	20	6	46	13	120	135	-15	5-11-4	15-9-2	0-0	3-5-2	L3
9	Ottawa Senators	44	20	19	5	45	15	141	148	-7	10-9-3	10-10-2	0-0	3-6-1	L4
10	Columbus Blue Jackets	44	18	19	7	43	11	132	151	-19	9-7-4	9-12-3	0-1	4-5-1	L4
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	44	33	4	7	73	30	179	99	+80	19-0-2	14-4-5	0-4	8-2-0	W2
2	Dallas Stars	45	26	10	9	61	22	157	129	+28	12-6-3	14-4-6	0-3	3-3-4	L1
3	Minnesota Wild	46	26	11	9	61	18	146	125	+21	13-4-6	13-7-3	0-3	4-2-4	L1
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	Vegas Golden Knights	42	19	11	12	50	14	133	132	+1	9-6-6	10-5-6	0-5	3-5-2	W2
2	Edmonton Oilers	44	22	16	6	50	17	149	148	+1	11-5-3	11-11-3	0-2	6-4-0	W2
3	Seattle Kraken	43	20	15	8	48	14	119	126	-7	10-7-5	10-8-3	0-4	7-1-2	L2
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	San Jose Sharks	44	23	18	3	49	12	141	155	-14	13-8-3	10-10-0	0-1	6-4-0	W3
2	Utah Mammoth	45	22	20	3	47	16	137	127	+10	11-7-1	11-13-2	0-0	6-4-0	W3
3	Los Angeles Kings	43	18	15	10	46	12	115	122	-7	7-9-5	11-6-5	0-5	4-5-1	L2
4	Chicago Blackhawks	45	19	19	7	45	15	129	142	-13	10-9-4	9-10-3	0-3	6-3-1	W1
5	Anaheim Ducks	45	21	21	3	45	13	150	168	-18	12-8-1	9-13-2	0-0	1-8-1	L9
6	Nashville Predators	44	20	20	4	44	14	122	146	-24	11-10-2	9-10-2	0-0	6-4-0	L1
7	St Louis Blues	45	17	20	8	42	17	112	157	-45	10-9-5	7-11-3	0-2	4-5-1	L2
8	Calgary Flames	45	19	22	4	42	15	116	135	-19	12-7-2	7-15-2	0-2	5-5-0	W1
9	Winnipeg Jets	43	16	22	5	37	14	126	135	-9	9-9-3	7-13-2	0-1	1-6-3	W1
10	Vancouver Canucks	44	16	23	5	37	10	121	158	-37	4-12-3	12-11-2	0-1	2-6-2	L6
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).