Updated 2025 NHL Playoff Standings, Picture, Projected Bracket and Races to Watch
The Montreal Canadiens provided a bit more clarity to the tightest NHL playoff race on Saturday night.
The Canadiens moved four points clear of the New York Rangers for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Rangers and three other chasers are running out of time to catch Montreal before the Canadiens and Ottawa Senators clinch the two wild-card positions.
The St. Louis Blues' 12-game winning streak has taken most of the drama out of the Western Conference wild-card race.
St. Louis is now up to 93 points and the Minnesota Wild own a four-point advantage over the Calgary Flames for the second position.
The biggest race to watch could be the Pacific Division, where the Los Angeles Kings are only three points adrift of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
- Toronto - 98 points
- Tampa Bay - 94
- Florida - 92
Metropolitan Division
- Washington - 107
- Carolina - 96
- New Jersey - 89
Wild-Card Race
- Ottawa - 88
- Montreal - 83
- New York Rangers - 79
- Detroit - 77
- Columbus - 77
- New York Islanders - 76
Montreal is slowly putting the East wild-card race to bed.
The Canadiens picked up another win on Saturday to open up the gap to four points.
The New York Rangers' loss to the New Jersey Devils helped facilitate the increase the standings as well.
Montreal can further complicate matters for the Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders with a Sunday win over the Nashville Predators.
Columbus, Detroit and the Islanders all have to play desperate on Sunday, but they all could potentially come up short.
The Islanders host the Washington Capitals and a heavily motivated Alex Ovechkin looking for his record-breaking 895th-career goal.
Columbus visits the Ottawa Senators and Detroit is home against the Florida Panthers.
Losses wouldn't officially eliminate any of those teams, but the failure to win will put them in a dire situation, especially if Montreal wins on the road.
Florida could potentially move back level with the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic with a win over Detroit.
The Toronto Maple Leafs seem to have control of the Atlantic for now, so Tampa Bay and Florida are fighting to see who will host their first-round series.
Western Conference
Central Division
- Winnipeg - 108
- Dallas - 104
- Colorado - 98
Pacific Division
- Vegas - 100
- Los Angeles - 97
- Edmonton - 93
Wild-Card Race
- St. Louis - 93
- Minnesota - 89
- Calgary - 85
- Vancouver - 83
- Utah - 82
St. Louis' winning streak has essentially clinched the first wild-card spot for it.
The Blues are not officially locked into a playoff spot, but that feels like a formality at this point with a four-point edge over Minnesota.
Minnesota would love to get a point against the Dallas Stars on Sunday, but that may be tough against a Dallas team in need of a bounce-back after a surprising Saturday loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Wild still have a nice buffer over the Calgary Flames and they have four games left against teams beneath them in the standings, including Calgary.
The most drama left in the West is in the Pacific Division, where the Kings are trying to catch the Golden Knights for the division title.
The Kings beat a short-handed Edmonton Oilers side on Saturday and can make up more ground in home games versus the Seattle Kraken and Anaheim Ducks this week.
Vegas has four road games left in its final six, but two home games are easy against Seattle and Nashville.
The downfall of winning the Pacific, though, is that team likely has to face the Blues in the first round.