SPORTS

NHL playoff standings: Must-win game for the Panthers?

ByTim Kavanagh ESPN logo

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

It's a typically light Wednesday schedule in the NHL this evening, with only three games on the slate. One of them pits a team that just clinched a playoff berth -- the Toronto Maple Leafs, who appear destined for a first-round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning -- against one that is trying to claw its way back into a wild-card spot, the Florida Panthers (7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+).

Heading into the game, the Panthers are three points behind -- and four regulation wins ahead -- the Pittsburgh Penguins for wild card No. 2, and six points and two regulation wins behind the New York Islanders for wild card No. 1.

Following Wednesday night's clash with the Leafs, it's a string of lottery teams -- at the Montreal Canadiens, at the Columbus Blue Jackets, then home for the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators before a game at the Washington Capitals. Following that quintet of games, they'll close out at home against the Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes, both of whom are already well set in their playoff positions.

Will they pull it off? FiveThirtyEight's model is skeptical, giving the Panthers a 26% chance of making the playoffs, compared to 90% for the Isles and 71% for the Penguins.

As we enter the final stretch of the regular season, it's time to check all the playoff races -- along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2023 NHL draft lottery.

Note: Playoff chances are via FiveThirtyEight.

Jump ahead:

Current playoff matchups

Today's games

Last night's scores

Expanded standings

Race for No. 1 pick

Current playoff matchups

Eastern Conference

A1 Boston Bruins vs. WC2 Pittsburgh Penguins

A2 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3 Tampa Bay Lightning

M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC1 New York Islanders

M2 New Jersey Devils vs. M3 New York Rangers

Western Conference

C1 Minnesota Wild vs. WC1 Seattle Kraken

C2 Colorado Avalanche vs. C3 Dallas Stars

P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC2 Winnipeg Jets

P2 Los Angeles Kings vs. P3 Edmonton Oilers

Wednesday's games

Note: All times Eastern. All games not on ESPN, TNT or NHL Network are available via NHL Power Play, which is included in an ESPN+ subscription (local blackout restrictions apply).

Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m.

New York Islanders at Washington Capitals, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche, 10 p.m. (TNT)

Tuesday's scoreboard

Watch "In the Crease" on ESPN+ for highlights from every game.

Nashville Predators 2, Boston Bruins 1

Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Carolina Hurricanes 0

Detroit Red Wings 7, Pittsburgh Penguins 4

New York Rangers 6, Columbus Blue Jackets 2

Philadelphia Flyers 3, Montreal Canadiens 2

St. Louis Blues 6, Vancouver Canucks 5 (OT)

Dallas Stars 4, Chicago Blackhawks 1

Calgary Flames 2, Los Angeles Kings 1

Edmonton Oilers 7, Vegas Golden Knights 4

San Jose Sharks 3, Winnipeg Jets 0

Expanded standings

Atlantic Division

y - Boston Bruins

Points: 119

Regulation wins: 49

Playoff position: A1

Games left: 8

Points pace: 132

Next game: vs. CBJ (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 100%

Tragic number: N/A

x - Toronto Maple Leafs

Points: 97

Regulation wins: 37

Playoff position: A2

Games left: 9

Points pace: 109

Next game: vs. FLA (Wednesday)

Playoff chances: 100%

Tragic number: N/A

Tampa Bay Lightning

Points: 92

Regulation wins: 35

Playoff position: A3

Games left: 7

Points pace: 101

Next game: vs. WSH (Thursday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Florida Panthers

Points: 79

Regulation wins: 31

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 88

Next game: @ TOR (Wednesday)

Playoff chances: 26%

Tragic number: 14

Buffalo Sabres

Points: 77

Regulation wins: 27

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 9

Points pace: 87

Next game: vs. NYR (Friday)

Playoff chances: 6%

Tragic number: 14

Ottawa Senators

Points: 77

Regulation wins: 29

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 85

Next game: vs. PHI (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 4%

Tragic number: 12

Detroit Red Wings

Points: 73

Regulation wins: 25

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 9

Points pace: 82

Next game: vs. CAR (Thursday)

Playoff chances:<1%

Tragic number: 10

e - Montreal Canadiens

Points: 66

Regulation wins: 20

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 7

Points pace: 72

Next game: vs. FLA (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 0%

Tragic number: E

Metropolitan Division

x - Carolina Hurricanes

Points: 103

Regulation wins: 35

Playoff position: M1

Games left: 9

Points pace: 116

Next game: @ DET (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 100%

Tragic number: N/A

x - New Jersey Devils

Points: 100

Regulation wins: 34

Playoff position: M2

Games left: 8

Points pace: 111

Next game: vs. NYR (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 100%

Tragic number: N/A

x - New York Rangers

Points: 98

Regulation wins: 34

Playoff position: M3

Games left: 8

Points pace: 109

Next game: @ NJ (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 100%

Tragic number: N/A

New York Islanders

Points: 85

Regulation wins: 33

Playoff position: WC1

Games left: 7

Points pace: 93

Next game: @ WSH (Wednesday)

Playoff chances: 90%

Tragic number: N/A

Pittsburgh Penguins

Points: 82

Regulation wins: 27

Playoff position: WC2

Games left: 8

Points pace: 91

Next game: vs. NSH (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 71%

Tragic number: N/A

Washington Capitals

Points: 76

Regulation wins: 26

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 84

Next game: vs. NYI (Wednesday)

Playoff chances: 2%

Tragic number: 11

Philadelphia Flyers

Points: 70

Regulation wins: 26

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 9

Points pace: 79

Next game: @ OTT (Thursday)

Playoff chances:<1%

Tragic number: 7

e - Columbus Blue Jackets

Points: 53

Regulation wins: 15

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 9

Points pace:60

Next game: @ BOS (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 0%

Tragic number: E

Central Division

Minnesota Wild

Points: 95

Regulation wins: 31

Playoff position: C1

Games left: 8

Points pace: 105

Next game: @ COL (Wednesday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Colorado Avalanche

Points: 94

Regulation wins: 31

Playoff position: C2

Games left: 9

Points pace: 106

Next game: vs. MIN (Wednesday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Dallas Stars

Points: 94

Regulation wins: 33

Playoff position: C3

Games left: 8

Points pace: 104

Next game: @ ARI (Friday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Winnipeg Jets

Points: 85

Regulation wins: 31

Playoff position: WC2

Games left: 7

Points pace: 93

Next game: vs. DET (Friday)

Playoff chances: 56%

Tragic number: N/A

Nashville Predators

Points: 82

Regulation wins: 27

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 9

Points pace: 92

Next game: @ PIT (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 21%

Tragic number: 16

St. Louis Blues

Points: 74

Regulation wins: 25

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 82

Next game: @ CHI (Thursday)

Playoff chances:<1%

Tragic number: 6

e - Arizona Coyotes

Points: 67

Regulation wins: 20

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 7

Points pace: 73

Next game: vs. DAL (Friday)

Playoff chances: 0%

Tragic number: E

e - Chicago Blackhawks

Points: 54

Regulation wins: 16

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 60

Next game: vs. STL (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 0%

Tragic number: E

Pacific Division

Vegas Golden Knights

Points: 98

Regulation wins: 34

Playoff position: P1

Games left: 8

Points pace: 109

Next game: @ SJ (Thursday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Los Angeles Kings

Points: 96

Regulation wins: 33

Playoff position: P2

Games left: 8

Points pace: 106

Next game: @ EDM (Thursday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Edmonton Oilers

Points: 95

Regulation wins: 39

Playoff position: P3

Games left: 7

Points pace: 104

Next game: vs. LA (Thursday)

Playoff chances:>99%

Tragic number: N/A

Seattle Kraken

Points: 88

Regulation wins: 31

Playoff position: WC1

Games left: 9

Points pace: 99

Next game: vs. ANA (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 98%

Tragic number: N/A

Calgary Flames

Points: 83

Regulation wins: 28

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 7

Points pace: 91

Next game: @ VAN (Friday)

Playoff chances: 25%

Tragic number: 13

Vancouver Canucks

Points: 74

Regulation wins: 22

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 82

Next game: vs. CGY (Friday)

Playoff chances:<1%

Tragic number: 6

e - Anaheim Ducks

Points: 56

Regulation wins: 13

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 62

Next game: @ SEA (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 0%

Tragic number: E

e - San Jose Sharks

Points: 55

Regulation wins: 15

Playoff position: N/A

Games left: 8

Points pace: 61

Next game: vs. VGK (Thursday)

Playoff chances: 0%

Tragic number: E

Y -- Clinched division; X -- Clinched playoff berth; E -- Eliminated from playoff contention

Race for the No. 1 pick

The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team might move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Connor Bedard, who has been lauded as a generational talent.