NHL Playoff Race Update: Who's on the Outside Looking In?
It's an underrated time of year for sports. Though the NCAA Tournament is over, we've got the start of baseball season, the NFL Draft, and the NBA postseason to look forward to.
And even though the NHL is everyone's favorite league to hate on, there are few things in sports better than the NHL playoffs.
There's only a couple of games to go for most teams, but we still don't have a clear playoff picture. The table below shows a snapshot of the race among teams who still haven't clinched a spot.
Eastern Conference | Points | Playoff Odds | Games Remaining |
---|---|---|---|
New York Islanders | 98 | 99.76% | 2 |
Detroit Red Wings | 97 | 96.88% | 2 |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 96 | 93.12% | 2 |
Boston Bruins | 95 | 69.08% | 2 |
Ottawa Senators | 95 | 41.16% | 2 |
In the East, the Penguins and Bruins, currently holding the wild card spots, have higher odds than Ottawa in getting in. Unfortunately for the Sens, despite a big win over Pittsburgh earlier in the week, their two remaining games aren't against the Penguins and Bruins, so they won't be able to gain ground in quicker fashion. The extra point Pittsburgh got in that game is mostly the difference in odds, and why they're almost a lock to make it, barring a huge collapse (which, with the current Penguins team, could happen).
Western Conference | Points | Playoff Odds | Games Remaining |
---|---|---|---|
Winnipeg Jets | 96 | 93.08% | 2 |
Calgary Flames | 95 | 85.12% | 2 |
Los Angeles Kings | 93 | 21.80% | 2 |
Out west, the Kings can only catch the Flames and the Jets. Tonight, however, Los Angeles and Calgary will face off in a huge battle -- if the Kings end up losing in regulation, the season is over.
For our up-to-date Stanley Cup odds, check out the following table, which highlights our top-five teams.
Rank | Cup Odds | nERD | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York Rangers | 14.60% | 0.65 |
2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 12.04% | 0.51 |
3 | St. Louis Blues | 10.84% | 0.57 |
4 | Chicago Blackhawks | 8.72% | 0.54 |
5 | Washington Capitals | 7.00% | 0.39 |
For more, check out our power rankings.