Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Sabres maintain Atlantic lead on Canadiens

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily look at the races for the 2026 NHL postseason.

There are seven days left in the regular season and the races in each of the four divisions are tight. The top three teams in each of the four divisions and the next two highest-place finishers in each conference reach the playoffs.

Here is a look at the NHL standings and everything else that could impact the playoff picture.

There are no games on the NHL schedule Friday.

If playoffs started Friday

Western Conference

(1P) Edmonton Oilers vs. (WC1) Utah Mammoth
(2P) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (3P) Anaheim Ducks
(1C) Colorado Avalanche vs. (WC2) Los Angeles Kings
(2C) Dallas Stars vs. (3C) Minnesota Wild

Eastern Conference

(1A) Buffalo Sabres vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins
(2A) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3A) Tampa Bay Lightning
(1M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC2) Ottawa Senators
(2M) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (3M) Philadelphia Flyers

About last night

There were 14 games on the NHL schedule Thursday, each with playoff implications: 

Colorado Avalanche 3, Calgary Flames 1: Nathan MacKinnon scored his League-leading 52nd goal of the season and had two assists to help the Avalanche clinch the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the team with the NHL’s best regular-season record. Martin Necas also had a goal and two assists for Colorado (52-16-10), which won the Presidents’ Trophy three previous times (1996-97, 2000-01, 2020-21). Calgary (32-37-9) had previously been eliminated from playoff contention.

Pittsburgh Penguins 5, New Jersey Devils 2: Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby had two assists as the Penguins (41-22-16) clinched a Stanley Cup berth for the first time since 2022. Pittsburgh, 5-1-0 in its past six games, also clinched second place in the Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage in the first round when the third-place Philadelphia Flyers lost 6-3 at the Detroit Red Wings. The Carolina Hurricanes have already clinched first in the Metropolitan. The Devils (40-36-3) had previously been eliminated from playoff contention.

Utah Mammoth 4, Nashville Predators 1: Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther each had a goal and an assist for the Mammoth, who clinched a playoff berth for the first time when the Anaheim Ducks defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-1 later Thursday. Clayton Keller had three assists and Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for the Mammoth (42-30-6), who have won five in a row and hold the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, five points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. Erik Haula scored the lone goal for the Predators (37-32-10), who dropped one point behind the Kings for the second wild card with one fewer game remaining.

Vancouver Canucks 4, Los Angeles Kings 1: Adrian Kempe scored two goals to help the Kings leapfrog over the Predators back into the second wild card from the West. Los Angeles (33-26-19), which has won three in a row and is 5-1-1 in its past seven games, moved one point ahead of Nashville with four games remaining and has a game in hand on the Predators. Vancouver (22-48-8) was the first team eliminated from playoff contention.

Dallas Stars 5, Minnesota Wild 4: Jason Robertson snapped a 4-4 tie at 10:35 of the third period as the Stars strengthened their hold on second place in the Central Division in this first-round playoff preview. Dallas (47-20-12) overcame deficits of 3-1 and 4-3 to move four points ahead of third-place Minnesota (45-22-12) with each team having three games remaining. The Stars and Wild already are locked into facing each other in the first round with home-ice advantage still to be determined.

Detroit Red Wings 6, Philadelphia Flyers 3: Moritz Seider tied the team record for points by a defenseman with an NHL career-high five (one goal, four assists) to spark the Red Wings to a much-needed victory to remain three points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Dylan Larkin had a hat trick and an assist for Detroit (41-29-9), which won for just the third time in 10 games (3-6-1). Rookie Porter Martone had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (40-27-12), which lost for the first time in four games and had its lead for third in the Metropolitan cut to one point by the New York Islanders.

New York Islanders 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 3: The Islanders ended a four-game losing streak in their first game under Peter DeBoer, who replaced Patrick Roy as coach on Sunday, and climbed within one point of the Flyers for third in the Metropolitan. Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist, and Tony DeAngelo had two assists for New York (43-31-5), which also remained three points behind Ottawa for the second wild card from the East. The Maple Leafs (32-33-14), who lost their fourth straight (0-3-1), had previously been eliminated from playoff contention.

Ottawa Senators 5, Florida Panthers 1:  Fabian Zetterlund scored two goals, and Ottawa won its third straight game to pull within two points of the idle Boston Bruins for the first wild card from the East. The Senators (42-27-10) also maintained their three-point lead on the Red Wings and Islanders for the second wild card. The Panthers (37-38-4), who previously had been eliminated from playoff contention, lost their fourth in a row (0-3-1). 

Buffalo Sabres 5, Columbus Blue Jackets 0: Colten Ellis made 37 saves to earn his first NHL shutout and keep the Sabres in first in the Atlantic Division. Josh Doan scored twice for Buffalo (49-23-8), which won its third straight to remain two points ahead of the second-place Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic and move four points ahead of the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canadiens and Lightning each have played one fewer game than the Sabres, who remained two points back of the Hurricanes for the Eastern Conference lead. The Blue Jackets (39-28-12), 1-6-1 in their past eight games, remain two points behind the Flyers for third in the Metropolitan and fall four points behind the Senators for the second wild card from the East.

Montreal Canadiens 2, Tampa Bay Lightning 1: Cole Caufieldscored his 50th goal of the season and Juraj Slafkovsky scored his 30th goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie with 1:04 remaining in the third period for the Canadiens in this potential first-round playoff matchup. Montreal (47-22-10) won for the 10th time in 11 games to move two points ahead of Tampa Bay (48-25-6) for second in the Atlantic and stay two points behind first-place Buffalo. Caufield is the Canadiens' first 50-goal scorer since Stephane Richer in 1989-90. Darren Raddysh scored with 1:51 remaining in the third period to tie the score 1-1 for the Lightning, who lost their third straight. 

Carolina Hurricanes 7, Chicago Blackhawks 2: Logan Stankoven had two goals and an assist for the Hurricanes, who maintained their two-point lead on the Sabres for first in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand. Defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield and forwards Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov each were rested with undisclosed injuries for Carolina (51-22-6), which is 5-1-0 in its past six and clinched the Metropolitan Division with a 6-5 overtime victory against Boston on Tuesday. The Blackhawks (28-37-14), who are 1-6-1 in their past eight games, have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Winnipeg Jets 3, St. Louis Blues 2: Alex Iafallo, Josh Morrissey and Jonathan Toews scored to help the Jets keep pace in the race for the second wild card in the West. Winnipeg (35-31-12), which has won three straight and seven of nine, is three points behind the Los Angeles for the second wild card with each team having four games remaining. Dylan Holloway had a goal and an assist for the Blues (33-33-12), who have lost four of six (2-3-1) to fall seven points behind the Kings with four games remaining.

Anaheim Ducks 6, San Jose Sharks 1: John Carlson scored his first NHL hat trick and the Ducks snapped a six-game slide to climb within one point of first place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim (42-32-5) was 0-5-1 in its previous six but pulled into a tie in points with the Vegas Golden Knights for second in the Pacific, one point behind the Edmonton Oilers. Vegas holds the regulation wins tiebreaker on Anaheim (28-25) with each team having three games remaining. Shakir Mukhamadullin scored the lone goal for the Sharks (37-34-7), who lost for the third time in four games to fall four points behind the Kings for the second wild card in the West.

Seattle Kraken 4, Vegas Golden Knights 3 (SO): The Golden Knights let a 3-1 third period lead slip away and lost for the first time since John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as coach (4-0-1). Vegas (36-26-17) still got a point to pull within one of Edmonton for the Pacific lead and keep its hold on second via tiebreaker on Anaheim. Berkly Catton and Bobby McMann scored third-period goals and Catton scored the deciding goal in the shootout to keep the Kraken mathematically alive for the playoffs. Seattle (33-34-11) trails Los Angeles by eight points for the second wild card in the West with four games remaining.