Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Canadiens have another chance to clinch berth

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily look at the races for the 2025 NHL postseason.

There are two days left in the regular season and there is one playoff spot that needs to be determined.

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

Here are the Stanley Cup Playoffs clinching scenarios for April 16:

The Montreal Canadiens will clinch a playoff berth:

If they get at least one point against the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; RDS, SN1, SNE, SNO, FDSNSO)

On Tap

There are six games on the NHL schedule for Wednesday, one with playoff implications:

Carolina Hurricanes at Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; RDS, SN1, SNE, SNO, FDSNSO)

After 81 regular-season games and three missed chances to clinch a playoff berth, the Canadiens (39-31-11) control their own destiny for one more night. As long as they don’t lose to the Hurricanes in regulation, they are going to the postseason to face the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round. If they do lose in regulation, they will have to sweat out the Columbus Blue Jackets’ game Thursday against the New York Islanders, where a Columbus regulation win would knock Montreal out. The Canadiens and Blue Jackets each have 29 regulation victories, which is the first tiebreaker; Montreal owns the next one, which is regulation/overtime wins (37/33).

7 of 8 matchups set

The 2024-25 regular season will be the first under the 16-team playoff format (since 1979-80) in which three teams clinched a playoff berth in their final game of the season; the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues each did so Tuesday and will be joined by either the Canadiens or Blue Jackets. Seven of the eight first-round playoff matchups are set, and the eighth will be the Capitals against either Montreal or Columbus.

Eastern Conference

(1A) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (WC1) Ottawa Senators
(2A) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3A) Florida Panthers
(1M) Washington Capitals vs. (WC2) Montreal Canadiens/Columbus Blue Jackets
(2M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3M) New Jersey Devils

Western Conference

(1P) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) Minnesota Wild
(2P) Los Angeles Kings vs. (3P) Edmonton Oilers
(1C) Winnipeg Jets vs. (WC2) St. Louis Blues
(2C) Dallas Stars vs. (3C) Colorado Avalanche

About last night

There were 10 games on the schedule Tuesday, six that initially had playoff implications:

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Buffalo Sabres 0: Auston Matthews scored his 400th NHL goal for the Maple Leafs (51-26-4), who won their first division title since 2000. In winning the Atlantic Division, Toronto is the No. 2 seed in the East and will face Ottawa in the first round.

Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Philadelphia Flyers 0: Jet Greaves made 29 saves, and the Blue Jackets (39-33-9) stayed in the hunt for a playoff spot for at least another night by shutting out the Flyers. Columbus has won five in a row to move within two points of Montreal for the second wild card in the East. For the Blue Jackets to qualify, they need the Canadiens to lose in regulation to the Hurricanes on Wednesday, then they must defeat the Islanders in regulation Thursday.

Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Florida Panthers 1: In a preview of their first-round series, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and the Lightning (47-26-8) locked up the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic with a win against the Panthers (47-31-4). The two Florida teams will meet in the first round for the second straight season; the Panthers won in five games last season. Tampa Bay will have home-ice advantage in the series this time around.

Minnesota Wild 3, Anaheim Ducks 2 (OT): Joel Eriksson Ek scored the game-tying goal with 22 seconds left in regulation to get the game to the extra session and clinch a playoff berth for the Wild (45-30-7). That one point got Minnesota the first wild card in the West and set up a first-round matchup with Vegas. The Wild completed the win with Marc-Andre Fleury going in goal for overtime in what was his last regular-season game in the NHL. Matt Boldy scored with 18 seconds left in OT to seal the win.

St. Louis Blues 6, Utah Hockey Club 1: The Blues (44-30-8) scored four times in the first period to help punch a postseason ticket for the first time since 2022. They are the second wild card in the West and will face the Jets in the first round.

Calgary Flames 5, Vegas Golden Knights 4 (SO): The Flames (40-27-14) entered Tuesday still in contention but were eliminated with no outside help from Utah and/or the Ducks. Calgary could finish with the same amount of points as St. Louis (96), but the Blues own the first tiebreaker with two more regulation wins (32/30).