Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Sharks host Oilers 1 point out of 2nd wild card

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

There are nine days left in the regular season and the races for playoff spots and seeding are red-hot. 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.

Clinching scenarios

There are no playoff clinching scenarios Wednesday.

On Tap

There are three games on the NHL schedule Wednesday, all with playoff implications:

Buffalo Sabres at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, MSG)

The Sabres (47-23-8) can regain sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with a win against the Rangers (33-36-9) at Madison Square Garden. Buffalo is in a three-way tie for first with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens. Each has 102 points with four games remaining. The Lightning and Canadiens do not play Wednesday. The Rangers (33-36-9) are trying to close strong. They have won two in a row and five of six, all at home. This is their final home game of the season.

Washington Capitals at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, MNMT)

The Capitals (39-30-9) are trying to stay alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but they're almost in absolute must-win territory. Washington is five points out of a playoff spot with four games remaining. They are chasing both the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division and the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card from the East. The Flyers and Senators each have 92 points. The Capitals, with 87, also trail the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, each with 89. Rookie forward Ilya Protas will make his NHL debut for the Capitals. The younger brother of Washington forward Aliaksei Protas was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Monday. Toronto (32-31-14) is home after losing three of four on a four-game road trip.

Edmonton Oilers at San Jose Sharks (10 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SNW, SN1, TVAS)

Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini on opposite sides headline a key matchup in the Pacific Division. Linemates for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, McDavid, the Oilers center, and Celebrini, the Sharks center, are the main attractions, but the standings take precedence over the two names at the top of the marquee. The Oilers (39-29-10) are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday and are tied for first in the Pacific with the Vegas Golden Knights, each with 88 points and four games to play, with Edmonton holding the regulation wins tiebreaker (30-28). The Sharks (37-32-7) are three points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card from the Western Conference, but San Jose has six games remaining whereas Nashville has four. The Los Angeles Kings are also in the Sharks' way with 83 points and five games left.

If playoffs started Wednesday

Western Conference

(1P) Edmonton Oilers vs. (WC1) Utah Mammoth

(2P) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (3P) Anaheim Ducks

(1C) Colorado Avalanche vs. (WC2) Nashville Predators

(2C) Dallas Stars vs. (3C) Minnesota Wild

Eastern Conference

(1A) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins 

(2A) Buffalo Sabres vs. (3A) Montreal Canadiens 

(1M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC2) Ottawa Senators

(2M) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (3M) Philadelphia Flyers

About last night

There were 11 games on the NHL schedule Tuesday, all with playoff implications:

Philadelphia Flyers 5, New Jersey Devils 1: The Flyers won their third straight game and pulled three points ahead of the idle Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division. Trevor Zegras scored two goals, both in the first 3:38 of the game, the second fastest two goals to begin a game in Flyers history behind Brian Propp (1:58 on Feb. 27, 1982). Philadelphia is now four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place. The Penguins, Flyers and Islanders each have four games remaining. The Devils were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

Ottawa Senators 6, Tampa Bay Lightning 2: The Senators outscored the Lightning 5-1 in the third period to win at Canadian Tire Centre, extending their lead for the second wild card from the East to two points. The Lightning failed to pull ahead in the race for first in the Atlantic Division and instead finished the night in a three-way tie with the idle Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens. Tampa Bay lost its second straight game and third in five.

Montreal Canadiens 4, Florida Panthers 3 (SO): The Canadiens made it a three-way tie for first in the Atlantic with the come-from-behind shootout win at Bell Centre coupled with Tampa Bay's regulation loss in Ottawa. Montreal has won nine of 10. Florida is eliminated from playoff contention.

Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Detroit Red Wings 4 (SO): Zach Werenski scored a goal, assisted on Adam Fantilli's late game-tying goal, and scored the shootout-deciding goal while playing a game-high 33:26 to help the Blue Jackets end a six-game skid (0-5-1) and keep pace in the playoff race. They're two points behind the Flyers and two behind the Senators. The Red Wings lost its third straight game and its seventh in nine games. They were 17 seconds away from a regulation win but instead lost a point in the standings to the Senators, falling to three points behind them for the second wild card.

Carolina Hurricanes 6, Boston Bruins 5 (OT): Jaccob Slavin scored in overtime and the Hurricanes clinched first place in the Metropolitan Division by defeating the Bruins at Lenovo Center. Carolina built a 5-3 lead in the second period by scoring three goals in a span of 3:16, but the Bruins came back with goals from Morgan Geekie at 18:50 of the second period and Pavel Zacha's 30th of the season at 12:33 of the third. Carolina became the first team to clinch first place in its division this season. 

Colorado Avalanche 3, St. Louis Blues 1: The Avalanche clinched first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference by defeating the Blues at Enterprise Center, which also locked in the Dallas Stars against the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round. Colorado won the 15th regular-season division title in its history and fifth regular-season conference title. The Blues failed to keep pace in the Western Conference wild card race. They are six points out with five games remaining.

Dallas Stars 4, Calgary Flames 3 (OT): Wyatt Johnston's power-play goal at 3:59 of overtime was the difference in the Stars' come-from-behind win against the Flames at American Airlines Center. The Stars were down 3-1 when Zayne Parekh scored a power-play goal 26 seconds into the third, but Johnston made it 3-2 at 1:16 and Jason Robertson tied it 3-3 at 4:51. Dallas outshot Calgary 10-0 in overtime. Jake Oettinger finished with 17 saves for the Stars, who stayed two points ahead of the Wild for second in the Central Division. The Flames were eliminated from playoff contention when the Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks.

Minnesota Wild 5, Seattle Kraken 2: Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and two assists, and Marcus Johansson scored his 200th NHL goal to help the Wild win their fourth game in a row and keep pace with the Stars ahead of their game in Dallas on Thursday. Brandon Montour and Adam Larsson scored for the Kraken, who are on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference, nine points out of a playoff spot with five games remaining.

Utah Mammoth 6, Edmonton Oilers 5 (OT): Clayton Keller's power-play goal 33 seconds into overtime was the difference when the Mammoth came back three times to win their fourth game in a row. They are in position to be the first wild card into the playoffs from the West with a four-point lead on the Predators. McDavid had a goal and an assist to regain the NHL scoring lead with 128 points, one more than Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who passed him earlier in the night, but the Oilers lost their second straight game. Despite being tied in points with the Vegas, Edmonton still holds the top spot in the Pacific Division.

Vegas Golden Knights 2, Vancouver Canucks 1: The Golden Knights won their fourth straight game since John Tortorella took over for Bruce Cassidy as coach and pulled into a points tie with the Oilers. They each have 88 points, one more than the Anaheim Ducks, and all three have four games remaining.

Nashville Predators 5, Anaheim Ducks 0: Justus Annunen made 43 saves, including 17 in the third period, for the Predators' first shutout this season. Nashville moved one point ahead of idle Los Angeles for the second wild card and is 3-0-1 in its past four. The Ducks fell to third in the Pacific Division with their sixth straight loss (0-5-1) and have four games remaining.