Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Senators look to move closer to East wild card

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

There are 25 days left in the regular season and the races for playoff spots and seeding are heating up. 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.

On Tap

There is one game on the NHL schedule Monday, and it has playoff implications:

Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers (7:30 p.m. ET; Prime, RDS)

The Senators (36-24-9) are 13-3-2 in their past 18 games and can move within two points of the New York Islanders for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with a victory against the Rangers (28-33-9). Ottawa holds two games in hand on the Islanders. Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad will play career Game No. 1,000, fittingly against a Senators team that made him the No. 6 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.

If playoffs started Monday

Western Conference

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

Eastern Conference

(1A) Buffalo Sabres vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins 
(2A) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3A) Montreal Canadiens 
(1M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC2) New York Islanders
(2M) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (3M) Columbus Blue Jackets

About last night

There were nine games on the NHL schedule Sunday, each with playoff implications:

Vegas Golden Knights 3, Dallas Stars 2: The Stars (43-16-11) clinched a playoff berth despite the loss with the Utah Mammoth’s 4-3 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings. Dallas is in second place in the Central Division, five points behind the Colorado Avalanche and five points ahead of the Minnesota Wild. Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal at 16:22 of the third period for the Golden Knights (32-25-14), who had been outscored 10-1 in their previous three games. Vegas moved into second place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers.

Colorado Avalanche 3, Washington Capitals 2 (OT): Brock Nelson scored at 1:22 of overtime for the Avalanche (46-13-10), who moved five points ahead of the Stars in the Presidents’ Trophy race. Colorado was buoyed by the return of captain Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), who scored his 10th goal of the season after missing seven games because of a lower-body injury. Alex Ovechkin scored his 1,000th NHL goal (regular season and playoffs combined) for the Capitals (35-27-9), joining Wayne Gretzky in that exclusive club. Washington has points in five consecutive games (3-0-2) and trails the Islanders by six points for the second wild card in the East.

Nashville Predators 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 (OT): Filip Forsberg proved to be the hero for the Predators (33-28-9), finishing off a three-point performance (two goals, one assist) with a goal at 1:05 of overtime. Nashville has won four in a row and five of seven (5-1-1) to move two points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card in the West. The Blackhawks (26-31-13) have lost four of five (1-2-2) and are 10 points behind the Predators.

Utah Mammoth 4, Los Angeles Kings 3 (OT): Nick Schmaltz was the difference-maker, scoring his second goal of the game at 1:46 of overtime to give the Mammoth (37-28-6) their third win in four games. Utah holds the first wild card in the West, five points ahead of Nashville. Artemi Panarin extended his points streak to six games (nine points; four goals, five assists) for the Kings (28-25-17), who are two points behind the Predators.

Anaheim Ducks 6, Buffalo Sabres 5 (OT): Troy Terry’s second goal of the game at 1:29 of overtime allowed the Ducks (39-27-4) to extend their point streak to four (3-0-1) in their bid clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2018. Anaheim is four points ahead of Vegas for first in the Pacific Division and holds a game in hand. Despite the loss, Buffalo (44-20-7) extended its point streak to five (4-0-1) and remained four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay has two games in hand.

New York Islanders 1, Columbus Blue Jackets 0: Ilya Sorokin recorded his NHL-leading seventh shutout this season with a 26-save performance that allowed the Islanders (40-26-5) to move into the second wild card in the East, one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, who have a game in hand. Bo Horvat scored the only goal of the game, helping to end the Blue Jackets’ (37-22-11) 12-game point streak (8-0-4). Columbus remains third in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and are tied in points with the Islanders, who have played one more game.

Carolina Hurricanes 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 1: Seth Jarvis had a goal and two assists for the Hurricanes (45-19-6), who won their third in a row. Carolina leads Pittsburgh by 10 points for first in the Metropolitan and has defeated the Penguins (35-19-16) three times since March 10. Pittsburgh is one point ahead of Columbus for second in the Metropolitan.

Winnipeg Jets 3, New York Rangers 2 (SO): Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist for the Jets (29-29-12), who are 3-1-2 in their past six and are five points back of the Predators for the second wild card in the West. The Rangers have lost four straight (0-3-1) since their four-game winning streak.

Calgary Flames 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 4 (OT): Despite losing on Ryan Strome’s overtime goal, the Lightning finished 3-0-1 on their four-game road trip. The point allowed Tampa Bay (43-21-5) to increase its lead for second place in the Atlantic to five on third-place Montreal. The Lightning are four points behind the Sabres but have two games in hand. The Flames (29-34-7) have won three straight and are 10 points behind the Predators for the second wild card in the West.