Tuesday was a huge day for the NHL’s playoff race, providing clarity for the Western Conference and setting the stage for chaos in the Eastern Conference.
When it comes to the Western Conference, the eight-team field is officially set — as well as all of the first-round matchups — thanks to Tuesday’s wins for the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
The matchups in the West will be as follows:
Winnipeg Jets (Central Division winner) vs. St. Louis Blues (wild-card No. 2)
Dallas Stars (No. 2 seed in Central Division) vs. Colorado Avalanche (No. 3 seed in Central Division)
Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific Division winner) vs. Minnesota Wild (wild-card No. 1)
Los Angeles Kings (No. 2 seed in Pacific Division) vs. Edmonton Oilers (No. 3 seed in Pacific Division)
It is a fascinating series of matchups.
In the Dallas-Colorado series, you have two of the best teams in the league going head-to-head, with the added drama of Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen facing the team that traded him earlier this season after the Avs were unable to get him signed to a long-term contract extension.
In the Vegas-Minnesota series, there is a chance that we could see Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury have to play against one of his former teams (Vegas) if he gets into any of the games.
Los Angeles-Edmonton is noteworthy because it will be the fourth consecutive year the two teams have faced off in the first round, with the Oilers winning each of the previous three. Both teams are going to be under immense pressure to win. The Oilers are very much in a Stanley Cup or bust mentality with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl still in their primes and still looking for their first Cup. The Kings just need to prove they can take the next step in their development and actually knock off the Oilers.
While the remaining two days of the regular season are going to be meaningless in the Western Conference, it is the exact opposite story in the East where the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets are still fighting for the lone remaining wild-card spot.
Montreal is currently clinging to that spot, but Columbus narrowed the gap and provided a ton of pressure with its 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
The scenario here is simple: If Montreal simply gains one point against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday (a Carolina team with nothing to play for), the Canadiens are in the playoffs. It could be a regulation win, it could be an overtime or shootout win, it could be an overtime or shootout loss.
Any of those results puts Montreal in and gives it a first-round series against the Washington Capitals.
But if Montreal loses Wednesday’s game in regulation, that would set the stage for an absolutely massive game for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday when they host the New York Islanders. A regulation loss by the Canadiens on Wednesday, combined with a regulation win by the Blue Jackets on Thursday, would give Columbus the second wild-card spot.
