Difficult decisions during stretch run before Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2022-23 regular season by former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Phil Housley and Mark Recchi will take turns providing insight.
In this edition, Housley, a Hall of Fame defenseman who coached the Buffalo Sabres and was an assistant with the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes, discusses how coaches approach the final weeks of the regular season leading up to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

There are three ways how teams are going to approach the final few weeks of the regular season depending on where they are in the standings.
First are the teams that aren't going to be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They're in a position where they're not going to catch anybody for one of the wild card spots. Those teams are trying to give opportunities to players that might not have gotten them if they were in a playoff race. There are young players they are going to call up.
There are also guys who are still playing for contracts. It's important to them, so they can get a new deal in the offseason. They want to prove they belong.
All these teams want to finish strong because there is a lot of pride on the line and they want to be spoilers against teams that are fighting to get into the playoffs.
Secondly, you have the teams that are fighting for a wild card spot. They're going to be in playoff mode for the rest of the regular season.
That could be beneficial heading into the playoffs, if they qualify, because their players will be geared up already from being in playoff mode. That might help them get an upset in the first round.
Those teams are going to play their top players as much as possible. They're going to play their top goaltenders as much as possible. Barring any injuries, they're going to be dressing their best lineup each game, day in and day out.
Rest is going to be very important for them. There's not going to be a lot of practice time because they are just focused on the games.
Finally, for the other teams in the playoff race, they are sort of split where they're in a comfortable position, but they want to keep that position. How do they go about their business?
Teams like the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning have gone on long playoff runs in previous seasons. So, when they get closer to the end of the regular season, they may want to rest some of their players because of the amount of hockey they've played the past two or three years.
If they're not able to move up to a higher seed and they're not going to be caught by someone behind them in the standings, they may want to make sure their top players are fresh for the playoffs. It's a slippery slope because you don't want to have your team lose its edge going into the playoffs, but I think rest is a weapon at this point in the season because you know how grueling a playoff run can be on individuals on the team.
The Boston Bruins (53-11-5) have a chance to break the NHL records of 62 wins and 132 points, but they likely will lock up the first seed in the playoffs early and might want to rest some players after that. That will be a decision coach Jim Montgomery will make in talking to the players.
Some players will want to play. They want to keep their game. They want to keep their edge. Not that they would lose it by resting.
Other players may want the rest because when they get to the playoffs, they're going to be playing a lot of heavy minutes and their team needs them at their best and at their freshest.
But for teams that have a chance to move up to a higher seed and earn home-ice advantage, that can be vastly important, especially if you have a lot of success at home. You get last change. You can get the matchups. You have momentum in your building.
Home-ice advantage can be really important, especially in the first round. The first round is one of the toughest rounds to get out of because you never know what to expect. Goalies could have off games and if you get to a Game 7, it can help if you're on your home ice and you can get those matchups.
That's why it's very important to try to fight for home-ice advantage.
The races have been pretty tight throughout the whole season. No one is really running away except for the Bruins.
In the Eastern Conference, the New Jersey Devils are pushing the Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division and the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders and Florida Panthers are battling for the two wild cards. In the West, except for the Winnipeg Jets, all the teams in the playoff spots have at least six wins in their past 10 games and are playing very good hockey right now. The Jets, who hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, are 4-5-1 in their past 10 games.
The Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators have a chance to catch the Jets, but it's going to be tough. The Jets play the Flames on April 5 and the Predators on April 8. Those four-point games in those head-to-head matchups are going to be huge.
Coaches right now are looking for trends, what areas of improvement they can focus on, and also special teams. In the playoffs, you're going to see fewer power plays and penalty kills, but that can be huge if your special teams are really on top of their game.
We've talked before about how critical 5-on-5 play can be. Teams that are in the plus differential in 5-on-5 scoring have a bit of an advantage because if you can score 5-on-5, you can sort of get away with having so-so special teams.
These areas can be critical in these important games down the stretch, so coaches will focus on them to give their teams the best chance to qualify for the playoffs and succeed once they get there.