Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Panthers can extend lead in Atlantic Division

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily look at the races for the 2022 NHL postseason. There are 17 days left in the regular season and the races in each of the four divisions are tight. 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.

Stanley Cup Playoffs clinching scenarios for Friday:

The Boston Bruins will clinch if:
The Montreal Canadiens defeat the New York Islanders in any fashion (7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, MSG+, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).

On Tap

There are two games on the NHL schedule Friday, each with playoff implications.
New York Islanders at Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, MSG+, ESPN+, NHL LIVE)
The Islanders are 13-6-1 in their past 20 games but are nearing elimination from playoff contention. New York trails the Washington Capitals by 15 points for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with nine regular-season games remaining. Goalie Carey Price will play for the first time this season for Montreal after recovering from knee surgery. The Canadiens have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, BSFL, TSN3, NHL LIVE)
The Panthers will look to extend their winning streak to nine games and move closer to clinching first in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. Florida has an eight-point lead on the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs for first in the Atlantic and a six-point lead on the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes for first in the East. Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has scored 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) during a 12-game point streak. The Jets, who won their past two games, will look to gain ground in the Western Conference wild card race. Winnipeg trails the Dallas Stars by seven points for the second wild card with eight games remaining.

If playoffs started Friday

Here is a look at the matchups for the first round as they stand entering games Friday:
Eastern Conference
(1A) Florida Panthers vs. (WC2) Washington Capitals
(1M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins
(2A) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (3A) Tampa Bay Lightning
(2M) New York Rangers vs. (3M) Pittsburgh Penguins
Western Conference
(1C) Colorado Avalanche vs. (WC2) Dallas Stars
(1P) Calgary Flames vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
(2C) Minnesota Wild vs. (3C) St. Louis Blues
(2P) Edmonton Oilers vs. (3P) Los Angeles Kings

About last night

There were 12 games Thursday, each with playoff implications:
Pittsburgh Penguins 6, New York Islanders 3: Jake Guentzel had two goals and two assists, Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and the Penguins clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 16th straight season. Pittsburgh also closed within five points of the New York Rangers for second in the Metropolitan Division and increased its lead on the Washington Capitals for third in the division to five points. Zdeno Chara scored his first goal of the season for the Islanders, who remained 15 points behind the Capitals for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Anaheim Ducks 3 (OT): Anthony Cirelli scored 1:58 into overtime for the Lightning, who clinched a playoff berth for the eighth time in nine seasons and solidified their hold on third in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay, which won the Stanley Cup the past two seasons, trailed 3-2 until Nikita Kucherov scored with 13 seconds remaining in the third period. The Lightning moved three points ahead of the Boston Bruins for third in the Atlantic and remained four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for second in the division. Adam Henrique scored twice for the Ducks, who are 2-11-5 in their past 18 games and have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Ottawa Senators 3, Boston Bruins 2: The Senators scored three unanswered goals to rally from a 2-0 first period deficit and prevent the Bruins from clinching a playoff berth. Goalie Linus Ullmark left in the first period with an undisclosed injury for Boston, which has lost three in a row for the first time this season and remained three points ahead of Washington for the first wild card from the East.
Tim Stutzle
had a goal and two assists and Anton Forsberg made 40 saves for the Senators, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Toronto Maple Leafs 7, Washington Capitals 3: William Nylander, Michael Bunting and Ilya Mikheyev each scored twice, and John Tavares had three assists for the Maple Leafs, who remained four points ahead of the Lightning for second in the Atlantic and climbed seven points ahead of the Bruins. Auston Matthews became the third player to score 100 points in a season for Toronto, joining forwards Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour, with the first of his two assists in the game. Alex Ovechkin's four-game goal streak ended for the Capitals, who lost for the first time in five games and missed a chance to gain ground on the Bruins for the first wild card from the East.
Detroit Red Wings 3, Carolina Hurricanes 0: Alex Nedeljkovic made 46 saves for his third shutout of the season and foiled his former team's bid to increase its lead in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes, who traded Nedeljkovic to the Red Wings on July 22, 2021, remained two points ahead of the second-place Rangers in the Metropolitan. Moritz Seider, Adam Erne and Filip Zadina scored for Detroit, which has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Minnesota Wild 3, Dallas Stars 2 (OT): Frederick Gaudreau scored 1:40 into overtime and the Wild won their third straight to remain tied with the St. Louis Blues for second in the Central Division. Kevin Fiala scored twice and Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves for Minnesota, which is 12-1-2 in its past 15 games. Jason Robertson scored two goals for the Stars, who rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to force overtime. With one point from the overtime loss, Dallas pulled even with the Nashville Predators for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
St. Louis Blues 6, Buffalo Sabres 2: Vladimir Tarasenko had three goals and two assists for the Blues, who won their seventh straight game to keep pace with the Wild in the Central. Robert Thomas had five assists and Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and two assists for St. Louis, which is 9-0-1 in its past 10 games. The Sabres have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Colorado Avalanche 3, New Jersey Devils 1: Logan O'Connor, Andre Burakovsky and Artturi Lehkonen scored in the second period and the Avalanche won their eighth straight game to close in on clinching first in the Central. Pavel Francouz made 26 saves and won his sixth straight start for Colorado, which remained 16 points ahead of Minnesota (nine games left) and St. Louis (eight) in the Central. The Devils have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Edmonton Oilers 4, Nashville Predators 0: Leon Draisaitl scored a hat trick and Mike Smith made 30 saves for his first shutout of the season for the Oilers, who increased their lead to four points on the Los Angeles Kings for second in the Pacific Division. Edmonton, which is 6-1-1 in its past eight, pulled within seven points of the Calgary Flames for first in the division. Nashville has scored four goals while going 1-2-1 in its past four games and fell into a tie with Dallas for the first wild card from the West.
Vegas Golden Knights 6, Calgary Flames 1: William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and two assists, and the Golden Knights scored six unanswered goals to climb within one point of the Kings for third in the Pacific Division and two points of the Predators and Stars for the two wild cards in the West. Jack Eichel scored a goal to extend his point streak to six games (five goals, two assists) for Vegas, which is 7-1-1 in its past nine. The Flames, who had won five in row, could have clinched a playoff berth by getting one point against the Golden Knights.
Vancouver Canucks 7, Arizona Coyotes 1: J.T. Miller had an NHL career-high five assists and the Canucks won their fifth in a row to close within four points of the Kings for third in the Pacific and five points for the two wild cards in the West. Vasily Podkolzin had two goals and an assist and Alex Chiasson also scored twice for Vancouver. The Coyotes, who have lost five in a row, have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Chicago Blackhawks 5, San Jose Sharks 4 (SO): The Sharks were eliminated from playoff contention despite rallying from a 4-2 third period deficit to earn a point with goals from Rudolfs Balcers at 5:40 and Jaycob Megna with 3:25 remaining. Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who won for the first time in nine games (1-6-2), but have been eliminated from playoff contention.