Week of March 20th
We’re entering the homestretch of the 2022-2023 NHL regular season, and the playoff race is still hot on both conferences!
Updated Playoff Outlook
Not all NHL team have played an equal number of games, but let’s take another look at the current playoff outlook as if the season ended on March 19th:
Eastern Conference
A1: Boston Bruins
A2: Toronto Maple Leafs
A3: Tampa Bay Lightning
M1: Carolina Hurricanes
M2: New Jersey Devils
M3: New York Rangers
WC1: New York Islanders
WC2: Pittsburgh Penguins
Western Conference
C1: Dallas Stars
C2: Minnesota Wild
C3: Colorado Avalanche
P1: Vegas Golden Knights
P2: Los Angeles Kings
P3: Edmonton Oilers
WC1: Seattle Kraken
WC2: Winnipeg Jets
The Weekly Roundup
Atlantic:
Boston Bruins (111 pts | 53-11-5)
LW: L 3-6 CHI, W 3-0 WPG, W 5-2 MIN, W 7-0 BUF
3/21 vs. OTT, 3/23 vs. MTL, 3/25 vs. TBL, 3/26 @ CAR
Boston had a small hiccup but continues to roll.
Toronto Maple Leafs (93 pts | 42-18-9)
LW: L 3-4 BUF, L/SO 1-2 COL, W 5-2 CAR, W 5-4 OTT
3/21 @ NYI, 3/23 @ FLA, 3/25 @ CAR, 3/26 @ NSH
The Leafs had a so-so week.
Tampa Bay Lightning (90 pts | 42-23-6)
LW: W 4-1 NJD, W 4-3 NJD, W 5-3 MTL, L 2-5 NJD
3/21 @ MTL, 3/23 @ OTT, 3/25 @ BOS
The Lightning are back to playing solid hockey.
Florida Panthers (77 pts | 35-27-7)
LW: W 9-5 MTL, W 4-1 NJD
3/20 @ DET, 3/21 @ PHI, 3/23 vs. TOR, 3/25 vs. NYR
Florida looks poised to contend for a wildcard spot.
Buffalo Sabres (72 pts | 33-30-6)
LW: W 4-3 TOR, L/SO 4-5 WSH, L 2-5 PHI, L 0-7 BOS
3/21 vs. NSH, 3/24 vs. NJD, 3/25 @ NYI
Buffalo continues to struggle.
Ottawa Senators (71 pts | 33-31-5)
LW: L 3-6 EDM, L 4-5 COL, L/SO 4-5 TOR
3/20 @ PIT, 3/21 @ BOS, 3/23 vs. TBL, 3/25 @ NJD
The Sens went from super hot to ice cold.
Detroit Red Wings (69 pts | 30-29-9)
LW: L 1-2 NSH, L 1-5 COL
3/20 vs. FLA, 3/21 @ STL, 3/23 vs. STL, 3/25 @ PHI
The Red Wings playoff hopes appear to be fading away.
Montreal Canadiens (60 pts | 27-37-6)
LW: L 4-8 COL, W 6-4 PIT, L 5-9 FLA, L 3-5 TBL
3/21 @ MTL, 3/23 @ BOS, 3/25 vs. CBJ
The Canadiens are ready for the draft.
Metropolitan:
Carolina Hurricanes (98 pts | 45-15-8)
LW: W 5-3 WPG, L 2-5 TOR, W 5-4 PHI
3/21 @ NYR, 3/23 vs. NYR, 3/25 vs. TOR, 3/26 vs. BOS
Losing Andrei Svechnikov for the season is a huge blow to the Canes.
New Jersey Devils (97 pts | 45-18-7)
LW: L 1-4 TBL, L/SO 3-4 TBL, L 2-4 FLA, W 5-2 TBL
3/21 vs. MIN, 3/24 @ BUF, 3/25 vs. OTT
The Devils were nearly swept by the Florida teams this week.
New York Rangers (92 pts | 41-19-10)
LW: W 5-3 WSH, W 4-2 PIT, W 6-0 PIT, W 7-0 NSH
3/21 vs. CAR, 3/23 @ CAR, 3/25 @ FLA
The Rangers offense is firing on all cylinders.
New York Islanders (80 pts | 36-27-8)
LW: L 2-5 LAK, W 6-3 ANA, W 4-1 SJS
3/21 vs. TOR, 3/24 @ CBJ, 3/25 vs. BUF
The Isles continue to solidify their wildcard spot.
Pittsburgh Penguins (78 pts | 34-25-10)
LW: L 4-6 MTL, L 2-4 NYR, L 0-6 NYR
3/20 vs. OTT, 3/22 @ COL, 3/23 @ DAL, 3/25 vs. WSH
Pittsburgh picked a bad time to have a winless week.
Washington Capitals (73 pts | 33-31-7)
LW: L 3-5 NYR, W 5-4 BUF, L 2-5 STL, L 3-5 MIN
3/14 @ NYR, 3/15 vs. BUF, 3/17 vs. STL, 3/19 @ MIN
The Caps wildcard hopes are dwindling.
Philadelphia Flyers (62 pts | 25-32-12)
LW: L 3-5 VGK, W 5-2 BUF, OTL 4-5 CAR
3/21 vs. FLA, 3/23 vs. MIN, 3/25 vs. DET
The Flyers played some solid hockey this week.
Columbus Blue Jackets (49 pts | 21-41-7)
LW: W 6-5 SJS, L 1-4 LAK, L 4-7 ANA, L 2-7 VGK
3/21 @ WSH, 3/24 vs. NYI, 3/25 @ MTL
The Blue Jackets are the current favorite to land Connor Bedard.
Central:
Dallas Stars (89 pts | 38-19-13)
LW: W 5-2 SEA, L 2-5 VAN, L 1-4 EDM, W 6-5 CGY
3/21 vs. SEA, 3/23 vs. PIT, 3/25 vs. VAN
The Stars still hold a narrow lead in the Central.
Minnesota Wild (88 pts | 40-22-8)
LW: W 8-5 STL, L 2-5 BOS, W 5-3 WSH
3/21 @ NJD, 3/23 @ PHI, 3/25 vs. CHI
Matt Boldy continues to step up for the Wild in Kirill Kaprizov’s absence.
Colorado Avalanche (86 pts | 40-22-6)
LW: W 8-4 MTL, W 2-1 TOR, W 5-4 OTT, W 5-1 DET
3/20 vs. CHI, 3/22 vs. PIT, 3/24 vs. ARI, 3/26 @ ARI
Colorado is absolutely rolling.
Winnipeg Jets (81 pts | 39-29-3)
LW: L 3-5 CAR, L 0-3 BOS, W 3-2 NSH, L 0-3 STL
3/21 vs. ARI, 3/23 @ ANA, 3/25 @ LAK
Winnipeg continues to tumble down the standings.
Nashville Predators (76 pts | 34-26-8)
LW: W 2-1 DET, L 1-2 CHI, OTL 2-3 WPG, L 0-7 NYR
3/21 @ BUF, 3/23 vs. SEA, 3/25 vs. SEA, 3/26 vs. TOR
The Preds need to hit the reset button after Sunday’s loss to the Rangers.
St. Louis Blues (67 pts | 30-33-5)
LW: L 5-8 MIN, W 5-2 WSH, W 3-0 WPG
3/21 vs. DET, 3/23 @ DET, 3/25 @ ANA, 3/26 @ LAK
St. Louis is playing some solid hockey.
Arizona Coyotes (65 pts | 27-32-11)
LW: W 4-3 CGY, W 3-2 VAN, W 4-2 CHI
3/21 @ WPG, 3/22 @ EDM, 3/24 @ COL, 3/26 vs. COL
The Coyotes have been one of the hotter teams in the NHL the past couple weeks.
Chicago Blackhawks (54 pts | 24-39-6)
LW: W 6-3 BOS, W 2-1 NSH, L 2-4 ARI
3/20 @ COL, 3/23 @ WSH, 3/25 @ MIN, 3/26 vs. VAN
Chicago had a nice surprise win against Boston this week.
Pacific:
Vegas Golden Knights (92 pts | 43-21-6)
LW: W 5-3 PHI, L 2-7 CGY, W 7-2 CBJ
3/21 @ VAN, 3/23 @ CGY, 3/25 @ EDM,
Vegas is narrowly in the driver’s seat of the Pacfic.
Los Angeles Kings (90 pts | 40-20-10)
LW: W 5-2 NYI, W 4-1 CBJ, L/SO 2-3 VAN
3/20 vs. CGY, 3/25 vs. WPG, 3/26 vs. STL
The Kings continue to hold close to the Golden Knights.
Edmonton Oilers (86 pts | 39-23-8)
LW: W 6-3 OTT, W 4-1 DAL, W 6-4 SEA
3/20 vs. SJS, 3/22 vs. ARI, 3/25 vs. VGK
The Oilers had a perfect week.
Seattle Kraken (83 pts | 38-24-7)
LW: L 2-5 DAL, W 2-1 SJS, L 4-6 EDM
3/21 @ DAL, 3/23 @ NSH, 3/25 @ NSH
The Kraken stumbled a bit this past week.
Calgary Flames (77 pts | 31-24-15)
LW: OTL 3-4 ARI, W 7-2 VGK, OTL 5-6 DAL
3/20 @ LAK, 3/21 @ ANA, 3/23 vs. VGK, 3/25 vs. SJS
Calgary needs to find some consistency.
Vancouver Canucks (65 pts | 30-33-5)
LW: L 2-5 DAL, L 2-3 ARI, W 3-2 LAK, ? ANA
3/21 vs. VGK, 3/23 vs. SJS, 3/25 @ DAL, 3/26 @ CHI
The Canucks played a little spoiler to the Kings this week.
Anaheim Ducks (56 pts | 23-36-10)
LW: L 3-6 NYI, W 7-4 CBJ, ? VAN
3/21 vs. CGY, 3/23 vs. WPG, 3/25 vs. STL
Anaheim showed a little offensive flash against Columbus.
San Jose Sharks (52 pts | 19-37-14)
LW: OTL 5-6 CBJ, OTL 1-2 SEA, L 1-4 NYI
3/20 @ EDM, 3/23 @ VAN, 3/25 @ CGY
The Sharks have the fewest wins in the NHL.