NHL playoff standings: What's at stake in Sunday's games

ByESPN Staff, ESPN

Sunday, April 13, 2025

The 11 NHL games on Saturday helped solidify the playoff picture, as three teams (the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and New York Islanders) have been officially eliminated from the race. Now it's just the Columbus Blue Jackets chasing the Montreal Canadiens.

In the West, the St. Louis Blues kept hope alive for the Calgary Flames, losing in the shootout to the Seattle Kraken. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knightswon their games to clinch division titles.

With the end of the regular season approaching on Thursday, here's what's at stake in the nine games taking place Sunday:

The Senators are locked in to the first wild-card position in the East (and a matchup against the top team in the Atlantic). The Flyers are currently fifth in the draft lottery order, two points behind the Boston Bruins and one ahead of the Kraken.

The Isles' playoff hopes were extinguished with their shootout loss on Saturday, and they are in the No. 10 spot in the draft lottery order, two points behind the Ducks and Penguins, and one ahead of the Rangers and Red Wings. On the other side, the Devils are locked in to the No. 3 seed in the Metro, and will open the playoffs on the road against the Hurricanes.

One day, these proud franchises will be battling it out again for postseason positioning, but that day is not today. For this iteration of the matchup, Boston enters as the No. 4 seed in the draft lottery order, two points ahead of Philly and three ahead of Seattle (the Bruins cannot catch the Predators for the No. 3 spot). The Pens are eighth, one point behind the Sabres, tied with the Ducks, and two ahead of the Islanders.

If things break correctly in the coming weeks, we could see these two teams collide again in the Eastern Conference finals. Toronto holds a four-point lead over the Lightning and Panthers atop the Atlantic Division and clinches the title today if it wins and the Lightning lose in any fashion. The Canes will go no higher or lower than second in the Metro, and they'll face off with the Devils to begin postseason play.

As noted above, the Lightning remain in the chase for the Atlantic crown and will just about need every W left on the schedule to do it. On the other side, the Sabres are high up in the draft lottery order (they begin Sunday No. 7), but that hasn't stopped them from playing some great hockey as of late, going 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.

A rematch from Saturday's matinee in Columbus, which the Blue Jackets won 7-0. Columbus is five points and two regulation wins behind Montreal for the final wild-card spot with a game in hand. The Capitals are locked in to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but their Presidents' Trophy dreams are on thin ice; they are five points behind the Jets with three games left.

The Oilers recently clinched their spot in the postseason and a first-round matchup against thevery familiar Los Angeles Kings (this will be the fourth straight season they'll face off in the first round). What's left to determine is home-ice advantage; the Kings are currently in second place in the Pacific, four points ahead of the Oilers with three games left for both clubs. The Jets are locked in as the No. 1 seed in the West and are just waiting to see whether they'll be playing the Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues or Calgary Flames in Round 1.

Speaking of the Flames, they begin Sunday four games behind the Blues and five games behind the Wild, with two games in hand on both clubs. The chances are slim, but the door remains open for a final-week surge into the postseason. By way of potential tiebreakers, the Sharks have clinched the No. 1 spot in the draft lottery order.

Sunday's nightcap pits the Avalanche -- who are locked in to the No. 3 spot in the Central, and a first-round matchup against the Dallas Stars -- against the Ducks, who appear to be about one year away from mounting a real run at the playoffs. Anaheim begins Sunday ninth in the draft lottery order, tied in points with Pittsburgh, one behind Buffalo and two ahead of the Islanders.

Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.