2023 NHL Playoff Races as of April 9, 2023

Welcome to a new series from Full Press Hockey. With NHL rumors slowing down until the summer draft, we will only cover them once a week on Sundays. To replace the Wednesday rumors article, we will present a daily analysis of the playoff races called NHL 2023 playoff races. The analysis will be done daily when enough games affecting the playoffs are scheduled, with the article being published every morning after games are played. We will cover trends in the standings, and which teams are hot and which teams are not. With less than 10 games remaining in the 2022-23 season, all NHL fans will be tracking their team’s progress to see where they will finish.

NHL 2023 Playoff Races – As of April 9

NHL Schedule For April 8, 2023:

MATCHUP		TIME
Carolina	@  Buffalo	9:30 AM
Pittsburgh	@  Detroit	10:00 AM
Vegas	@  Dallas	12:30 PM
Edmonton	@  San Jose	1:00 PM
Anaheim	@  Arizona	2:30 PM
New York	@  Columbus	4:00 PM
Tampa Bay	@  Ottawa	4:00 PM
Montreal	@  Toronto	4:00 PM
Florida	@  Washington	4:00 PM
Nashville	@  Winnipeg	4:00 PM
Philadelphia	@  New York	4:30 PM
New Jersey	@  Boston	5:00 PM
St. Louis	@  Minnesota	5:00 PM
Chicago	@  Seattle	7:00 PM
Calgary	@  Vancouver	7:00 PM
Colorado	@  Los Angeles	7:30 PM

NHL Scores for April 8, 2023:

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Carolina	2	1	0	3
Buffalo	1	2	1	4

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Pittsburgh	2	1	2	5
Detroit	0	1	0	1

Final	1	2	3	OT	SO	Tot
Vegas	1	0	0	0	0	1
Dallas	0	1	0	0	1	2

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Edmonton	2	2	2	6
San Jose	1	0	0	1

Final	1	2	3	OT	Tot
Anaheim	1	1	2	0	4
Arizona	1	2	1	1	5

Final	1	2	3	Tot
NY Rangers	2	0	2	4
Columbus	0	0	0	0

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Tampa Bay	1	2	1	4
Ottawa	2	2	3	7

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Montreal	0	1	0	1
Toronto	2	2	3	7

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Florida	0	2	2	4
Washington	0	2	0	2

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Nashville	0	0	0	0
Winnipeg	0	1	1	2

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Philadelphia	0	0	0	0
NY Islanders	1	2	1	4

Final	1	2	3	Tot
New Jersey	1	0	0	1
Boston	2	0	0	2

Final	1	2	3	Tot
St. Louis	1	0	2	3
Minnesota	2	2	1	5

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Chicago	1	2	0	3
Seattle	3	2	2	7

Final	1	2	3	OT	SO	Tot
Calgary	0	0	2	0	0	2
Vancouver	2	0	0	0	1	3

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Colorado	0	2	2	4
Los Angeles	0	2	1	3

 

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Carolina Hurricanes vs  Buffalo Sabres

Tage Thompson scored the go-ahead goal 6:15 into the third period, Rasmus Dahlin had a goal, two assists and a key blocked shot and the Buffalo Sabres kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Casey Mittelstadt scored twice and Buffalo improved to 6-1-1 in its past eight, with the win guaranteeing the Sabres remaining in contention through their game at the New York Rangers on Monday. A regulation loss, otherwise, would have put 10th-place Buffalo in position to be eliminated later in the day and extend its NHL-worst playoff drought for a 12th consecutive season.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit Red Wings

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby become the 15th player in NHL history to reach 1,500 career points, scoring two goals and adding an assist in Pittsburgh’s crucial 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. The Penguins are fighting for one of the last playoff berths in the Eastern Conference with less than a week left in the regular season. The Penguins are in danger of seeing their run of 16 straight Stanley Cup playoff berths snapped. It’s the longest active streak among the major North American sports leagues.

Vegas Golden  Knights vs Dallas Stars

Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was sprawled out in the crease, his right leg fully extended toward the post. It was just enough to keep the puck out of the net on the game-ending play. Oettinger stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout, popping up and signaling no good after that last one, and Roope Hintz scored the only goal in the tiebreaker after being a game-time decision for the Stars in their 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in a matchup of playoff-bound division leaders Saturday.

The win put Dallas at 102 points and atop the Central Division with three games left in the regular season. The Stars began the day tied with defending champion Colorado, which played Saturday night and still had three games left after that. Pacific Division-leading Vegas did clinch home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs by getting at least a point for the 14th time in its last 16 games. The Golden Knights’ 107 points are two more than Edmonton, which won 6-1 at San Jose.

Edmonton Oilers vs  San Jose Sharks

One of the NHL’s most exclusive clubs needs to make room for Connor McDavid. McDavid became the first player in 27 years to reach 150 points in a season when he had two goals and an assist in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. McDavid needs five points in the final two games to pass the single-season highs for Esposito, Yzerman and Nichols. He then would trail only Gretzky (nine seasons with at least 160 points) and Lemieux (four seasons with at least 160 points).

Anaheim Ducks vs Arizona Coyotes

*NO PLAYOFF RAMIFICATIONS

New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Igor Shesterkin stopped all 20 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season and 11th of his career, and the New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Saturday night. Jimmy Vesey, Chris Kreider, Niko Mikkola and Vincent Trocheck scored, and Mika Zibanejad added two assists for the Rangers, who pulled two points behind New Jersey for second place in the Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Devils played at Boston on Saturday night.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Ottawa Senators

Egor Sokolov scored his first NHL goal and the Ottawa Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 on Saturday night. Drake Batherson, Julien Gauthier, Patrick Brown, Alex DeBrincat, Mark Kastelic and Claude Giroux, into an empty net, also scored for Ottawa. Cam Talbot made 19 saves.

Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist to reach a career-high 98 points for the season, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs rout the Montreal Canadiens 7-1 on Saturday night. John Tavares scored twice, Auston Matthews had a goal and three assists and William Nylander and Michael Bunting also scored. Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves, and Ryan O’Reilly and Erik Gustafsson each had three assists. Locked into a first-round playoff matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto also has clinched home-ice advantage in the series.

Florida Panthers vs Washington Capitals

 Matthew Tkachuk scored the tie-breaking goal with 1 minute left in regulation and had two assists as the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Saturday night for their sixth straight win. Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad also scored for Florida, which reclaimed the top wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers moved past Pittsburgh, which beat Detroit earlier Saturday. Florida is tied with the New York Islanders with 91 points, but holds the tiebreaker.

Nashville Predators vs Winnipeg Jets

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 on Saturday night. Defenseman Neal Pionk and forward Mark Scheifele scored to help the Jets improve to 44-32-3 in a desperate race for the final wild-card playoff berth in the Western Conference.

Philadelphia Flyers vs New York Islanders

Scott Mayfield, Brock Nelson and rookie defenseman Samuel Bolduc each scored and Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves as the New York Islanders kept pace in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with a 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. Hudson Fasching also scored for the Islanders who stayed ahead of Pittsburgh by one point and remained tied with Florida in a season-finishing sprint for the two remaining wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey Devils vs Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins tied an NHL record with their 62nd win of the season on Saturday night, getting two goals from Pavel Zacha in the first five minutes and holding on to beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1. The Bruins have three games left to try to top the record for regular-season wins set by the 1995-96 Red Wings and matched by the 2018-19 Lightning. Boston faces Philadelphia on Sunday, Washington on Tuesday and Montreal on Thursday.

St. Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild

Ryan Hartman and Sam Steel scored short-handed goals 20 seconds apart in the first period and the Minnesota Wild earned two key late-season points by beating the St. Louis Blues 5-3 on Saturday night. With 100 points, Minnesota pulled to within two points of Central Division-leading Colorado, and two points behind Dallas. However, the Avalanche have four games left, while the Stars and Wild each have three left.

Chicago Blackhawks vs Seattle Kraken

Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann and Daniel Sprong each had a goal and an assist and the Seattle Kraken beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. The second-year Kraken, who clinched their first Stanley Cup playoff spot Thursday, also got goals from Eeli Tolvanen, Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson and Morgan Geekie. Jamie Oleksiak had three assists. Martin Jones made 15 saves two periods, then was replaced by Philipp Grubauer at the start of the third. Grubauer had 11 saves.

Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks

Andrei Kuzmenko scored in the shootout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Saturday night. Elias Pettersson and Cole McWard – with his first NHL point – scored for the Canucks, who won after giving up a 2-0 lead in the third period. Thatcher Demko made 41 saves. Calgary pulled one point behind Winnipeg for the second wild card in the Western Conference. The Flames have two games left on their regular-season schedule while the Jets have three.

Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings

Denis Malgin scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. Brad Hunt and Alex Newhook also scored, Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves and the Avalanche kept pace with Dallas for first place in the Central Division and still have a game in hand. It was the Avalanche’s ninth straight road victory, matching the longest streak in team history. Georgiev has won seven straight road starts, equaling Patrick Roy in 1996-97 for the best run by a goaltender.

 

CLICK HERE For NHL Standings as of 4/92023

That concludes this edition of NHL 2023 Playoff Races. Be sure to catch our next article to stay tuned in with the playoff races. Thanks for reading!