2023 NHL Playoff Races as of April 15, 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 just final games remaining in the 2022-23 season, all NHL fans will be tracking their team’s progress to see where they will finish, and how the matchups line up. This will be the final article in this series since the playoff begin on Monday, April 17th. We will however have a playoffs preview and coverage of the postseason game results.

2023 NHL Playoff Races – As of April 15

NHL Schedule For April 13, 2023:

Final	1	2	3	Tot
San Jose	1	1	0	2
Edmonton	2	2	1	5

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Los Angeles	1	2	2	5
Anaheim	1	0	2	3

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

Final	1	2	3	Tot
Vegas	1	1	1	3
Seattle	1	0	0	1

 

Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens

David Pastrnak‘s goal midway through the third period was the winner and the Boston Bruins closed out their record-setting regular season with a 5-4 comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Dmitry Orlov had a goal and an assist. Trent Frederic, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston (65-12-5). Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves. The Bruins closed their Presidents Trophy-winning season by establishing records for wins (65) and points (135) in a season.

New Jersey Devils vs Washington Capitals

It took erasing a three-goal deficit for the New Jersey Devils to solidify a franchise-record regular season and send them into the playoffs on a high note. Next up, the New York Rangers. The Devils rallied to beat the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime Thursday night on Luke Hughes‘ first NHL goal in just his second game. Their 52 wins and 112 points are the most in franchise history – something players valued before turning their attention to the first round.

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Pittsburgh Penguins vs Columbus Blue Jackets

*NO PLAYOFF RAMIFICATIONS

Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Rangers

Noel Acciari scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, Joseph Woll made 22 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in the season finale for both teams. The Rangers finished 47-22-13, third in the Metropolitan Division with 107 points, and will face the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs. The series will start in Newark since the Devils finished second with 112 points. New Jersey had only 63 points a season ago.

Ottawa Senators vs Buffalo Sabres

*NO PLAYOFF RAMIFICATIONS

Carolina Hurricanes vs Florida Panthers

Brent Burns scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes scored four times in the third period to beat the Florida Panthers 6-4 on Thursday night to win the Metropolitan Division. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jesper Fast, Shayne Gostisbehere and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who began the night one point ahead of New Jersey atop the division. Frederik Andersen finished with 31 saves. Carolina will open the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the New York Islanders.

Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Brayden Point scored his 50th and 51st goals, backup Brian Elliott made 32 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning stopped a four-game losing streak with a 5-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the regular-season finale for both teams on Thursday night. The playoff-bound Lightning will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in a first-round series starting next week.

Winnipeg Jets vs Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are on the brink of capturing the Central Division title even through their lengthy list of bumps and bruises, which includes being without their captain all season. Evan Rodrigues scored the go-ahead goal on a wrist shot early in the third period to help the Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Thursday night to stay in the divisional race. Colorado has 107 points and needs to win in Nashville on Friday to secure the Central’s top spot over Dallas. The Stars wrapped up their regular season with 108 points after beating St. Louis.

St. Louis Blues vs Dallas Stars

Rookie center Wyatt Johnston scored his 24th goal, goalie Jake Oettinger posted another shutout and the Dallas Stars then had to wait another day to find out if they would win the Central Division title. The Stars will go into the playoffs on a six-game winning streak after beating St. Louis 1-0 in their regular-season finale Thursday night. Dallas (47-21-14) finished with 108 points, one ahead of Colorado for the division lead. The Avalanche won their home finale 4-2 over Winnipeg just minutes after the Stars finished, then still had a makeup game to play Friday night at Nashville.

Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators

Juuso Parssinen scored at 2:44 of overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Mark Jankowski, Kiefer Sherwood and Yakov Trenin also scored for the Predators. Juuse Saros made 21 saves. Nashville was eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night when Winnipeg clinched the Western Conference’s final playoff berth with their victory over Minnesota.

Philadelphia Flyers vs Chicago Blackhawks

*NO PLAYOFF RAMIFICATIONS

San Jose Sharks vs Edmonton Oilers

Mattias Janmark scored twice, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists and the Edmonton Oilers closed the regular season with a franchise-record ninth-straight victory, 5-2 over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Evan Bouchard and Evander Kane also scored and Stuart Skinner made 27 saves. The Oilers were 14-0-1 in their last 15 to finish 50-23-9. They will open the playoff against the Los Angeles Kings.

Los Angeles Kings vs Anaheim Ducks

Adrian Kempe had three goals and an assist and the Los Angeles Kings clinched third place in the Pacific Division on Thursday night with a 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, who will have the best odds in the draft lottery after finishing with the NHL’s worst record. Captain Anze Kopitar scored a first-period goal that made him Los Angeles’ leading scorer for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons, while Kempe and Trevor Moore scored 49 seconds apart in the second period of the 159th regular-season edition of the Freeway Faceoff. Anaheim’s silver lining on its NHL-low 58 points is the best chance in next month’s draft lottery to win the right to select Connor Bedard, the Regina Pats center considered the most tantalizing prospect in hockey since Connor McDavid.

Vancouver Canucks vs Arizona Coyotes

*NO PLAYOFF RAMIFICATIONS

Vegas Golden Knights vs Seattle Kraken

Alec Martinez broke a tie midway through the second period and the Vegas Golden Knights won their third Pacific Division title with a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken in the regular-season finale Thursday night. Vegas finished 51-22-9 with 111 points, tying the franchise record for victories and holding off the late surge from Edmonton to win the division title and clinch home-ice advantage in the Western Conference. Vegas will face Winnipeg in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

NHL Schedule For April 14, 2023:

MATCHUP		TIME
Buffalo	@  Columbus	4:30 PM
Colorado	@  Nashville	5:00 PM

Buffalo Sabres vs Columbus Blue Jackets

*NO PLAYOFF RAMIFICATIONS

Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators

Nathan MacKinnon had three goals and an assist as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Friday night to win the Central Division title. Devon Toews also scored and had an assist and Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves for Colorado, which finished a point ahead of Dallas in the division. Mikko Rantanen had two assists.

The reigning Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche will begin their championship defense against Seattle in the first round of the playoffs. They will do so without captain Gabriel Landeskog, who announced Thursday that the knee injury that has sidelined him for the entire regular season will keep him out for the playoffs as well.

 

Eastern Conference playoff bracket

No. 1 ATL — Boston Bruins — 135 points
WC2 MET — New York Islanders — 93 points

No. 2 ATL — Toronto Maple Leafs — 111 points
No. 3 ATL — Tampa Bay Lightning — 98 points

No. 1 MET — Carolina Hurricanes — 113 points
WC1 MET — Florida Panthers — 92 points

No. 2 MET — New Jersey Devils — 112 points
No. 3 MET — New York Rangers — 107 points

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Western Conference playoff bracket

No. 1 PAC — Vegas Golden Knights — 111 points
WC2 CEN — Winnipeg Jets — 95 points

No. 2 PAC — Edmonton Oilers — 109 points
No. 3 PAC — Los Angeles Kings — 104 points

No. 2 CEN — Dallas Stars — 108 points
No. 3 CEN — Minnesota Wild — 103 points

No. 1 CEN — Colorado Avalanche  — 109 points
WC1 PAC —  Seattle Kraken — 100 points

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That concludes this series of NHL 2023 Playoff Races. Be sure to catch our playoff previews prior to the start of the 2023 NHL Playoffs. Thanks for reading!