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The final NHL Wildcard will go down to the wire as four teams compete for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia Flyers still have a chance to claim the final ticket for this year’s big dance.
Fortunately, the experts at NHL.com have made the math much easier to digest.
The Washington Capitals are in if they beat the Philadelphia Flyers tonight in any way (regulation, OT, or shootout). The Caps will reach 91 points, leaving everyone else in the dust.
The Detroit Red Wings are in if they beat the Montreal Canadiens tonight in any way and the Capitals lose to the Flyers in any way.
The Pittsburgh Penguins can still get in, but they’ll need help. First, the Pens will need to beat the Islanders tomorrow night. At 88 points, the Pens would reach 90 with a win. However, they’ll need both the Wings and Caps to lose their games in regulation.
Lastly, the Flyers could still capture the last NHL Wildcard, but they’ll need to beat the Caps in regulation and hope that both the Pens and Wings lose in regulation.
The Flyers would tie Washington and Detroit with 89 points apiece. Then, the Flyers could make it based on their combined regulation and overtime wins, head-to-head wins versus Washington, and goal differential.
With the remaining NHL Wildcard still up for grabs, the final game for these clubs will keep fans on the edge of their seats. The three clubs already qualified will get a head start on their offseason. For the club that makes it, they can ride that momentum into the first round.
NHL Wildcard Math
The league has instituted a series of tie-breaker rules for situations such as the last NHL Wildcard spot. USA Today offered a very interesting breakdown of tie-breaker scenarios:
- Regulation victories
- Regulation and overtime victories
- Total victories
- More points landed in head-to-head competition.
- Goal differential
- Total goals scored
Here’s an interesting note: When teams have an uneven amount of head-to-head meeting, the game first played in the city with the extra game doesn’t count for tie-breaker purposes.
That’s how Philadelphia can still get in.
The Flyers can land the remaining NHL Wildcard since they would tie with 89 points, 31 regulation victories, 35 combined regulation, and OT victories. However, Philadelphia has the odd game in their favor. That game does not count, bringing the final tie-breaker to goal differential.
As it stands, the Flyers have a better goal differential of -25 to Washington’s -38. Unless Washington can beat Philadelphia 14-0, the Flyers make the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
Sure, the math can get a bit tricky. But that’s the beauty of the NHL. Teams can hold on to playoff hopes until the last day of the season.
