NHL Final Weekend Cheat Sheet

The Dallas Stars became the 16th team to secure a playoff berth on Friday.

On Friday night the final berth in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs was procured as the Dallas Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-0 to book a first postseason excursion in six years.

While we now know all 16 teams that will be competing for Lord Stanley’s gargantuan cup, there’s still plenty to play for on this final weekend of the regular season.

Expect much jockeying for position over the next two days as eight of the 16 postseason-bound teams can look to improve their current standing.

Amongst the storylines worth keeping an eye on is the battle for top spot in the Western Conference, which could go down to the wire with a head-to-head matchup on Sunday.

With the playoffs receiving a reboot in terms of format this year, the waters still remain murky for some of us. To get you up to date, BettingSports.com now breaks down how the playoffs will be formatted and what each team has left to play for.

Playoff reboot

To keep this as simple as possible, this is how the postseason will look.

1. The division winners in each conference will automatically be seeded No. 1 and No. 2 based on their regular season record.

2. The first and second runners up in each division will face-off in the first round of the playoffs, in a divisional series if you will.

3. The remaining two playoff berths (or wild card berths) will be issued to the next two teams with the best record, regardless of division.

4. The higher seeded wild card, based on regular season record, will play the lower seeded division champion.

5. The lower seeded wild card, based on regular season record, will play the higher seeded division champion.

6. The winner of each divisional series will face the winner of the wild card series featuring their respective champion (e.g. the winner of the Metropolitan Division series will face the winner of the series between the Metropolitan Division champion and their wild card opponent) in the second round.

7. The conference finals will feature the winner of the respective division brackets (e.g. the winner of the Metropolitan bracket will face the winner of the Atlantic bracket).

8. The Stanley Cup finals will feature the winner of the Eastern Conference against the Winner of the Western Conference (no change).

Now, here’s a look at what’s left to do this weekend.

The Habs and Bolts will meet in the opening round, but home-ice is still up for grabs.

Eastern Conference

Division champions

Boston Bruins (53-18-9, 115pts) – The Bruins are locked into the No. 1 seed and will have home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. They’ll host the weakest of the wild card qualifiers. The B’s can secure the Presidents’ trophy with two points from their last two games or if the Ducks drop two points. Should the two finish tied, by a convoluted set of tiebreaker circumstances, the Bruins will finish top.

Pittsburgh Penguins (51-24-5, 107pts) – The Penguins are locked into the No. 2 seed and will host the stronger of the two wild card teams.

Atlantic Division bracket

Tampa Bay Lightning (45-27-9, 99pts) – The Lightning can secure the runner up seed in the Atlantic Division with a win in Washington on Sunday. Anything less opens up the possibility of the Canadiens surpassing them.

Montreal Canadiens (45-28-8, 98pts) – The Canadiens can pass the Lightning with a tie or win over the Rangers on Saturday, coupled with a loss for the Lightning.

Under the new Stanley Cup playoffs setup, the Canadiens and Lightning are guaranteed to meet in the Atlantic Division series. Home-ice advantage will be decided this weekend.

Metropolitan Division bracket

New York Rangers (45-35-5, 95pts) – The Rangers are locked into the runner up spot in the Metropolitan Division and will host the division series, regardless of this weekend’s action.  They’ll play either the Flyers or Blue Jackets. Expect them to rest players against the Habs on Saturday, which could aid Montreal’s efforts to earn home-ice.

Philadelphia Flyers (41-30-9, 91pts) – A win for the Flyers in either of their last two games secures a spot in the Metropolitan Division series. Alternatively, a loss for the Blue Jackets in their final game will see the Flyers through regardless of their own results.

Wild card berths

Columbus Blue Jackets (42-32-7, 91pts) – To move past the Flyers into the Metropolitan series, the Blue Jackets must win against Florida on Saturday and hope the Flyers lose both of their remaining games. Anything else equates to a wild card berth.

Detroit Red Wings (38-28-15, 91pts) – The Wings cannot improve on a wild card spot but whether they’ll play the Bruins or Penguins remains to be seen. A point against St. Louis on Sunday coupled with a regulation loss for the Blue Jackets in Florida would see the Wings move into the higher wild card berth and set up a matchup with the Pens. A win over the Blues coupled with any kind of loss for the Jackets would do likewise.

With two games left, Anaheim has two shots at securing the top seed in the Western Conference.

Western Conference

Division champions

Anaheim Ducks (52-20-8, 112pts) – The Ducks have secured the Pacific Division championship and one point from their two remaining games would be enough to give them home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. Failure to earn a point would open up the possibility of Colorado taking the No. 1 seed. The Ducks still have the opportunity to finish the season with the Presidents’ trophy; it’ll take two wins and a pair of regulation losses for the Bruins.

Colorado Avalanche (52-22-7, 111pts) – If the Ducks fail to record a point in Saturday’s game against the Kings, a regulation win over Anaheim on Sunday would see Colorado finish with the best record in the Western Conference. An overtime/shootout win wouldn’t be enough. The Avalanche can win the Central Division simply by matching what St. Louis does on Sunday. If Colorado fails to match St. Louis, it’ll host the Central Division series.

Central Division bracket

St. Louis Blues (52-22-7, 111pts) – Because the Avs and Ducks meet in a head-to-head game, St. Louis cannot finish in first place in the west. However, if the Blues earn one more point than the Avalanche on Sunday, they’ll take the division title and host the stronger of the Western Conference wild card qualifiers. If they match or fail to match the Avs, they’ll host the Central Division series.

Chicago Blackhawks (46-20-15, 107pts) – The Blackhawks will finish as the second runner up in the Central Division regardless of this weekend’s action. They’ll start out on the road in the Central Division series against either Colorado or St. Louis.

Pacific Division bracket

San Jose Sharks (50-22-9, 109pts) – The Sharks have done enough to secure the runner up spot in the Pacific Division and is a lock to host the division series, making Saturday’s game in Phoenix meaningless.

Los Angeles Kings (46-28-7, 99pts) – With the Central Division securing five of the eight Western Conference playoff berths, the Kings go into Saturday night’s game against the Ducks locked into the second runner up spot in the Pacific Division, and positioned for a division series against the Sharks. It’s not quite a matter of nothing to play for the Kings though; they can attempt to spoil Anaheim’s shot at both the Western Conference top seed and the Presidents’ trophy.

Wild card berths

Minnesota Wild (43-26-14, 98pts) – The Wild are locked into the higher of the Western Conference’s wild card berths with no room for improvement. The team will wait to learn its first round opponent, which could be Anaheim, Colorado or St. Louis.

Dallas Stars (40-30-11, 91pts) – The Stars will enter the postseason with the lower wild card seeding and a series against the best in the west. That means either Anaheim or Colorado.

Remaining NHL Schedule

All times ET

Saturday

12:30 Buffalo at Boston

3:00 Philadelphia at Pittsburgh

7:00 Columbus at Florida

7:00 NY Rangers at Montreal

7:00 Toronto at Ottawa

8:00 Chicago at Nashville

9:00 San Jose at Phoenix

10:00 Vancouver at Edmonton

10:00 Anaheim at Los Angeles

Sunday

12:30 Detroit at St. Louis

3:00 Boston at New Jersey

3:00 Carolina at Philadelphia

3:00 Tampa Bay at Washington

5:00 NY Islanders at Buffalo

7:30 Ottawa at Pittsburgh

8:00 Colorado at Anaheim

8:00 Nashville at Minnesota

9:00 Dallas at Phoenix

9:00 Calgary at Vancouver

The Stanley Cup playoffs are set to commence on Wednesday, April 16.

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