Let’s take a look at how Sunday’s game changed the playoff picture, starting with the East because the West didn’t really see any significant impacts.
East outlook
- The two top teams won games on Sunday. The Boston Bruins edged the Philadelphia Flyers in an exciting game that ended in a shootout while the Pittsburgh Penguins made life miserable for the Chicago Blackhawks.
- The New York Rangers tied a franchise record with their 24th road win by pummeling the Edmonton Oilers 5-0. About the only dim news is that Martin St. Louis’ surprising goal drought continued.
- The Detroit Red Wings managed a big win against the Tampa Bay Lightning (who may be primed to be the lower seed against the Montreal Canadiens in a first-round series).
- Much like the aforementioned Flyers, the Washington Capitals only managed a “charity point” in their shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.
- The Ottawa Senators crushed the Calgary Flames, although it’s almost certainly too late to matter.
Here’s a look at the standings via NBC Sports:
West stays the same, more or less
- Really, the most relevant West teams (as far as the spots/positions that are still in play) were idle on Sunday.
- The Blackhawks lost to the Penguins, as mentioned, which really just increases their chances of losing home-ice advantage against the Colorado Avalanche.
- You can basically replace the Ottawa Senators with the Nashville Predators to capture their situation (although the Preds are probably an even bigger long shot).
- The bad/lowly ranked teams lost fairly convincingly on Sunday.
Take a look for yourself: