The NHL playoff picture is mostly set, but Tuesday still carries real significance for seeding, home-ice advantage and the draft lottery order. With nine games on the schedule, several teams will spend the final night of the regular season trying to improve their postseason position or protect their place in the lottery standings.
The biggest remaining questions involve the Western Conference, where the Pacific Division race still has movement at the top and the final wild-card alignment can shift in small but important ways. In the East, the Bruins can lock up the first wild-card spot, while the Canadiens, Flyers and Hurricanes have seeding implications that could shape first-round matchups.
What matters most in Tuesday’s games
- Boston can clinch the East’s top wild-card spot with a win over New Jersey.
- Montreal still has a path to home-ice advantage in its first-round series.
- Anaheim, Los Angeles and Utah are all still involved in Western seeding battles.
- Several eliminated teams are now focused on draft lottery position, not playoff math.
New Jersey Devils at Boston Bruins
Boston enters the night with a clear target: a win would secure the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card berth and a first-round meeting with the Sabres. Any other result would leave the Bruins waiting for Ottawa’s Wednesday finale against Toronto to determine whether they finish as WC1 or WC2.
New Jersey is already out of the playoff race, but the game still matters in the draft lottery picture. The Devils sit 12th in the lottery order, one point ahead of Nashville and three ahead of San Jose, and that matters because only the bottom 11 teams can jump to No. 1 through the lottery.
Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders
Carolina already locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, so the focus shifts to clean execution and staying sharp entering the playoffs. New York has been eliminated, and its only remaining concern is draft position, where a win could still move the Islanders no higher than 13th and as low as 15th.
The Hurricanes’ path is now about rhythm instead of standings, while the Islanders are in evaluation mode. That contrast often changes how teams manage ice time and late-game decisions at this stage of the season.
Montreal Canadiens at Philadelphia Flyers
This game matters more to Montreal than to Philadelphia, even though both teams are in the playoffs. The Flyers are locked into the No. 3 seed and will face Pittsburgh in the opening round, which removes any standings pressure from their side.
Montreal is tied with Tampa Bay in points in the Atlantic Division and needs to stay ahead in the standings to secure home-ice advantage. The Lightning finish their season on Wednesday against the Rangers, so the Canadiens can put immediate pressure on that race with a result in Philadelphia.
Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets
The stakes shifted after Philadelphia avoided a collapse on Monday, which removed what would have been a more meaningful race for Metro positioning. Instead, this becomes the final game of the season for Alex Ovechkin, with his future beyond the current campaign still unresolved.
The Capitals and Blue Jackets are both eliminated, so the focus turns to context rather than standings. For Washington, the finish adds one more chapter to a season that ended before the playoffs, while Columbus continues to sort out its offseason direction.
Anaheim Ducks at Minnesota Wild
Anaheim has already secured its return to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but its exact playoff seed is still unsettled. The Ducks enter play third in the Pacific with 90 points and 25 regulation wins, and they can still finish anywhere from first to fourth in the division.
That matters because the Pacific winner could face Los Angeles or another wild-card team, and Anaheim’s regulation-wins total creates several tiebreak consequences against Edmonton and Los Angeles. Minnesota’s side is more straightforward, since the Wild are locked into the No. 3 seed in the Central and will open against Dallas.
Winnipeg Jets at Utah Mammoth
Winnipeg was knocked out of contention on Monday, but the game still affects lottery positioning and the broader Western race. The Jets are eighth in the draft order and can finish as high as sixth, depending on how the final results break.
Utah has more at stake, because the Mammoth hold only a one-point lead over Los Angeles for the first Western wild card. They also have a sizable edge in regulation wins, which could matter if the standings tighten further, and that top wild-card spot would bring a first-round matchup with the Pacific Division winner.
Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames
Colorado has already locked up the No. 1 overall seed, so the Avalanche are playing for form and momentum rather than standings. They still showed urgency on Monday with a shootout win over Edmonton, a reminder that teams with nothing left to prove can still play with playoff intensity.
Calgary remains in the draft lottery picture and sits fourth in that order. The Flames can move up only if they lose their final two games and receive help from other results, including a Rangers win in their season finale on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh Penguins at St. Louis Blues
Pittsburgh is preparing to meet its Pennsylvania rival in the opening round, which should create the kind of hard-edged series that has long defined that matchup. The Penguins already know their postseason path, so their remaining interest is mostly in finishing healthy and staying sharp.
St. Louis, meanwhile, is now focused on the draft lottery. The Blues are ninth in the lottery order and can rise as high as sixth depending on other results, but their 31 regulation wins already place them ahead of most nearby teams in that tiebreaker category.
Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks
Los Angeles is back in the playoffs and still trying to improve its position in a crowded Pacific race. The Kings trail Anaheim by one point for third place and Edmonton by two points for second, although they have a game in hand on the Oilers.
The Canucks are out of the playoff race and already positioned for the best shot at the No. 1 overall pick. Vancouver has the league’s poorest record locked in, which gives it the strongest lottery odds and guarantees no worse than the third selection.
| Game | Main stake |
|---|---|
| Devils at Bruins | Boston can clinch WC1 |
| Hurricanes at Islanders | Carolina holds East No. 1 seed |
| Canadiens at Flyers | Montreal can still push for home ice |
| Capitals at Blue Jackets | Ovechkin’s season finale |
| Ducks at Wild | Anaheim’s Pacific seed still unsettled |
| Jets at Mammoth | Utah tries to protect WC1 in the West |
| Avalanche at Flames | Colorado is set; Calgary plays for lottery position |
| Penguins at Blues | Pittsburgh is playoff-bound; St. Louis watches the lottery |
| Kings at Canucks | L.A. chases better seeding, Vancouver chases draft odds |
The last night of the regular season will not reshape every matchup, but it still carries meaningful seeding swings in both conferences. For playoff teams, the difference between home ice and starting on the road can matter, while for eliminated clubs, Tuesday offers one last chance to improve lottery odds before the postseason begins.
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