NHL Playoff Picture 2023: Complete Standings, Bracket and Wild-Card Race (2024)

The Calgary Flames shook up the Western Conference wild-card race with their road win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.

Calgary moved level on points with its fellow Canadian side after the 3-1 victory, and that leaves everything to play for over the next eight days.

The Flames are not guaranteed of getting into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a wild-card team yet, but they put themselves in position to leap over the Jets before the regular season ends on April 14.

Calgary also has to fend off the challenge from the Nashville Predators, who are three points back of the two Canadian sides. All three of those teams are fighting for one spot with the Seattle Kraken moving closer to securing the top wild-card position.

Over in the Eastern Conference, four teams are fighting for the two wild-card positions. The Florida Panthers enter Thursday with the tiebreaker advantage over the New York Islanders.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are one point back of the Panthers and Islanders, while the Buffalo Sabres sit five points back of Pittsburgh with two games in hand. However, a tough remaining schedule featuring leading Eastern Conference teams New Jersey, Carolina and the New York Rangers could make that deficit difficult to overcome.

Atlantic Division

1. Boston: 125 points

2. Toronto: 102

3. Tampa Bay: 96

Metropolitan Division

1. Carolina: 109

2. New Jersey: 106

3. New York Rangers: 103

Wild-Card Race

1. Florida: 87

2. New York Islanders: 87

3. Pittsburgh: 86

4. Buffalo: 81

5. Ottawa: 81

Florida's four-game winning streak carried it from the outside of the wild-card race to the top wild-card position in the last week.

The Panthers finish with three of their final four games at home, starting with Thursday's matchup against the Ottawa Senators. A win there would be a huge blow to the Senators, who likely need to win out and get a considerable amount of help to make the playoffs.

Florida's remaining schedule appears tough with a road game against the Washington Capitals and home contests versus the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Canes and Leafs may not have anything to play for by the time they reach South Florida.

The Islanders have a similar finish, with three of their next four games at home. They need to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday to keep pace with Florida.

New York finishes with the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens at home and a road game against Washington. The Islanders should be favored to win each of those three contests.

Pittsburgh closes with two home and two road games, but all of them are winnable. The Penguins' toughest contest of the four comes Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, who are in the middle of a tight Central Division battle with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.

Central Division

1. Colorado: 98

2. Dallas: 98

3. Minnesota: 98

Pacific Division

1. Vegas: 104

2. Edmonton: 103

3. Los Angeles: 100

Wild-Card Race

1. Seattle: 94

2. Winnipeg: 89

3. Calgary: 89

4. Nashville: 86

Calgary brought some new drama to the West wild-card race with its win in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

The two Canadian sides are deadlocked on 89 points, but the Jets still have an edge in their favor. Winnipeg has an extra game left compared to Calgary, but its schedule is not easy.

Both Canadian sides host the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks in the final week of regular-season play, which also keeps Nashville alive in the race.

Winnipeg has to go on the road to face the Wild and Avalanche, and neither opponent will take those games lightly since the Central Division title is still on the line.

Calgary visits the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday and then plays its home games against Nashville and San Jose.

The Flames will probably go through a nervy 24 hours next week. They finish their regular-season slate on Wednesday, while the Jets wrap up in Colorado on Thursday.

The Jets-Avs game could have all sorts of playoff ramifications if the three Central Division title-contenders are still deadlocked.

Colorado has the edge over the Dallas Stars and Minnesota on paper since it has an extra game in hand, but that also means it plays six games in nine days.

The Central Division champion will most likely take on the Seattle Kraken, who are safely in front of Winnipeg with one game in hand.

Seattle plays two of its next three games against the Arizona Coyotes and hosts Chicago on Saturday. Three wins in those contests should get it into the playoff field as the top wild-card team.

The Kraken need to secure a postseason berth by the end of Monday's game in Arizona because they close with two games against the Vegas Golden Knights, who are locked in a Pacific Division title battle with the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings.

Vegas needs to win at least two of its last four games to be the top seed in the West. Edmonton will put pressure on the Knights with two assumed wins over San Jose, but the Oilers' potential point total will not reach higher than 107 if they lose to Colorado on Tuesday.