NHL Playoffs Placement Battle

Wow, just wow. The NHL regular season came down to the wire! With a battle of two eastern conference teams heading for the last wild card slot and a western conference lockdown, it was surely a season to remember. Let's break down the end of the 2023-24 regular season.

Washington and Detroit:

The Washington Capitals and the Detroit Red Wings had one of the closest end-of-season outcomes in NHL history. With both teams on their final game of the season on the same night, this was sure to be a close one!

Washington played first and after Alexander Ovechkin scored the first goal of the night, the Capitals looked like they could walk away with it. But later into the game the Philadelphia Flyers would tie it. At the end of the game, a bad call from Philly would cost them. The Flyers decided to pull the goalie even though the game was tied! An empty net goal from TJ Oshie would seal the deal. The Caps would win 2-1.

Next up, Detroit. The Red Wings would go down 0-1 early but as the game moved on, they found themselves down 3-4 with 7 minutes left. The clock would tick all the way down to 7.7 seconds left in the game. Remember that this decides if they make the playoffs or not. The Red Wings would score off a shot from Perron and tie the game with 3.3 seconds left! The game went to a shootout but by then it was too late.

Even though the Wings won, the Caps would secure the final wild-card spot just because they had a more positive record (even though both teams ended with the same point totals).

Las Vegas, Nashville, and St. Louis:

The Las Vegas, Nashville, and St. Louis scandal was not as close in terms of standings as the Washington and Detroit fight. The Predators were leading the charge down the stretch while Las Vegas and the Blues followed. The Preds had pretty much closed the gap so the two teams were left with one wild-card spot remaining.

All the way from the start of February after the All-Star Weekend, people knew that the last few spots would be very close. Both teams just kept matching each other’s pace, but the Blues had already been behind a few points.

Las Vegas would win 3 key games against the Avs, Wild, and Blackhawks to reach 98 points. This would be their total for the end of the season.

On the other hand, the Blues lost to the Hurricanes, beat the Kraken, and then lost to the Stars. They would fall short by 6 points and end the season with 92.

Overall, Las Vegas would lock down and win crucial games to seal their spot.

In conclusion, the NHL placement battle is surely a moment that is to be remembered as this is one of the closest ends to the NHL season that I have ever seen.