Flames, Canucks chasing surging Blues for wild card spot in West
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The playoff races across the NHL continue to heat up with just four weeks remaining in the regular season.
Here's a look at some of the races and who has the best chance to get in.
Western Conference - Wild Card
The St. Louis Blues are the hottest team in the NHL after winning six straight games.
For their efforts, the Blues have jumped into the second Western Conference Wild Card spot with 81 points through 72 games, four points more than the Calgary Flames and five more than the Vancouver Canucks.
However, Calgary and have three and two games in hand, respectively.
During this winning six game stretch, St. Louis has been led by Jordan Kyrou (six goals, five assists), Dylan Holloway (two goals, eight assists) and Robert Thomas (one goal, seven assists).
Jordan Binnington has continued the momentum he gained from a strong performance at February's 4 Nations Face-Off, winning eight of 10 games since the tournament and dropping his goals-against average to 2.77
Joel Hofer has also been strong between the pipes for the Blues recently, picking up half of the wins during their current win streak, allowing just one each time.
The Flames have won three in a row while the Canucks have won three times in their last eight games.
St. Louis does not play neither Calgary or Vancouver the rest of the way this season.
The Minnesota Wild leads the Western wild-card race with 85 points in 70 games and are three points behind the Colorado Avalanche (89 points in 71 games) for the third playoff spot in the Central Division. The Winnipeg Jets (100 points in 71 games) and Dallas Stars (92 points in 69 games) sit 1-2 in the Central.
The three playoff spots in the Pacific Division are all but officially wrapped up with the Vegas Golden Knights (92 points in 70 games) leading the Los Angeles Kings (87 points in 69 games) and Edmonton Oilers (87 points in 70 games).
Fourth-place Calgary is 10 points behind Edmonton.
Eastern Conference - Wild Card
The race for the playoffs in the East still has plenty of teams within striking distance as six teams are within six points of the upstart Montreal Canadiens for the second and final spot in the Wild Card.
With every passing game the Ottawa Senators seem destined to snap their seven year playoff drought.
The Sens have won eight of their 11 games in March and now own the top Wild Card spot in the East with 79 points through 69 games, five points better than the third-place New York Rangers with two games in hand as well.
The Habs have played good hockey as of late as well with a 5-1-4 record over their last 10 games.
Montreal hasn't made the playoffs since their surprising run to the Stanley Cup final in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers (89 points in 71 games) still maintain first place in the Atlantic Division ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs (87 points in 70 games) and Tampa Bay Lightning (85 points in 70 games).
The Maple Leafs still have two games left against the Panthers (April 2 in Toronto and April 8 in Florida) as well as one more against the Lightning (April 9 in Tampa Bay).
Ottawa is six points back of Tampa for the third spot.
The league-leading Washington Capitals (102 points in 70 games), Carolina Hurricanes (90 points in 70 games) and New Jersey Devils (80 points in 71 games) as seem bound for the postseason in the Metropolitan Division.