Habs hanging on to East's final wild card; scorching Blues running away with West's

With three weeks remaining in the NHL regular season, the playoff picture in each conference should be starting to crystallize.

While the scorching-hot St. Louis Blues have taken firm control of the final wild-card slot in the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference picture gets muddier by the day.

Waiting for a second wild-card team to step up in Eastern Conference

The Montreal Canadiens (33-29-9) enter play on Friday as the second wild-card team in the Eastern Conference, but are moving in the wrong direction with losses in four consecutive games.

Working in their favour, though, is the fact that the four teams in close contention with them - the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings - have also played poorly down the stretch.

Over the last five games played by each of the five teams battling for the final playoff spot, the Islanders are the lone team with multiple victories.

A cold stretch by the competition has helped, but Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki spoke strongly about the state of the team following their 6-4 loss to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

"We know how we can play, dominate teams, dominate games, and it's not coming right now," Suzuki said. "We've lost four in a row, we're happy with getting a point [in overtime losses to the Islanders and Colorado Avalanche to start the losing streak] but it's still four losses."

Habs coach Martin St. Louis had no easy answers for how the team can get out of their rut.

"We need everybody. Everybody's been a big part of our success, and we need everybody to keep going," St. Louis said after the game on Thursday.

Montreal is seeking a return to the playoffs for the first time since losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020-21 season. Their next three games come against elite opponents in the Eastern Conference in the Carolina Hurricanes and a home-and-home series against the Florida Panthers.

"We gave up two quick goals (in the first period against the Flyers), and that can't happen at this time of year," Suzuki said. "It's on us and we have to be better, a lot better against Carolina and Florida coming up."

Flames, Canucks trying to catch unstoppable Blues

The situation in the Western Conference is playing out a lot differently than the Eastern Conference.

The Blues jumped over the Vancouver Canucks for the final wild-card slot on Mar. 20, and have rattled off four more wins a row since to open up a five-point lead over the Canucks.

In their last 19 games, the once-forgotten Blues, who ranked 11th in the Western Conference standings on Feb. 6 and eight points out of a playoff spot, have 15 wins and a 15-2-2 record overall.

A 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday gave St. Louis its eighth win in a row.

“I think that’s huge to have a comeback win,” forward Dylan Holloway said. “It wasn’t our best game by any means, we were kind of fighting it a bit early, but I think to come back and win a game like that is huge for our team. I think that’s how we grow. It’s definitely crucial to know that we can do that.”

Vancouver is trying to hang around in the standings, with two games in hand, and a 5-2 win over the Islanders on Thursday allowed them to keep pace with the Blues.

"These are all must-win games," goaltender Thatcher Demko said after the game. "There's not many left, so we're just doing what we can to stay in it here, finding different ways to win each night. We're going to keep pushing here until the end and see if we can squeeze a couple more out.”

“We're in a situation where we need everyone, it doesn't matter if you're a call up and you're just getting in the lineup or you're a guy that's here every day, we need everyone,” Demko said.

The Calgary Flames fell 5-2 to the Dallas Stars on Thursday, pushing them further behind in the standings. A pair of disallowed goals contributed to the deflating loss despite 46 shots on goal and another 32 shots blocked by Stars players.

"We deserved better tonight," head coach Ryan Huska said after the game. "We didn't get it. It happens some nights. You win games that you shouldn't, and it goes both ways over the course of a year."

"Certainly feel we got robbed tonight," said Flames centre Nazem Kadri, who scored twice. "Feel like if we play like that most nights, you're going to get the result you want. Don't think you can get discouraged with that one."

One thing working in favour of the Canucks and Flames as the season winds down is their games in hand. The Canucks have two games in hand over the Blues, while the Flames have three.