The Eastern Conference wild-card playoff race is starting to get chaotic
With just a few weeks left in the 2024-25 season, there is a heated race for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Heading into Friday night’s slate of action, the Ottawa Senators hold the first Wild Card spot in the conference with 77 points, while the Montreal Canadiens, sitting eighth in the East, are three points back. As it stands, there are six teams within 10 points of the Canadiens, with four teams within four points.
It has been a tight race for the last couple of months, but with teams only having a dozen or so games left in the regular season, things are only going to get crazier before the eight spots are determined.
On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk look at the playoff picture in the East and what that means for the dash to the finish line.
Frank Seravalli: The Ottawa Senators are scuffling a bit now, for the first time in a little while … the door is wide open now for a team like the Montreal Canadiens to chase down the Sens, which adds yet another layer of intrigue, is that seventh spot back in play. The [Columbus] Blue Jackets are still very much in the race, although it does feel like they’ve hit a bit of a wall. The [New York] Rangers don’t look, to me, like a team that’s possibly going to get it together, and if you sort it by points percentage, they’re actually below Detroit and Columbus…
The Islanders deserve full marks for the way that they battled back again, seemingly from the dead. I look at this team, and I say the fact that they’ve survived with this poor special teams and a team that also, at times, really struggles to score. It’s kind of amazing … they might almost make the playoffs by accident after trading away one of their best players … If I were to pick one team to answer your next question, it would be the Montreal Canadiens to get in. I just like the mojo and energy that they have. I think they have a playoff-ready offense, and obviously, the Lane Hutson differentiator on the back end, that goes a long way.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…