The Anaheim Ducks can clinch a playoff berth by beating the Vancouver Canucks in any fashion Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, one of six games on the NHL schedule with playoff implications. Elsewhere, the Washington Capitals face the Pittsburgh Penguins at 3 p.m. ET, while the Montreal Canadiens meet the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 6 p.m. ET.
Those games come with five days left in the regular season, and the margin for error is gone for teams still trying to get into the 2026 NHL postseason. The top three teams in each of the four divisions and the next two highest-place finishers in each conference reach the playoffs, which means every point and every tiebreaker matters now.
The Capitals, who beat Pittsburgh 6-3 on Saturday in the first game of the home-and-home set, would be eliminated from playoff contention with a regulation loss Sunday. Washington sat five points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference, a gap that leaves little room for anything but a win. The Penguins are locked into second place in their division, so the stakes are all on the Washington side of the ice.
Read Also: Panthers Vs Canadiens: Montreal hosts Florida with playoffs secured
The Canadiens bring a different kind of milestone into their game. Nick Suzuki needs one point to become the first Montreal player to reach 100 points in a season since Mats Naslund had 110 in 1985-86, and Montreal sits third in the Atlantic Division because Tampa Bay owns the regulation-wins tiebreaker. That detail matters as much as the scoring chase, because the standings are tight enough that a single tiebreaker can shift a team’s path.
On Long Island, the Islanders are trying to avoid the kind of result that could end their season. Matthew Schaefer needs one goal to pass Brian Leetch and set the NHL record for the most goals in a season by a rookie defenseman, but New York would be eliminated from contention under several combinations involving its result, Columbus and Washington. The Islanders have lost five of six and sit sixth in the Metropolitan Division, a slide that has left them hanging on by threads.
Read Also: Nhl Scores: Caufield hits 50 as Canadiens beat Lightning 2-1
The Bruins are in a different spot, and not a happier one. Boston has already clinched a playoff berth, but it arrives in Columbus on a five-game slide and a 0-3-2 stretch, with the second wild card in the East only because Ottawa holds the regulation-wins tiebreaker. The Blue Jackets are two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division, and Zach Werenski is one assist from becoming the first Columbus player to reach 60 in a season. For a Sunday like this, even the teams that feel safe are still one bounce from having to do the math again.
That is why the league’s last week keeps narrowing to the same hard truth: the standings are not just crowded, they are connected. The Ducks can finish one race with a win. The Capitals can lose theirs with one regulation defeat. And in a season defined by nhl clinching scenarios, every game that starts Sunday afternoon can reshape the board before the night is over.
