Stanley Cup Playoff Push 2025: One Down, 31 to Go

Well, hockey fans, we are now passing the midpoint of the month of March, and so many things have developed. Seriously, this is an amazing month to be a sports fan, but it's especially a great month to be a hockey fan. So many teams have great chances to become part of the NHL's Sweet 16, and that means a lot of the games have so much meaning. Right now, the season has 32 days left, just barely over a month. And not only is the NHL coming down to the wire, so is the NBA, and the tournaments will start in college hoops, and baseball is almost here. Also, the UFL will start up in just under two weeks. Again, March is an amazing month to be a sports fan.

The playoff picture took some crazy twists and turns in the last week, so without further ado, here's how things look with just over a month left:

Atlantic Division

Oh boy. I really have no words for this. The Atlantic Division is still close, but look at the standings. The Florida Panthers still lead with 85 points, but now, it's the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs tied with 81 points. Who has the tiebreaker? None other than the Bolts. Same number of games played, but TB has more regulation wins (33) than TOR (31). When I wrote the first of these recaps two weeks ago, the Leafs were in first place. The Leafs had been in first place for a month, if not the better part of a month of a half. I was talking about the possibility of the Leafs winning the division. What... the hell... happened?! If I had to guess, not winning in regulation this month would do it. That and being swept in their season series against the Senators, who are now creeping up on them. The Leafs need to fix this fast, or else they may actually fall to the Wild Card standings.

Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division's Top 3 remains the same, with the Washington Capitals still having a sizable lead in the division. The Caps lead by 10 points over the Carolina Hurricanes, who are on a roll since trading away Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars. The New Jersey Devils remain in third place, sitting six points ahead in that spot, but the news gets worse for NJ. They already lost Jack Hughes for the season, and the news is official: Dougie Hamilton's out for the rest of the regular season. They're only behind Carolina by 8 points, but there's barely over a month left, and they need to scrape together some wins right the hell now.

East Wild Cards

Well, look who is suddenly above ground now! The continuing game of "Musical Chairs" known as the Eastern Conference Wild Card race has the red hot Ottawa Senators (winners of six straight) in the WC1 spot with 77 points, only four less than Tampa Bay and Toronto. But we have a new team in the WC2 spot, and that's the New York Rangers. Despite the bad games, the bad starts, and some questionable deals, the Rangers moved into the WC2 spot on Saturday by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets. So it's good for the Rags, but they're one problem: they've played too many games. The Rangers are barely ahead of teams with games in hand; the Montréal Canadiens are one point out, and the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings are two points out. The Rangers need to hope that those three teams slip on some banana peels down the line, or else.

Central Division

The Colorado Avalanche are on a roll! Let's get one thing straight; the overall Central Division race is over. The Winnipeg Jets will most likely finish first, as they sit with the overall top record with 98 points, and are three wins away from officially clinching. The only intriguing race in the Central is between the Avs and the Dallas Stars, and thanks to Colorado's win over Dallas, it just got interesting. As a result of the OT win, the Avs are now two points behind Dallas. That's the good news. The bad news: Dallas' next four games are at home, and they are against Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. Two of the four games are against teams above the playoff line, and I only trust one of them. Yikes.

Pacific Division

While the Pacific Division remains the same as last week, it's only because the Edmonton Oilers won to move up back to 2nd place. The Oilers and Kings have been swapping positions as of late, but right now, it's the Oilers with 82 points, ahead by one over LA. The Vegas Golden Knights still lead the Pacific, but it's close. Real close. If the Kings keep winning at the right time, they will have a real chance to move up and surpass (at least) Edmonton in the standings. I feel like the only thing that could help this team win a series is having home ice. If they had home ice in any of the three past playoff meetings with the Oilers, LA wins them.

West Wild Cards

The Western Conference's Wild Card race is getting crazy. The Minnesota Wild continue to struggle but still hold on to the WC1 spot with 79 points. However, the team holding the WC2 spot is none other than the Vancouver Canucks, and it's close. They are tied with the red hot St. Louis Blues with 73 points, but Vancouver has a game in hand. So what about the Calgary Flames, you ask? They've slipped behind both teams in the standings. With 71 points, they are tied with the Utah Hockey Club, with Calgary having two games in hand. These are the teams with a legit shot at the playoffs, but it's getting very wild with 32 days left in the season.

So that's the playoff picture, but there is one more thing:

We have an elimination this week, and unsurprisingly, it's the San Jose Sharks. I remember when this team almost never missed the playoffs. Before this, San Jose's longest playoff drought was three years. Currently, it's now double that. The Sharks have not reached the playoffs in this decade. In addition, this is the third straight year that the Sharks were among the first two teams to be eliminated, and it's the second time in that span that they were the first ones out. My goodness.

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Barely over a month remains, and we have an elimination, but no clinches yet. However, the Capitals and Jets should officially be playoff bound by this time next week; each team stands three wins away from getting in. The road to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is now bumpier than ever, but it will be one hell of a ride!