The Minnesota Wild tied the St. Louis Blues with 93 standings points Wednesday night when they beat the San Jose Sharks and the Blues lost to the Edmonton Oilers.
As a result, the Wild moved past the Blues into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Part of that is because the Wild have played 79 games to the Blues’ 80, so Minnesota has the better points percentage.
But even if their points percentages were the same, the Wild still would have the edge because they hold the first tiebreaker of regulation wins.
Here are the NHL tiebreaker procedures and how they could affect NHL playoff races in the final week of the regular season:
What is the tiebreaker procedure for the NHL playoffs?
If two or more teams are tied in points at the end of the regular season, here are the tiebreakers:
- Regulation wins
- Regulation and overtime wins (ROW)
- Total wins
- Most points earned in head-to-head competition: If teams had an uneven number of meetings, the first game played in the city that has the extra game is excluded.
- Goal differential
- Total goals
How tiebreakers could affect Central Division title race
The Central-leading Winnipeg Jets (110 points) lead the Dallas Stars by four points heading into Thursday’s crucial game in Dallas. Each team has four games left.
Winnipeg leads in regulation wins 42-41 so it will be important for Dallas to win Thursday’s game in regulation. The Jets hold the lead in ROW (52-48) and overall wins (53-50), so Dallas’ best chance to win the Central Division is to finish ahead of Winnipeg in regulation wins or in points.
How tiebreakers could affect Pacific Division race
The No. 2 Los Angeles Kings and No. 3 Oilers appear headed toward a fourth consecutive first-round meeting. Edmonton won the previous three. Los Angeles is 29-5-4 at home this season so it would like to hold on to the second spot and have home-ice advantage.
Los Angeles has a two-point edge, a game in hand and a 39-33 lead in regulation wins. That means Edmonton can’t win a tiebreaker and would have to finish ahead of the Kings in points to get home-ice advantage in the first round.
How tiebreakers could affect Atlantic Division title race
The No. 1 Toronto Maple Leafs helped their cause with an overtime win against the No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, bumping their division lead to three points with four games left apiece. They’re tied in regulation wins at 39 and the Maple Leafs lead in ROW (47-43) and overall wins (48-45). The Lightning’s best chance for a division title is to finish ahead of Toronto in points or in regulation wins in the event of a tie.
How tiebreakers could affect Western Conference wild-card race
The Blues (trailing 33-31) can only tie the Wild in regulation wins. The Wild lead in ROW (40-39) and the teams are tied in overall wins at 43. It’s possible for St. Louis to pass Minnesota in points or in one of those categories and finish with the first wild-card seed.
If it goes to a fourth tiebreaker, the Wild would win because they are undefeated against the Blues this season.
How tiebreakers could affect Presidents’ Trophy race
The Jets (110 points), Washington Capitals (107), Stars (106) and Vegas Golden Knights (103) are still alive in the race for best regular-season record and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Vegas has the most regulation wins (43) but has only a slim chance of claiming the title. Washington and Winnipeg are tied at 42 regulation wins, but the Jets lead the Capitals in ROW (52-48) and overall wins (53-49)