The Wild clinched a berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs by tallying a tying goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation and then let their crease be manned by Marc-Andre Fleury, who backstopped Minnesota to an overtime win during the final regular-season game of his storied 21-season career.
* The Blues also clinched a postseason spot while the Blue Jackets blanked the Flyers to remain in contention for the 16th and final berth. Five teams that missed the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will secure a spot this year – there has been playoff turnover of at least five clubs in all but one season under the Wild Card format (implemented in 2013-14).
* Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner reached milestones as the Maple Leafs clinched the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division, which locked in two of the four 2025 First Round matchups that were confirmed Tuesday. Dylan Strome scored a hat trick for the Capitals who will face either the Blue Jackets or Canadiens, with Montreal looking to punch its ticket to the postseason tonight. AstraZeneca will donate $3,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $300,000 for every hat trick this season.
* NHL Central Scouting revealed its final rankings presented by BODYARMOR Sports Drink for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft, which saw Matthew Schaefer and Anton Frondell ranked as No. 1 among North American and international skaters, respectively.
MINNESOTA tieS game late to clinch berth before Fleury foils Ducks in overtime
With the Ducks leading 2-1, Joel Eriksson Ek scored with 22 seconds remaining in regulation – the Wild’s latest game-tying tally since Nov. 6, 2021 (59:57) – to secure Minnesota’s berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and send the contest to overtime, where Marc-Andre Fleury entered the net to backstop the club to victory in its final contest of the season.
* The Wild clinched a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 14th time in franchise history and for the 11th time in 13 seasons – tied for the most in the NHL since 2013 (w/ WSH & TBL).
* Minnesota is one of four franchises in NHL history with a perfect series winning percentage in rounds where it was the lower-seeded team (4 for 4). The others: Columbus (2 for 2), New York Americans (1 for 1) and Seattle (1 for 1).
* Fleury stopped all five shots he faced before Matt Boldy buried the overtime winner. Fleury earned the 575th and final victory of his career, which includes an NHL-record 71 in overtime.
BLUES SCALE STANDINGS TO SECURE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS BERTH
Pavel Buchnevich (1-2—3), Robert Thomas (0-2—2) and Jordan Kyrou (2-0—2) each posted multi-point games as the Blues potted six goals against Utah Hockey Club to clinch a berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Buchnevich became the fifth player in franchise history with four consecutive 20-goal seasons from the start of his tenure with St. Louis, joining Pierre Turgeon (5 from 1996-97 to 2000-01), Doug Gilmour (5 from 1983-84 to 1987-88), Jorgen Pettersson (5 from 1980-81 to 1984-85) and Brendan Shanahan (4 from 1991-92 to 1994-95). Thomas, meanwhile, recorded his 289th career assist to tie Pavol Demitra for eighth place on the franchise’s all-time list.
* The Blues return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022 after sitting eight points out of a position heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off. Since then, St. Louis has posted a 19-4-3 record, including an franchise-record 12-game winning streak – the longest by a team this season. The last time the club overcame a deficit of that many points to clinch a berth in the postseason was in 2018-19 en route to their first Stanley Cup.
MATTHEWS, MARNER HELP MAPLE LEAFS CLINCH ATLANTIC DIVISION TITLE
Auston Matthews (1-1—2) netted his 400th career goal and Mitch Marner (1-0—1) scored to record his first 100-point season as the Maple Leafs (51-26-4, 106 points) shut out the Sabres to clinch their division title for the third time in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68), following 1999-00 (Northeast Division) and 2020-21 (Scotia North Division).
* Matthews became the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to 400 goals (628 GP) behind Wayne Gretzky (436 GP), Mike Bossy (506 GP), Mario Lemieux (508 GP), Brett Hull (520 GP) and Jari Kurri (608 GP). Matthews also became just the second Maple Leafs player to reach the milestone, following Mats Sundin (420).
* Marner became the fourth player in franchise history with a 100-point season, joining Doug Gilmour (2x; most: 127 in 1992-93), Darryl Sittler (2x; most: 117 in 1977-78) and Matthews (2x; most: 107 in 2023-24).
FOUR MORE PLAYOFF MATCHUPS CONFIRMED
Four Stanley Cup Playoffs matchups were confirmed Tuesday, with the “Battle of Ontario” and “Battle of Florida” locked in by virtue of the Maple Leafs clinching the Atlantic Division title as well as the final two Western Conference matchups by virtue of a Minnesota point and St. Louis regulation win.
* Toronto and Ottawa are set to contest their fifth postseason series and first since the 2004 Conference Quarterfinals. Three of those four previous matchups (2004 CQF, 2001 CQF & 2000 CQF) took place in the opening round of the playoffs, with the lone exception being the 2002 Conference Semifinals. The Maple Leafs have won each of their series against the Senators.
* The Lightning and Panthers are set for their fourth all-time postseason series (also 2024 R1, 2022 R2 & 2021 R1). The winner in each of the last three “Battle of Florida” postseason series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa Bay did so following its wins in the 2021 First Round and 2022 Second Round, while Florida went on to win the Cup after sweeping the Lightning during the 2024 First Round.
* The Golden Knights and Wild will meet in their second postseason series and first since the 2021 First Round, when Vegas claimed a victory in Game 7 after Minnesota rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force the winner-take-all contest. The Golden Knights rank second in the NHL with 11 series wins since their inaugural season in 2017-18, while the Wild seek their first series victory since the 2015 First Round.
* The 2025 First Round will mark the second all-time playoff meeting between the Jets and Blues, with St. Louis claiming a 4-2 series victory during the 2019 First Round matchup en route to the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship. Winnipeg, which held the No. 2 seed in the Central Division in the clubs’ last meeting, holds an all-time series record of 2-3 (.667) as the higher-seeded team in a series, while St. Louis holds an all-time record of 18-16 (.529) when they are the lower seed.
Fantilli, Greaves GUIDE blue jackets TO ANOTHER CRUCIAL VICTORY
Adam Fantilli forged his fifth goal over the last three games while Jet Greaves generated 29 saves as Columbus (39-33-9, 87 points) blanked Philadelphia and extended its winning streak to five contests. The Blue Jackets moved within two points of the idle Canadiens (39-31-11, 89 points), who occupy the Eastern Conference’s final Wild Card spot.
* Fantilli became the second player in franchise history to score 30 goals in a season at age 20 or younger, following Rick Nash who notched 41 during the 2003-04 campaign en route to winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. Greaves made his first appearance since being named the NHL’s “First Star” presented by GEICO for the week ending April 13 and improved to 4-0-0 in his last four appearances with a 0.75 goals-against average, .976 save percentage and two shutouts.
SCHAEFER LEADS NORTH AMERICAN SKATERS IN NHL FINAL DRAFT RANKINGS
NHL Central Scouting revealed its final rankings presented by BODYARMOR Sports Drink for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft, which saw Matthew Schaefer (Hamilton, Ont.), a defenseman for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, ranked No. 1 among North American skaters, edging Saginaw Spirit center Michael Misa and Boston College freshman James Hagens. Among international skaters, Anton Frondell (Stockholm, Sweden), a forward for Djurgarden in Sweden’s second division, tops the list followed by 18-year-old Victor Eklund. Click here for full details.
* Prosect profiles for the top 10 North American, top 10 international as well as the top goaltender from each list is now available.
* The NHL also unveiled the official logo for the Draft, set for June 27-28 in the city of Los Angeles at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater.
QUICK CLICKS
* #NHLStats: Live Updates – April 15, 2025
* Trophy Tracker: Cale Makar of Avalanche choice for Norris as best defenseman
* Mailbag: Jack Adams candidates; Blackhawks should have busy offseason
* Synthetic ice rink wows kids from Future Caps Learn to Play program
* NHL Announces 32 Team Nominees for 2024-25 King Clancy Memorial Trophy
FINAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT NHL ON TNT DOUBLEHEADER OF THE REGULAR SEASON
The final NHL regular-season instalment of Wednesday night NHL on TNT doubleheaders begins with the Devils (42-32-7, 91 points) welcoming the Red Wings (38-35-7, 83 points) before the Golden Knights (49-22-10, 108 points) visit the Canucks (38-29-14, 90 points). The Canadiens (39-31-11, 89 points) will have another opportunity to clinch a berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs when they contest their last game of the regular season against the Hurricanes (47-28-5, 99 points).
* Jesper Bratt (150-297—447 in 552 GP) will enter Wednesday with the opportunity to become the 10th player in Devils/Rockies/Scouts history to reach 300 assists as the Devils contest their final game of the regular season before facing off against the Hurricanes in the 2025 First Round. Bratt can require the third-fewest games in franchise history to reach the milestone and would trail Scott Gomez (494 GP) and Kirk Muller (495 GP). Bratt has already set Devils/Rockies/Scouts single seasons records with his 67 helpers.
* The Golden Knights will look to extend their winning streak against the Canucks to four games, which would tie their third-longest active run against an opponent (also 4 GP vs. ANA dating to Oct. 13, 2024). Their top two are against the Sharks (7 GP dating to Oct. 12, 2023) and Wild (5 GP dating to March 30, 2024). Vegas will also have the opportunity to pass its second-highest point total in a single season with a victory (also 109 in 2017-18), behind only 2022-23 (111).
