It’s looking more and more likely prized prospect Auston Matthews will head to a Canadian city at this year’s draft. No longer should we be questioning the scenario, with five of the NHL’s six worst teams in the hunt hailing from the North. Instead, we should be asking ourselves which one will win out in the lottery.
NHL scores 2016: The race for the league’s basement is on
Toronto and Edmonton are racing for something potentially bigger than a playoff berth.
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The NHL's last regular season week is upon us. Not only are the postseason races in their final legs, but the race to the basement is closing in on a wild finish. The teams in the thick of it all? The newly stripped down Maple Leafs and, who else, the Oilers.
Updated as of 4/5
With just two games left in the season — both against the Canucks, who have the fourth-worst record in the league — the Oilers are primed and ready to have the best odds to win the lottery. If Edmonton wins this year's lottery, it'd be the fifth time in seven drafts that the Oilers would command the first overall pick.
Standing in their way are the Maple Leafs, who have three games left against the Blue Jackets, Flyers and Devils. With Toronto's 4-3 loss to Florida on Monday, the teams remain deadlocked with 79 points.
It’s coming down to a case of who blinks first, if at all. Quite possibly, the Oilers and Maple Leafs could both lose out the rest of the way. If so, the standings would remain the same, with the Oilers staying in last with more regulation losses in hand.
While the playoff races are some of the most fun to watch this time of year, the race to become the NHL’s worst team has just as much intrigue.
Scores
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3 things we learned
1. Rangers, Panthers punch their tickets to the playoffs
It was a big night for playoff clinches. First, for the sixth straight year, the Rangers are headed to the postseason. On the back of a 27-save performance from Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers became the third Metropolitan Division team to lock up a spot, alongside the Capitals and Penguins.
The Panthers are the Atlantic's first team to nab a playoff spot. Not only do they now have a franchise record 99 points on the season, Florida has home-ice advantage locked for the first round.
Panthers gain home ice in first round and go up 4 points on TBL for first place in Atlantic with 3 games left #flapanthers
— Harvey Fialkov (@hfialkov) April 5, 2016
2. Brock Nelson responded to his coach's call out
The Islanders have been floundering in a big way recently. They've been battered by injuries, sure, but instead of rallying around themselves, New York's had a bit of a hard time getting back on track. So much so that head coach Jack Capuano called out some of his players. One of them? Brock Nelson, who then hours later threw down a huge breakaway goal to help the Islanders over the Lightning.
Not a bad way to respond to criticism.
3. Jaromir Jagr is too fast for selfies, or is he?
Superstar Jaromir Jagr was seemingly too fast for a fan to take a selfie near the glass before the Panthers game on Monday. A Penguins fan had the rare opportunity to get a selfie with Jagr but seemingly fumbled the delivery before Jagr skated away.
But in fact, the fan did get the selfie after all! Not bad!
Impact Moment
This Canucks game-winner is quite something.
Stat of the Night
Vladimir Tarasenko 1st St Louis Blues player w/ back to back 70 Point seasons since Pavol Demitra (01-02 & 02-03) youngest since Gilmour.
— STL Blues History (@STLBlueshistory) April 5, 2016
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