The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings are poised to crack long Stanley Cup playoff droughts in … [+]
As the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament begins, a pair of long-suffering fanbases have visions of 2025 NHL playoff games dancing through their heads.
The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings go into the break holding the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. The Senators’ last playoff appearance came in 2017, so their drought has stretched to seven seasons. The Red Wings’ drought is now at eight seasons after a run of 25 straight appearances from 1991 to 2016. The team has yet to host a playoff game at Little Caesars Arena, which opened in the fall of 2017.
Both teams have enjoyed a boost from their new coaches this season.
As the Senators embarked on a new era following the team’s purchase by Michael Andlauer in 2023 and Steve Staios’s subsequent appointment as general manager, Travis Green was installed behind the bench in May. Under his watch, the Sens are on pace for 91 points this year, which would be an improvement of 13 points from last season and their best result since the put up 98 points under Guy Boucher in 2016-17 and took the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins to double overtime in the 2017 Eastern Conference final.
Under Green, the Senators aren’t scoring as much as they were last season. But they’ve improved both their special teams and dropped from 3.43 goals against per game down to 2.77 — thanks in large part to new goalie acquisition Linus Ullmark but with a big assist from rookie Leevi Merilainen. When Ullmark suffered a back injury that kept him out for more than a month, the 22-year-old stepped in with eight wins in 12 appearances, posting a 1.99 goals-against average and .925 save percentage along the way.
The Sens have lost three in a row since Ullmark’s return, and he has given up seven goals in his two starts. With Jacob Markstrom injured, he’s Sweden’s presumptive starter at 4 Nations ahead of Filip Gustavsson and Samuel Ersson. If he plays, can that help to springboard him back to top form for the Senators’ stretch run?
Captain Brady Tkachuk will also be suiting up for Team USA at the 4 Nations tournament, and defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo was added to Finland’s roster on Sunday as an injury replacement for Rasmus Ristolainen.
Over in Detroit, the team’s playoff push has been recent, and rapid. The Red Wings had slipped to 15th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 13-17-4 when GM Steve Yzerman brought in Todd McLellan to replace coach Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26.
Since then, the team has gone 15-5-1 under McLellan thanks to boosts in all aspects of their game — most notably, a power play that has been converting at 36.5 percent. Lucas Raymond has led the way with 26 points in those 21 games, with 12 of them coming on the power play, and captain Dylan Larkin is right behind with 24 points.
The pair will be Detroit’s 4 Nations representatives, with Raymond skating for Sweden and Larkin for the United States.
Of course, for every team that comes up into the playoff picture, another must drop down. The two squads that have slipped since U.S. Thanksgiving are the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers.
And while the Sabres have fallen to last place in the Eastern Conference and are almost certainly out of the race, the other seven non-playoff teams in the East could all still have a chance — six points or less away from the second wild-card spot. It should be a wild race to the finish.
Over in the Western Conference, the picture is somewhat more straightforward. This week, the Vancouver Canucks opened up a three-point lead over the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card spot. The Utah Hockey Club is the only other team that’s in potential striking distance, six points back.
The only change in playoff teams since U.S. Thanksgiving is a swap of the clubs from Alberta. The Edmonton Oilers are in and the Flames are out.
And while the Winnipeg Jets have first place in the Western Conference all but locked up after riding an eight-game winning streak into the break, some intriguing races for positioning are shaping up. The Oilers are now tied with the Vegas Golden Knights at the top of the Pacific Division, with a game in hand. And just four points separate three playoff spots in the Central. At the break, the Dallas Stars sit second with 72 points in 55 games, the Minnesota Wild are third at 70 points in 56 games and the Colorado Avalanche are in the first wild-card spot with 68 points in 57 games.
Despite losing all-star defenseman Miro Heiskanen to a knee injury in late January, the Stars have been the hottest team in the West not named the Jets, with a record of 13-5-1 in 2025. As they try to make another trip back to the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers are right on their heels at 12-5-1.
The 4 Nations Face-Off runs from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. With about one-third of the regular season left to play, the league schedule will resume on Saturday, Feb. 22, eight weeks before the 2025 NHL Playoffs are set to begin.
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