Ottawa and Nashville are disrupting the playoff party at the last second
By Austin Nivison Mar 25, 2026 at 9:37 am ET • 1 min read 
CBS Sports design The push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs is reaching its climax, and two teams have clawed their way above the cut line after spending much of the season below it. The Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators have fought their way back into playoff position, and the updated NHL Power Rankings reflect that.
While they may seem similar on the surface, the Senators and Predators are quite different, both in terms of how they got here and what they might be able to do in the postseason. Ottawa is an elite defensive team with sparkling five-on-five numbers. The Sens just couldn't get a save for much of the season, so all those fancy five-on-five metrics didn't matter. The goaltending, led by Linus Ullmark, is starting to come around -- as are the results. Ottawa is a talented young club, and its rise is bad news for teams at the top of the East.
The Predators, on the other hand, are a squad led by wily veterans that have sparked an improbable surge after the team sold at the trade deadline. Those veterans, combined with strong goaltending from Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen, have Nashville in the second wild card spot amidst a five-game winning streak. Unlike Ottawa, however, the Predators have some pretty troubling analytics of late. They've gotten shelled at five-on-five in the month of March, but the goalies and timely scoring have masked that. Even if this house of cards doesn't collapse between now and the end of the regular season, it's hard to see Nashville going deep into the playoffs.
Here are the updated NHL Power Rankings with the Senators and Predators making big leaps, albeit in very different ranges.
Expected goals and goals saved above average data via Natural Stat Trick.
Biggest Movers 8 Predators 6 Kraken RkTeams ChgRcrd 1
Avalanche Martin Necas has been exceptional for the Avalanche this season. His 88 points are already a new career high, and his plus-48 goal differential at five-on-five is a reflection of how dominant Colorado has been with him on the ice. Sure, playing with Nathan MacKinnon helps, but Necas has been an ideal companion for No. 29. 2 47-13-10 2 
Sabres Zach Benson has been on a bit of a scoring streak lately with two goals and four assists in his last five games. The former No. 13 overall pick has yet to really find consistency in the NHL, but if it is starting to click for him, the Sabres are even more dangerous than they look right now. -- 44-20-7 3 
Stars Dallas has been rolling, but the loss of Roope Hintz looms large as the playoffs approach. The Stars hope to have Hintz back for the start of the postseason, but if he isn't ready by then, the team's center depth becomes an issue in a loaded Central Division. 2 43-17-11 4 
Hurricanes The Hurricanes' goaltending is a major issue. Undrafted rookie Brandon Bussi has been a great story, but his play has started to slip, and Frederik Andersen continues to struggle. Those two have allowed 12.1 goals above average in their last 12 combined appearances. Carolina isn't exactly built to outscore its problems in the postseason either. -- 45-20-6 5 
Lightning Nikita Kucherov now leads the NHL in scoring with 120 points in 65 games, and he boasts a plus-39 goal differential at five-on-five. Kucherov is making a serious push for his second Hart Trophy as the league MVP. 2 44-21-5 6 
Canadiens I've talked a lot about Cole Caufield this season, and I'm doing it again. He's just so fun to watch, and he recorded a hat trick in a critical win over the Islanders on Saturday. Caufield is up to second in the NHL with 44 goals -- just two behind Nathan MacKinnon. He's evolved into a legitimate offensive superstar. 2 39-21-10 7 
Wild Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy have combined to score 76 of Minnesota's 232 goals (32.8%). The Wild lean heavily on that duo for offense, but veteran Vladimir Tarasenko has been a somewhat surprising source of goals for Minnesota as well. He's up to 21 on the season after scoring just 11 in 80 games with the Red Wings last year. 2 40-20-12 8 
Senators The Senators are a meat grinder defensively. No team in the league allows five-on-five expected goals against at a lower rate than Ottawa, and now that Linus Ullmark is starting to find his form in goal, it's near impossible to hang a crooked number on the Sens. 4 38-24-9 9 
Ducks If you haven't tuned into a Ducks game yet this season, make plans to do so because this team plays fire wagon hockey. There is constant action at both ends. Anaheim creates 3.44 xG per game (5th) and allows 3.55 xG against per game (30th). 3 40-27-4 10 
Blue Jackets Since Rick Bowness made his debut behind the Columbus bench on Jan. 12, the Blue Jackets 19-3-4, which is the best record in the NHL over that span. That success isn't really a fluke either. The team's five-on-five expected goals share (52.9%) under Bowness ranks seventh. 1 38-22-11 11 
Mammoth The Mammoth are all but locked into the first wild card spot in the West, and that's an enviable position. Utah would avoid the stacked Central Division in each of the first two rounds while facing whichever team manages to back into the Pacific Division title. I'd take the Mammoth over all three of those teams right now. 2 37-29-6 12 
Bruins Jeremy Swayman has probably worked his way into the Vezina Trophy discussion this season. His 15.7 goals saved above average rank ninth, and few goalies face more expected goals against. It's been a nice rebound for Swayman after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. 3 39-24-8 13 
Islanders Anders Lee just snapped a nine-game goal drought, and he has just three points in his last 10 games. The Islanders don't have the forward depth for Lee to go cold in the middle of a playoff race, so the team will need to spark him sooner rather than later. 3 40-27-5 14 
Penguins After two disappointing seasons with the Penguins, Erik Karlsson is having a renaissance at the age of 35. Karlsson is thriving under first-year coach Dan Muse with 54 points and a plus-19 goal differential at five-on-five. Karlsson has given the blue line a huge lift. 3 35-20-16 15 
Oilers If the Oilers are going to overcome the loss of Leon Draisaitl down the stretch, they'll need rookie Matt Savoie to reach another level. The former No. 9 overall pick has just 29 points in 72 games, but the loss of Draisaitl should give Savoie a bigger opportunity with the team in need of extra offense. 1 35-28-9 16 
Red Wings The Red Wings' two trade deadline acquisitions -- David Perron and Justin Faulk -- haven't really moved the needle yet. Perron has yet to register a point in his return to Detroit, and Faulk has produced middling results on defense. -- 38-25-8 17 
Golden Knights Vegas is reeling. The team has five goals in its last six games. Jack Eichel hasn't registered a point in that stretch. Mark Stone hasn't scored in nine games and Mitch Marner has one goal in his last nine appearances. Tomas Hertl has now gone without a goal in his last 10 games (and has just one point in that span). -- 32-26-14 18 
Flyers The Flyers are the Michael Myers of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Just when you think they're dead, you look over your shoulder, and they've suddenly won three in a row to pull within five points of the final wild card spot. -- 34-24-12 19 
Predators Nashville has surged into a playoff spot, due in large part to a sharp uptick in goaltending. Juuse Saros has played a role in that, but backup Justus Annunen has been tremendous. In his last four starts, Annunen has saved 5.55 goals above average with a .900 high-danger save percentage. 8 34-28-9 20 
Devils Next season will be a big one for young Simon Nemec. The 22-year-old defenseman has had a disappointing campaign with a 48.0% expected goals share and a minus-9 goal differential at five-on-five. Nemec has a lot of upside, but he hasn't been able to find any level of consistency in the NHL. 3 36-32-2 21 
Capitals You may have heard this before, but Alex Ovechkin has made some history. On Sunday. Ovechkin scored his 1,000th career goal between the regular season and playoffs, joining Wayne Gretzky as the only two players to do that in NHL history. 1 35-28-9 22 
Kings Artemi Panarin has held up his end of the bargain since being acquired by the Kings. He has 17 points in 14 games with his new club, but Panarin is going to need some help if Los Angeles is going to reach the postseason. Quinton Byfield has picked things up offensively lately, so that's a start. -- 28-25-18 23 
Blues Joel Hofer has been legitimately great in goal this season. He's saved 13.3 goals above average on a pretty bad team, and his .909 save percentage is well above the league average. St. Louis has its long-term solution in goal. 3 29-30-11 24 
Jets Don't look now, but the Jets are just five points out of a playoff spot with 11 games remaining. Given the state of the wild card battle in the West, you can't rule out any team within spitting distance. Can Connor Hellebuyck steal some games down the stretch? 4 30-29-12 25 
Kraken Bobby McMann has provided the Kraken with some badly-needed offense, scoring five goals in six games with his new team. However, the supporting cast hasn't done much around him, whether that's a lack of depth scoring or poor goaltending. Seattle has now lost four in a row. 6 31-29-10 26 
Sharks If the Sharks could play a lick of defense or get any saves, they would be a pretty good team. San Jose has allowed four or more goals in six of its last eight games, and the goaltenders have combined to allow 10.1 goals above average in March. 5 32-31-6 27 
Panthers The Panthers are broken and have decided to shut it down the rest of the way. Niko Mikkola is done for the season. Same with Uvis Balinskis. Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand have no timetable for return. At this point, why even let Anton Lundell come back? 3 35-32-3 28 
Flames Zayne Parekh, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is getting some nice run down the stretch. Parekh had a stellar performance at the World Junior Championships, so Calgary is hoping he can be a franchise cornerstone on the blue line. 3 30-34-7 29 
Rangers New York honored Mika Zibanejad's 1000th game by ... taking 10 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Senators on Monday night. This team is an absolute mess, and there's no easy way out of this situation. 4 28-34-9 30 
Maple Leafs This season has been miserable for the Maple Leafs, but that pain was briefly alleviated on Tuesday night when they dealt a crushing blow to the playoff chances of their arch rival, the Boston Bruins. 1 30-29-13 31 
Blackhawks The Blackhawks are likely going to finish below .500 for the sixth straight season. This rebuild has been slow and painful, and frankly, there's still a long way to go. 1 27-31-13 32 
Canucks If I had to say something nice about the Canucks, it would be that Filip Hronek has been very good, at least relative to his teammates. He's second on the team with 41 points, and he is one of two Canucks with a positive goal differential at five-on-five. -- 21-41-8 Join the Conversation comments 
