NHL playoff watch: Panthers-Stars a potential Stanley Cup Final preview
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Tim Kavanagh, ESPN.com
We are 37 days away from the end of the 2023-24 NHL regular season. Is it too early to start projecting the Stanley Cup Final matchups we’d like to witness? No!
One of those enticing matchups will take place tonight, as the Florida Panthers visit the Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+). The two teams are leading their respective divisions heading into tonight’s showdown, and each made smart moves leading up to the trade deadline; the Stars landed playoff-ready defensive defenseman Chris Tanev, while the Panthers nabbed scoring winger Vladimir Tarasenko and veteran forward Kyle Okposo.
The teams met on Dec. 6, with the Panthers sending their fans home happy with a 5-4 victory. Both teams enter this matchup on relatively hot streaks, as the Panthers are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and the Stars are 6-3-1. The eyes of the hockey world will be on this one tonight as the two juggernauts continue their path to the postseason.
As we enter the final stretch of the regular season, it’s time to check in on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2024 NHL draft lottery.
Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.
Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Today’s schedule
Last night’s scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1 pick
Current playoff matchups
Eastern Conference
A1 Florida Panthers vs. WC2 Detroit Red Wings
A2 Boston Bruins vs. A3 Toronto Maple Leafs
M1 New York Rangers vs. WC1 Tampa Bay Lightning
M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. M3 Philadelphia Flyers
Western Conference
C1 Dallas Stars vs. WC1 Nashville Predators
C2 Winnipeg Jets vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vancouver Canucks vs. WC2 Vegas Golden Knights
P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Los Angeles Kings
Tuesday’s games
Note: All times Eastern. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available via NHL Power Play, which is included in an ESPN+ subscription (local blackout restrictions apply).
Detroit Red Wings at Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators, 7 p.m.
San Jose Sharks at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m.
New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m.
Florida Panthers at Dallas Stars, 8 p.m.
Arizona Coyotes at Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m.
Anaheim Ducks at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames, 9 p.m.
Vegas Golden Knights at Seattle Kraken, 10 p.m.
Monday’s scoreboard
St. Louis Blues 5, Boston Bruins 1
New York Rangers 3, New Jersey Devils 1
Winnipeg Jets 3, Washington Capitals 0
Los Angeles Kings 3, New York Islanders 0
Expanded standings
Atlantic Division
Points: 92
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: A1
Games left: 17
Points pace: 116
Next game: @ DAL (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 91
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: A2
Games left: 15
Points pace: 111
Next game: @ MTL (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 82
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: A3
Games left: 18
Points pace: 105
Next game: @ PHI (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.6%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 74
Regulation wins: 27
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 17
Points pace: 93
Next game: vs. NYR (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 88.1%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 72
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 18
Points pace: 92
Next game: @ BUF (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 29%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 65
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 82
Next game: vs. DET (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 4.9%
Tragic number: 27
Points: 58
Regulation wins: 14
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 74
Next game: vs. CBJ (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 22
Points: 54
Regulation wins: 19
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 20
Points pace: 71
Next game: vs. PIT (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 22
Metropolitan Division
Points: 88
Regulation wins: 34
Playoff position: M1
Games left: 18
Points pace: 113
Next game: @ CAR (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 84
Regulation wins: 33
Playoff position: M2
Games left: 18
Points pace: 108
Next game: vs. NYR (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 74
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: M3
Games left: 17
Points pace: 93
Next game: vs. SJ (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 51.6%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 72
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 92
Next game: @ BUF (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 69.7%
Tragic number: 36
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 90
Next game: @ EDM (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 41.7%
Tragic number: 35
Points: 66
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 83
Next game: @ DAL (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 11.7%
Tragic number: 28
Points: 64
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 83
Next game: @ OTT (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 3.6%
Tragic number: 30
Points: 54
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 69
Next game: @ MTL (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 18
Central Division
Points: 89
Regulation wins: 29
Playoff position: C1
Games left: 16
Points pace: 111
Next game: vs. FLA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 87
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: C2
Games left: 18
Points pace: 112
Next game: vs. NSH (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 85
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: C3
Games left: 17
Points pace: 107
Next game: @ CGY (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 78
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 16
Points pace: 97
Next game: @ WPG (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 89.1%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 87
Next game: vs. LA (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 0.8%
Tragic number: 28
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 87
Next game: vs. ARI (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 13.8%
Tragic number: 28
Points: 57
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 72
Next game: @ MIN (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 16
Points: 39
Regulation wins: 12
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 49
Next game: vs. ANA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E
Pacific Division
Points: 91
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: P1
Games left: 16
Points pace: 113
Next game: vs. COL (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 81
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: P2
Games left: 19
Points pace: 105
Next game: vs. WSH (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 77
Regulation wins: 28
Playoff position: P3
Games left: 18
Points pace: 99
Next game: @ STL (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 89.6%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 75
Regulation wins: 27
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 18
Points pace: 96
Next game: @ SEA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 88.7%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 67
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 87
Next game: vs. VGK (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 12.1%
Tragic number: 30
Points: 67
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 86
Next game: vs. COL (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 6%
Tragic number: 28
Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 63
Next game: @ CHI (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 10
Points: 39
Regulation wins: 12
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 51
Next game: @ PHI (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 2
P — Clinched Presidents’ Trophy; Y — Clinched division; X — Clinched playoff berth; E — Eliminated from playoff contention
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Macklin Celebrini, a freshman at Boston University.
Points: 39
Regulation wins: 12
Points: 39
Regulation wins: 12
Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17
Points: 54
Regulation wins: 17
Points: 54
Regulation wins: 19
Points: 57
Regulation wins: 21
Points: 58
Regulation wins: 14
Points: 64
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 65
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 66
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 67
Regulation wins: 22
Points: 67
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 25
Points: 72
Regulation wins: 21
* The Penguins’ first-round pick was traded to the Sharks as part of the Erik Karlsson trade. However, it is top-10 protected.
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hit two homers in an 11-5 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night, emphatically ending the three-time MVP’s longest homer drought since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with his 24th homer, hammering Landen Roupp‘s fourth pitch 419 feet deep into the right-field bleachers with an exit velocity of 110.3 mph.
The slugger had been in a 10-game homer drought since June 2, going 10-for-40 in that stretch with no RBIs, although he still had an eight-game hitting streak during his power outage.
Ohtani led off the sixth with his 25th homer, sending Tristan Beck‘s breaking ball outside the strike zone into the bleachers in right. He also moved one homer behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh for the overall major league lead.
Dodgers fans brought him home with a standing ovation as Ohtani produced his third multihomer game of the season and the 22nd of his career.
Ohtani reached base four times and scored three runs in his first four at-bats, drawing two walks to go with his two homers.
Ohtani hadn’t played in 10 straight games without hitting a homer since 2023 in the final 10 games of his six-year tenure with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani had slowed down a bit over the past two weeks after he was named the NL Player of the Month for May with a formidable performance, racking up 15 homers and 28 RBIs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
BOSTON — Hunter Dobbins had quite the week.
First, he said last weekend that he would rather retire than pitch for the Yankees because his father was drafted by New York twice before being traded.
Then, he went out and beat the Yankees.
A few days after his comments about never wanting to pitch for New York, he had to defend his dad’s story about being drafted by the Yankees in response to a New York Post article that cited multiple official databases and the Yankees’ own records that couldn’t confirm Lance Dobbins ever played with the organization.
On Saturday night, Dobbins (4-1) followed up by going six shutout innings in Boston’s 4-3 victory over New York, his second win over the Yankees in less than a week.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m more worried about just the win column, whether it’s against them or anybody. My job is to try and help this team win as many ballgames as we can, and pitch in meaningful playoff baseball games. That’s what I’m more focused on.”
But he realizes what it means to the fan base in this longtime rivalry, with the Red Sox fans heard chanting about the Yankees outside the park before he spoke in an interview room.
“Yeah, I love being able to perform and get those wins for the fans here,” he said. “They deserve it. It’s a great city, passionate fan base, so being able to get those wins — especially twice in one week — means a lot and looking forward to trying to build on that going forward.”
In his victory over New York last Sunday, Dobbins held the Yankees to three runs over five innings, two on a first-inning homer by Aaron Judge.
On Saturday night, Judge went 0-for-3 against him, striking out twice on curveballs.
“It was just kind of scouting,” Dobbins said of his game plan against New York’s slugger after Garrett Crochet struck him out three times in the series opener Friday.
“Crochet has an electric fastball. I can throw it hard, but the shape isn’t quite as elite,” he said. “So we knew we had better weapons to go at him with, so I felt like we did a good job of kind of keeping a balanced attack throughout the order.”
Dobbins struck out five and gave up only two singles Saturday.
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