Best late-season playoff comebacks of the past 20 years

Looking at the NHL standings today, several teams — especially in the East — on the outside can feel they still have a decent shot of winning their way back into a playoff spot.

But how many truly are still in the running?

With help from SN Stats and the NHL, we’re looking at the teams that made the biggest comebacks into a playoff spot within the last 10 games of a regular season in the past 20 years (the salary cap era).

Since 2005-06, 11 teams have qualified for the playoffs after facing a standings deficit of at least three points at any time within their last 10 regular season games. The largest come back within the last 10 games has been from a five-point deficit, which has only been done twice.

Seven teams that are outside of the playoff picture today are now within their final 10 games of the season. More will follow this weekend, so as we approach the 72-game mark for everyone, here’s a historical look at who came back from three points or more to make it within the last 10 games, how they did it, and if they had success in the playoffs.

The picture: With 10 games remaining, the Stars were 34-27-11 and out of a playoff spot by five points. The Arizona Coyotes had possession of the West’s second wild card spot with just eight games remaining. There were no other teams between them in the standings.

The schedule: Dallas’ remaining schedule included six road games and four at home plus three back-to-back situations — they won the first half of each of those, but lost the back half in two of them. The Stars’ record in the last 10 games wasn’t especially outstanding, 6-4-0, and they actually lost three of their last five games in regulation.

The result: This push had more to do with the Coyotes tripping over themselves. In a seven-game stretch from March 29-April 12, Arizona didn’t record any wins and picked up a total of three points in extra-time losses. Interestingly, Dallas and Arizona faced each other in the last game of the regular season, but the Coyotes had fallen off so badly it had no meaning anymore. Arizona won that game 2-1 but finished two points behind the Stars. The Coyotes scored 11 goals in their final eight games; Dallas scored 31 times in their final 10 games and clinched the second wild card position.

In Round 1 of the playoffs, the Stars faced Anaheim, the West’s top seed, and lost in six games. Nick Bonino scored the series-clincher for the Ducks in OT.

2023-24 New York Islanders

The picture: With nine games left on their schedule, the Islanders were out of a playoff spot by five points. The Washington Capitals held the second wild card spot and New York had to also climb over Detroit, who were ninth in the conference and sat three points ahead.

The schedule: Five of the Islanders’ final nine games were at home and they had just one occasion in which they had to play on back-to-back nights. They won both of those games. In fact, the Islanders won seven of their last eight games and the one loss they did record was in a shootout against the Rangers, so they still picked up a point.

The result: New York took control of its own destiny with how hot they ended the season, but they didn’t just squeak into the final playoff spot, they climbed into the Metropolitan Division’s third seed. That’s partly because the Capitals stumbled a bit — they lost four games in a row to start April — and the Philadelphia Flyers stumbled a lot. The Flyers lost eight games in a row from March 24-April 9, six of which were in regulation. By the time the season ended the Flyers had fallen all the way to 11th in the East.

The Islanders finished three points clear of Washington and faced the Metro’s second seed, Carolina, in the first round. New York lost the first three games of the series, won Game 4 in double OT, and then dropped Game 5 by a 6-3 score.

The picture: With 10 games remaining on their schedule, the Sharks were four points out of the last playoff spot in the West and coming off back-to-back losses in regulation. There were no other teams between San Jose and the eight-ranked Edmonton Oilers.

This was back before the wild card, when the top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs. There were also three divisions in each conference at this time, and each division winner was guaranteed a top three seed for the playoffs.

The schedule: The Sharks, who had games in hand of everyone in front of them, finished with a busy schedule — 10 games in 17 days, five at home and five on the road. They were also subjected to three back-to-back situations and were a perfect 6-0 in those games. In fact, the only two games San Jose lost in April were the first (an OT loss they earned a point in) and the last (a shutout loss in regulation after the playoffs had easily been clinched).

The result: The Sharks rocketed up to second place in their division and fifth place in the Western Conference. There was a tight collection of teams from fifth to ninth heading into the final month, but the Sharks’ strong finish meant they were seven points clear of the cut-off line. Each of the teams that finished sixth to ninth in the West that year ended the season with between nine and 12 points over their final 10 games, but the biggest loser were the Vancouver Canucks. When April began, Vancouver was seventh and five points clear of the Sharks, but a 4-4-2 finish saw them miss out of the post-season by three points.

San Jose played Nashville in the first round and, after losing Game 1, won the next four in a row and advanced to the second round. There, San Jose faced Edmonton, the eighth seed that had just knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings. San Jose won the first tow games of this series, then dropped the next four in a row and were eliminated by an Oilers team that went on a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final.

2007-08 Washington Capitals

The picture: Another season in which the three division winners were guaranteed a top three seed in each conference and the top eight overall made the playoffs, Washington headed into its final 10 games four points behind Philadelphia for the eighth and final spot. Buffalo sat between them, three points ahead of Washington. Carolina, meantime, was five points up on Washington for the division lead.

The schedule: The most difficult part of the final stretch of the calendar for the Capitals was a six-game road trip over 12 days, but four of those away games came against division foes. Remember the South(l)east Division? This was one of those seasons where that collection of teams earned the nickname. Washington won nine of its last 10 games and all seven in which they faced a Southeast Division opponent. They beat Carolina twice in that stretch, which was key to their comeback.

The result: The Capitals’ run ended up in them taking first place in the Southeast and the third seed in the East with 94 points. That point total was the exact same as Ottawa and Boston, who were the seventh and eighth seeded teams in the conference. Washington faced Philadelphia (an Atlantic Division team at the time) in the first round. The Capitals won Game 1, dropped the next three in a row, then won Games 5 and 6 to set up a Game 7 at home even though the Flyers had one more standings point in the regular season. The Flyers won the game 3-2 in OT on a goal from Joffrey Lupul.

2018-19 Colorado Avalanche

The picture: The Avalanche were four points out of the West’s second wild card spot when they had 10 games remaining on the schedule in 2019. Arizona held the second wild card spot, but Minnesota and Chicago were also ahead of the Avalanche at the time.

The schedule: Colorado ended with five games at home, five on the road and two back-to-back situations, but they also directly faced each of the three teams that were ahead of them. They beat Chicago once in regulation, then lost in OT the next night in a home-and-home; they beat Minnesota in regulation; and the beat Arizona in a shootout.

The result: Colorado’s 7-1-2 finish made them the second-hottest team heading into the playoffs — St. Louis was the only team ahead of them and, remember, this was their Stanley Cup winning season where the Blues were last in the NHL on Jan. 1. As for the teams the Avalanche were chasing, Chicago finished 4-4-2, Arizona 3-4-2, and Minnesota 3-6-0 so Colorado blew past each one of them in the final stretch and grabbed the last wild card spot by a comfortable four-point margin.

Colorado faced Calgary in Round 1, the Pacific Division winners and top seed in the West. After the Avalanche lost Game 1, they won the next four in a row, scoring 17 goals in those games, but winning two of them in OT. In Round 2, Colorado faced the San Jose Sharks, who were the No. 2 team in the Pacific and finished with the second-most points in the West. The teams traded wins and losses from Game 1 to Game 7 and each of the final three were decided by one goal. The Avs lost Game 7 by a 3-2 count.

2007-08 Nashville Predators

The picture: In the same season as Washington (noted above) made one of these comebacks, Nashville’s was the more impressive one because they had to make up a lot of ground in a shorter time frame and didn’t have the benefit of a weaker division to clinch a top seed with. The Predators were four points out of the playoffs with just six games remaining. Colorado held the West’s eighth seed at the time and Vancouver was seventh with just as many points as the Avalanche, but two games in hand. Edmonton was between those teams and Nashville, just one points up on the Predators.

The schedule: The Predators had six games to play over 11 days, with four on the road and one back-to-back situation that came in their final two games. They did have to play on the road in Detroit, 2008’s Presidents’ Trophy winners, and lost that game 1-0 in OT, but the rest of their games in this stretch came against non-playoff teams. The Predators shut out Columbus twice and beat St. Louis twice as well, both teams that finished in the bottom-six overall that season.

The result: Nashville went 4-1-1 in their last run of games, but it was Vancouver’s terrible finish that ultimately opened up the door. Colorado finished strong to stay ahead of the Predators and Edmonton finished 2-2-1. The Canucks, meantime, lost seven of their last eight games and fell all the way to 11th (by tiebreaker) in the West.

The Predators’ reward was to face the buzzsaw Detroit Red Wings, but they made a series out of it. After losing Games 1 and 2 on the road, the Predators won Games 3 and 4 at home, then dropped Game 5 in OT. Detroit came back to Nashville and won Game 6 by a 3-0 score, beginning a run that ended with a Stanley Cup victory.

2006-07 New York Islanders

The picture: On April 4, 2007 the New York Islanders were three points out of the last playoff spot in the East with just three games remaining. Montreal held the seventh spot at 90 points, Toronto was eighth at 89 points, while the Islanders and Hurricanes sat at 86 points. New York had one game in hand of each of those teams.

Eleven days prior the Islanders were looking pretty good, tied for the eighth seed with Montreal and Carolina, and two points up on 10th place Toronto. A four-game losing skid followed (three in regulation) which put them on the back foot in the last stretch.

The schedule: New York’s last three games were at home to Toronto, and on the road in Philadelphia (the last overall team that season) and New Jersey (the Atlantic Division winner).

The result: The Islanders won all three of their remaining games to slide past both Toronto and Montreal for the eighth seed. While the Maple Leafs’ and Canadiens’ seasons concluded on the Saturday, the Islanders had one more game on Sunday, April 8 and came into the day with 90 points, one behind Toronto who was in eighth place. The Islanders won 3-2 in New Jersey via shootout to dramatically clinch the final spot. They faced the East’s top seed, Buffalo, in the first round of the playoffs and lost in five games, though three of them were decided by a single goal.

2018-19 Columbus Blue Jackets

The picture: With eight games remaining, the Columbus Blue Jackets were three points behind Montreal for the second wild card spot and had a game in hand. Columbus was also dealing with a three-game losing streak at the time, while the Canadiens had won three in a row.

The schedule: Five of Columbus’ last eight games were on the road and they had two back-to-back situations that were all away games. The Blue Jackets won all five of their road games and immediately snapped that three-game losing streak with a five-game winning streak.

The result: Columbus’ 7-1-0 finish was enough to pull away from the Canadiens. In fact, after Montreal lost 2-1 in their second-last game of the season, Columbus clinched a spot with a 3-2 shootout win in their second-last regular season game, so this didn’t even come down to the very end.

This was the season in which Columbus made two very high-risk calls at the trade deadline by keeping pending UFAs Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, who had signalled their intention to leave. The Blue Jackets kept them as own-rentals instead of selling for future assets and were rewarded not just with a playoff appearance, but with one of the great upsets of the salary cap era. Columbus drew the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1, who finished with 21 more points than anyone else. Columbus swept them away and outscored the Lightning 19-8.

In Round 2, Columbus faced Boston, but after holding a 2-1 series lead the Blue Jackets lost three in a row, getting eliminated in a shutout loss in Game 6.

The picture: Things were trending badly for the Panthers. They had dropped four games in a row, all in regulation, and lost goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to an injury that would keep him out for the rest of the regular season. With eight games left they were three points behind Pittsburgh for the second wild card spot in the East and had played one more game than the Pens.

The schedule: Four of Florida’s last eight games were at home and the only back-to-back they had came right at the end of March at the beginning of this stretch. They didn’t face the team they were trailing at all.

The result: Alex Lyon was thrust into the starter’s role with 32 games of NHL experience to that point and just eight games played that season. His first challenge: tackling both ends of a back-to-back against Toronto and Montreal. He won both of them, which began a six-game winning streak that got the Panthers back in control of the race.

With two games remaining, the Panthers now held the seventh seed — tied with the Islanders in points but ahead of them by way of the tiebreaker. They were also one point ahead of the Penguins behind them. Florida lost its second-last game in OT, earning one point, which opened the door back up for Pittsburgh. However, in Pittsburgh’s second-last game of the season, they dropped a 5-2 decision at home to the 31st overall Chicago Blackhawks, which clinched the playoffs for Florida with one game remaining since they were up on Pittsburgh by two points and couldn’t be passed in the tie-breaker.

That Pittsburgh loss to Chicago changed the fortune of a starved franchise in a huge way. The Panthers finished eighth in the East after losing their last game of the season. They fell behind 3-1 in their opening round series against Boston, then won three in a row to knock off the Presidents’ Trophy winners who won a record 65 games that season. The Panthers eliminated Toronto in five games, swept Carolina in the conference final, and lost in five games to Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final. But that playoff run put the Panthers on the map and they’d build on the momentum into a Stanley Cup win the following season.

2012-13 Detroit Red Wings

The picture: In a lockout-shortened season, the Red Wings had four games remaining and, after losing five of their past six (three in extra time), trailed Minnesota (seventh) and Columbus (eighth) by three points in the final week of the regular season. The Red Wings had a game in hand of Minnesota and two on Columbus.

The schedule: Detroit had four games in six days, but three of them were at home. There was one back-to-back situation but both games were at home. Three of their opponents (Dallas, Arizona and Nashville) missed the playoffs that season.

The result: The Red Wings controlled their destiny and forced the issue by winning all four of their final games, allowing a total of just three goals against. Neither of their opponents finished terribly either — Minnesota won two of its final three games, while Columbus won both of its last two games. In the end, Detroit edged them both out by a point for seventh, while the Wild claimed the eighth seed over Columbus by way of the tiebreaker.

This was Detroit’s first season in the post-Nicklas Lidstrom era, and they drew Anaheim in Round 1, who recorded 10 more points than Detroit in the 48-game season. Detroit trailed the series 3-2, won Game 6 in OT and took the series in Game 7 by a 3-2 score. In Round 2, Detroit took a 3-1 series lead on the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks, then lost the next three and were eliminated. The Blackhawks went on to win the Stanley Cup, while Detroit hasn’t won a playoff series since.

The picture: With four games left on their schedule and 92 points in the standings, the Ottawa Senators were ninth in the East and trailed Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh, who all had 95 points. The Senators had been running hot for a while, though. This was the famous “Hamburglar” run and Andrew Hammond had won 12 of his past 13 games heading into the final week of the regular season.

The schedule: Over a seven-day period, the Senators faced three road games but no back-to-back situations. They would directly face one of the teams in front of them (Pittsburgh), but only one of their opponents (the Rangers) was a playoff team that season.

The result: The Senators actually started the week with a loss, 3-2 in a shootout against Toronto, which was one of just three over a 23-game span for Hammond. However, the Senators won each of their last three games and ultimately finished in the East’s first wild card spot ahead of the Penguins. Boston lost each of its last three games and were the team left out. When Hammond started his first game of the season on Feb. 18, Ottawa was 23rd in the league and trailed the Bruins by 12 standings points. Hammond went 20-1-2 the rest of the way.

Ottawa drew Montreal in Round 1 and after Hammond lost the first two starts, the Senators turned back to Craig Anderson, who lost Game 3. Anderson earned a shutout in a Game 4 win, allowed just one goal in a Game 5 win, but Ottawa dropped Game 6 by a 2-0 score.