The NHL will reach the final quarter of the 2025-26 season when the puck drops on the Canucks-Blackhawks game on Friday, March 6. All below notes are through 973 games played (entering play on March 5).
Within the first five months of the 2025-26 NHL season, we have seen:
* Teenagers Matthew Schaefer and Macklin Celebrini score at historic rates to put their clubs in the conversation for playoff turnover – which is trending toward a historic number.
* Frequent 100-point-club members Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov once again jockeying for playoff seeds and atop the scoring race.
* The likes of Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, Patrick Kane and Kirill Kaprizov breaking all-time records, with Anze Kopitar about to break a 45-year-old Kings record of his own.
* Across North America, the 2025-26 NHL regular season has reached 52.710M viewers, up +15% from last year’s reach to date across North America (through March 1, 2026).
* More than 17-million fans have attended NHL games this season, with teams filling buildings at 97% capacity including 100,770 fans producing sellouts a month apart at the first two NHL outdoor games in Florida.
* 147 NHL players compete at the Olympic Winter Games, with brothers Quinn and Jack Hughes helping to secure the first American gold medal in 46 years.
* NHL games closer than ever, with an all-time high 77% of contests ending as “close games” (one-goal margin or 2+ goal margin with ENG). The score has been tied or a one-goal difference for 72% of playing time.
More trends through 973 games played, ahead of the final quarter of the 2025-26 NHL season:
Scoring Up Year-Over-Year: For the first time in more than 30 years, the NHL is averaging at least 6.0 goals-per-game in a fifth consecutive season – with that value standing at 6.2 entering the final quarter, up from 6.0 a year ago.
Comebacks Abound in the NHL: On average, two of every five NHL games will be won by a team that trailed, with 42% of games in 2025-26 ending as comeback wins – the fifth straight season at 40% or higher (a first in NHL history).
Stay Until the Final Buzzer: There have been 118 tying goals in the final five minutes of regulation, the most ever at this stage of a season and +33% vs. 2024-25 (89). The combined total of tying and go-ahead goals with less than five to play (187) also stands as the highest total ever at this stage.
Playoff turnover: 11 teams that did not make the postseason last year are either in the bracket (8) or within five points of a playoff seed. An eight-team turnover for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs would be the largest in NHL history (7 in 2020-21, 2017-18, 2016-17 & 2014-15).
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The 2025-26 NHL season can become the second to feature a playoff turnover of five teams in a single conference, with the Sabres, Red Wings, Penguins, Islanders and Bruins all currently sitting inside the bracket and aiming for a return. The only instance since conferences were introduced in 1974-75 was in 2016-17 (MTL, TOR, BOS, OTT & CBJ in East).
Tampa Bay Eyes First Division Crown Since 2019: There has been only one repeat division champion in the Atlantic Division since the Wild Card format was introduced in 2013-14 (TBL: 2017-18 & 2018-19). Aided by a 20-1-1 stretch from Dec. 20 to Feb. 25, Tampa Bay holds the pole position ahead of the final quarter. The Lightning have 11 divisional games left – tops in the NHL (tied w/ VAN) – including two each against Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Boston and Ottawa, the next five teams behind them in the Atlantic (including three clubs within five points of the No. 1 seed).
Sabres and Red Wings Mounting Atlantic Shakeup: Some combination of Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay and Toronto has finished top-three in the Atlantic Division for seven consecutive seasons (2017-18 to 2024-25; omits 2020-21 for COVID-19 realignment), but Buffalo and Detroit are pacing a group trying to end that streak in 2025-26. Buffalo and Detroit are aiming to return to the playoffs for the first time in 15 and 10 years, respectively. Detroit ranks among the League leaders in time in a playoff spot (106 days, behind CAR: 125, COL: 125, VGK: 119, DAL: 118 & MTL: 109), while Buffalo owns the League’s top record over the past three months.
Hurricanes Eye Another Division Crown: Aiming for a franchise record eighth straight postseason appearance and after three Conference Finals appearances in seven seasons, the Hurricanes have maintained a playoff spot for the entire season (sitting as the No. 1 seed in the division since Dec. 11). Sebastian Aho, star of the “NHL My World” docuseries, is set to become the third player in franchise history with 700 career points as he and the Hurricanes aim for a fourth division title in six seasons (2020-21 Discover Central; 2021-22 & 2022-23 Metropolitan). Carolina is the only club to finish in a top two position within its division in each season since 2021-22 when the League expanded to 32 clubs (DAL, EDM & TOR follow at 3x).
No. 1 Picks 20 Years Apart Making Moves in Metropolitan: Exactly 21 weeks ago, Matthew Schaefer was lacing up for his NHL debut against Sidney Crosby. With six weeks left in his first (record-setting) NHL season, Schaefer is vying to become the first No. 1 pick in eight years to make the playoffs in his first NHL season. The Islanders and Penguins have held the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the division since Jan. 15 (any order) and each team will have multiple chances to gain ground with head-to-head showdowns against the No. 1-ranked Hurricanes – Pittsburgh and Carolina meet three more times (all from March 10-22), while the NY Islanders face the division leaders twice more (including each club’s season finale April 14).
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The Western Conference has produced only three of the past 10 Stanley Cup champions, with the two most recent recipients from that cohort sitting as division leaders ahead of the final quarter.
Will Anyone Catch the Avalanche?: Colorado has sat atop the NHL standings for more than 100 consecutive game days since Nov. 1 as it pursues its fourth Presidents’ Trophy and first since going down to the wire with Vegas in 2020-21. The Avalanche’s largest lead atop either the division, conference or League rankings has been 12 points – an advantage they last held Jan. 11. The Wild, Lightning, Hurricanes and Stars all have inched within six points of the Avalanche at some point since then, with Dallas now the closest thanks to its franchise record-setting 10-game winning streak (active ahead of the final quarter).
Central Division Clubs Building for Playoff Push: The Stars and Wild have both picked up defensive difference-makers from the Canucks this season, with Dallas adding towering Texas-born defenseman Tyler Myers on Wednesday and Minnesota surging up the standings after picking up Quinn Hughes in December. Minnesota sat 12 points back of Colorado and eight behind Dallas when it acquired Hughes Dec. 12, but own the best record in the Western Conference since his debut.
Vegas Holds Precarious Position Atop Pacific: The Golden Knights sit atop the NHL’s closest division and, at the same time, only eight points from falling outside of the Western Conference playoff bracket as they seek to become the fourth franchise in NHL history to reach the postseason at least eight times in its first nine campaigns (EDM: 9x, NYR: 9x & STL: 8x).
Pacific Playoff Seeds are Prime for the Taking: Behind Vegas are the Ducks, who seek their first playoff berth since 2018, and the Oilers, Stanley Cup finalists two years in a row and one of two Western Conference clubs that has played in each of the past six postseasons. The Pacific Division has its top five teams separated by eight points or less at this stage of a campaign for the first time in a season where the playoff picture was determined using the Wild Card format (introduced in 2013-14; min. 70% of GP for each team). It also is the only grouping in 2025-26 with the top five clubs packed that closely.
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For three straight seasons, at least one team has clinched a playoff spot in its final game (1 in 2022-23, 1 in 2023-24 & 3 in 2024-25), with a total of 10 teams doing so since 2013-14 when the Wild Card format was introduced. A snapshot of teams currently jockeying for the final two spots in each conference:
Eastern Conference Wild Card Race Far from Finished: With Cole Caufield on pace for the most goals by a Canadiens player since 1989-90 (47), Montreal sits as Wild Card 1 – just ahead of Original Six rival Boston, who take an active 11-game home winning streak into the final stretch. While both clubs can climb in the Atlantic Division – each within five points of second place, with games in hand – they also must fend off a throng of clubs on the outside looking in, including the Blue Jackets (the NHL’s top team since Jan. 13 when Rick Bowness took over as head coach) as well as both division winners from 2024-25 (WSH & TOR) and the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions (FLA). In 2024-25, Montreal won its final game to clinch the final Wild Card spot, leaving Columbus as the first team outside the bracket.
Western Conference Wild Card Race Has New Mix: The NHL’s two newest franchises occupy the two Wild Card spots in the West as Utah seeks its first playoff berth and Seattle aims for its second. The Mammoth and Kraken are embroiled in a race in which the difference between Wild Card 2 and the first team outside the bracket has been three points or less for the entire campaign. Since 2013-14 when the Wild Card format was introduced, there has been only one instance of the “playoff line” being that close for an entire campaign (2017-18 West).
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The West has produced League’s best scorers: Conference stars dominate the NHL’s scoring leaders at the final quarter of 2025-26, occupying nine of the top 10 positions and 12 of the top 15. The League has concluded a season with at least eight of its top 10 scorers from a single conference six times since they were introduced in 1974-75 (last: 9 in 2011-12, East).
Familiar faces lead Art Ross Trophy race: Three mainstays atop the NHL points list make up the top three once again: Connor McDavid (35-70—105), Nathan MacKinnon (41-59—100) and Nikita Kucherov (32-64—96). At least one of those players has finished among the top five in scoring in every season since 2016-17, including seven campaigns with at least two of them in that grouping and three in which they were all featured (2017-18, 2022-23 and 2023-24, when they finished top three). They also have eight of nine Art Ross Trophy wins in that span, with McDavid (5) and Kucherov (3) securing those as MacKinnon pursues his first following back-to-back second-place finishes.
* McDavid is aiming for a sixth career Art Ross Trophy, which would tie Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for the second most in NHL history (Wayne Gretzky: 10). It would also represent McDavid’s 15th career individual NHL award.
* MacKinnon could add his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy – he leads the NHL with 41 goals – and his first Art Ross Trophy to a burgeoning trophy case that already includes a Stanley Cup, Calder Trophy, Hart Trophy, Lady Byng Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. MacKinnon (age 30) can join Daniel Sedin (2010-11), Roy Conacher (1948-49) and Elmer Lach (1947-48) as the fourth player to win his first Art Ross Trophy at age 30 or older. Sedin is the only player to do so in his 10th season or later.
* Kucherov has faced a deficit in the scoring race as high as 22 points (Dec. 23, 2025) and has since moved within nine of McDavid as he looks to win his third consecutive Art Ross Trophy (fourth overall). To do so, Kucherov will have overcome the largest deficit to capture the Art Ross Trophy since Peter Forsberg overcame a deficit of 32 points in 2002-03.
Celebrini Looks to Cap Campaign Among NHL’s Best: Sharks teenager Macklin Celebrini ranks fifth in League scoring and looks to lift his club to its first Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance since a run to the Conference Finals in 2018-19. Celebrini can become the fourth teenager in NHL history to conclude a campaign among the top five in scoring, after Sidney Crosby (1st in 2006-07), Wayne Gretzky (2nd in 1979-80) and Ted Kennedy (5th in 1944-45).
Offense from the Defense: Evan Bouchard (EDM), Zach Werenski (CBJ), Cale Makar (COL), Quinn Hughes (MIN) and Lane Hutson (MTL) make up the NHL’s 60-point defensemen at the final quarter mark and are all on pace to hit the 80-point mark – which would be the second most in a single season in League history, behind 1992-93 (6). Hughes has appeared in 30 games with the Wild since the trade (4-34—38 in 30 GP) – only two players in NHL history have recorded more assists through their first 30 contests with a franchise: Wayne Gretzky (48 in 1988-89 w/ LAK) and Peter Forsberg (39 in 2005-06 w/ PHI).
Memorable Moments on Deck for Veterans: Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns and Kings captain Anze Kopitar are on the verge of key career achievements entering the final quarter. Burns, 40, is tracking towards appearing in his 990th consecutive game March 14 (at WPG), which would surpass Keith Yandle (989 GP) for the second-longest “Ironman” streak in NHL history. Kopitar, 38, is approaching Marcel Dionne’s all-time franchise points record while competing in his final NHL season. Long-time division rivals Sidney Crosby (PIT) and Alex Ovechkin (WSH), both skating in their 21st NHL season, could go head-to-head for the 100th time (regular season & playoffs) on the final weekend of the 2025-26 regular season. Should both be in the lineup, the benchmark contest would be the first of a back-to-back between the Penguins and Capitals from April 11-12 (broadcast nationally on ABC and TNT, respectively).
