Wild Wild West: The Crazy Race for the Wild Card Spots

Graphic created by Emma Dowsett.

The race for the wild card spots in the Western conference is a crazy one with four teams in the mix: the St. Louis Blues, the Minnesota Wild, the Calgary Flames, and the Vancouver Canucks. The Wild currently hold the first wild card spot with 89 points, but the Blues are a very close second, having 89 points as well. The Flames trail 7 points behind the Wild and Blues, with the Canucks are sitting 1 point back of the Flames.

Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf during warmups against the Dallas Stars. Photo courtesy of Alex Medina.

The Flames have gone against all odds this year after starting the season with many fans and NHL experts predicting they would finish as one of the bottom 10 teams in the league. The Flames currently have a record of 35-27-12 and have 82 points with 8 games remaining. A big reason as to why the Flames are in the wild card race is because of rookie netminder Dustin Wolf, who has a record of 24-16-6 in 46 games played this season.

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes during a game against the Anaheim Ducks. Photo courtesy of Kyusung Gong.

The Vancouver Canucks had high expectations on them going into this season due to their success last year, winning their division and making it to the second round of playoffs. So far this season, the Canucks have a record of 34-28-13 and have 81 points through 75 games. A big part of their struggle this season came from the absence of their captain, and their best player, Quinn Hughes, who has missed 14 games this season due to various injuries.

Blues forward Jordan Kyrou during an away game. Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron.

The St. Louis Blues are on heater and their 10-game win streak is pulling them closer into a wild card spot and further from their challengers. With a record of 41-28-7 and an almost identical home and away record, the Blues don’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. Jordan Kyrou leads the team in goals with 32 this season and is continuing to show up in big moments. With the potential of losing their 9-game winning streak the other night, Kyrou scored an equalizer with 30 seconds left in their game against the Red Wings to bring it to overtime, which the Blues won thanks to a goal from Cam Fowler. 

Wild forward Matt Boldy celebrating a goal during a game. Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn.

The Minnesota Wild had spent the beginning of March holding onto the third Central division playoff spot, battling with the Colorado Avalanche. They are now desperately holding onto the top wild card spot, tied on points with the Blues, while the Avalanche are in the last Central division playoff spot. The Wild have a record of 41-28-7, with Matt Boldy leading the team in goals and points, with 25 goals and 64 points through 76 games. One of Minnesota's best forwards, Kirill Kaprizov, had surgery at the end of January and hasn’t played since, which does factor into the position the Wild have found themselves in. 

Calgary have two games in hand over St. Louis and Minnesota and one game over Vancouver. With less than 10 games remaining, Minnesota still have to play Vancouver and Calgary one more time each as well. Though St. Louis do not have to play their biggest challengers again, they do still have to play teams like Colorado and Winnipeg, who have been strong this season.

This race could very well go to game 82 of the season before anything is finalized. We have a very exciting last 3 weeks of the NHL regular season left. 

Edited by Neha Grewal