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NHL announces postseason play-in game if teams are tied for final playoff spot

By Peter Hassett

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April 6, 2018 4:56 pm

The NHL is just making it up as they go along at this point. With the chance of an unresolvable tie between the Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers after 82 games, the league has announced that the Panthers and Flyers would then play a tiebreaker game. Let’s get wild.

Standing points ties are resolved through regulation-overtime wins, points in the teams’ regular season series, and goal differential. It’s possible that the Flyers and Panthers will have identical numbers after the season is done.

For instance:

It’s Calvinball. It doesn’t make any sense. It is dumb as hell, but it’s fun. That’s the NHL, I guess.

Here’s the NHL’s press release:

NEW YORK (April 6, 2018) – If at the conclusion of the regular season two teams competing for the final playoff berth in a conference are tied in points, ROW (regulation plus overtime wins), points in their season series (excluding the first home game for the team that has the extra game) and goal differential for the season, the following procedure will apply:

  • A tiebreaking game will be played.
  • An equally weighted draw will be conducted by the League – promptly upon the conclusion of the last game of the regular season on Sunday – to determine home-ice advantage for the game.
  • Should the score of that game be tied at the end of regulation, overtime will be conducted under the rules that are in effect for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (i.e., five-on-five skaters, sudden-death, 20-minute periods until a winner is determined).
  • For the purposes of the 2017-18 season, the tiebreaking game would be played Tuesday, April 10.

The Philadelphia Flyers (41-26-14, 96 points) currently occupy the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, with the Florida Panthers (42-30-8, 92 points) the only team capable of catching them.

  • The Flyers (81 GP) and Panthers (80 GP) are tied in ROW (39). The teams split their season series (after eliminating the odd home game between them). Philadelphia currently is +3 in goal differential for the season, while Florida is -1.
  • Therefore, the teams would play a tiebreaking game if Philadelphia loses its final game of the season by two goals exactly (Saturday vs. NYR) and Florida wins its final two contests, both in shootouts (Saturday vs. BUF, Sunday at BOS).
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