If you were to look at the NHL standings on the morning of Feb. 3, you would notice that the Montreal Canadiens are higher in the standings than the Buffalo Sabres. This is in spite of the fact that Buffalo has 32 wins while Montreal has 31. Let’s take a closer look at why this is and how the league determines where each team fits in the overall rankings.

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Standing Points Matter More Than Wins

Unlike the other major sports leagues in the United States, the NHL uses a points system to determine where each team is in the standings. Currently, the Canadiens have 70 standings points compared to 69 for Buffalo, which is why they are ahead of the Sabres.

How are Standings Points Awarded?

A team who wins a game in regulation is awarded two points while a team that loses in regulation gets zero points. Prior to the 1999-2000 season, each team would receive one point in the event of a tie.

However, the NHL realized that most teams would rather play for a tie instead of going for the win. Therefore, since the 1999-2000 season, each team is awarded a point for making it to overtime. The overtime session determines which team receives a bonus point.

Therefore, a team that wins a game in overtime receives two points while a team that loses a game in overtime receives one. If a game is still tied after a five-minute overtime session, it will go into a shootout until one team emerges victorious.

Understanding Tiebreakers

It’s not uncommon for teams to finish the season with the same number of standings points. Fortunately, the league has a series of tiebreakers to determine playoff seedings or which teams are eligible for the draft lottery.

Point Percentage

If teams do not play the same number of games, point percentage is used as the first tiebreaker instead. Point percentage was used to determine the playoff field in 2020 after the regular season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Overall Wins

Assuming that all teams have played 82 games, the first tiebreaker is number of wins in regulation. This means all games that were decided without the need for overtime or a shootout.

Wins in Overtime or Shootout

The next tiebreaker is games won in regulation or overtime (ROW). Essentially, these are any games that your team wins without having to go to a shootout. The third tiebreaker is all wins regardless of how a team achieved them.

Head-to-Head Points

If two or more teams are still tied after using all of the wins tiebreakers, the league will move on to points in head-to-head matchups. For instance, let’s say that Buffalo and Montreal are tied at the end of the year. Let’s also assume that Buffalo obtained six standings in games against the Canadiens while Montreal only obtained two points. In that scenario, the Sabres would qualify for the playoffs or obtain the higher seed.

Goal Differential

Assuming that there is still a tie between two or more teams, goal differential is the next tiebreaker. This is simply a calculation of how many goals a team scored compared to the number it gave up. Let’s say that the Colorado Avalanche scored 100 goals and gave up 90. That team would have a goal differential of +10. If Colorado is tied in the standings with a team that scored 100 goals but gave up 91, the Avalanche would get the higher seed.

Total Goals Scored

The final tiebreaker is total goals scored throughout the year. Let’s say that Colorado scored 100 goals and was tied with a team that scored 101. In that scenario, the other team would win the tiebreak and either make the playoffs or earn a higher seed. According to the NHL, a shootout win is considered to be a goal for while a shootout loss is considered to be a goal against.

How Playoff Seeding Works

The NHL is divided into four divisions. The Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions make up the Eastern Conference while the Central and Pacific divisions make up the Western Conference. The top three teams in each division are awarded automatic entry into the playoffs. In addition, each conference awards two wild card berths to the teams outside of the top three in their divisions with the most standings points.

The first round of the playoffs in the east would look like this:

Atlantic Division Winner vs. Wild Card
Atlantic Division #2 vs. Atlantic Division #3
Metropolitan Division Winner vs. Wild Card
Metropolitan Division #2 vs Metropolitan Division #3

The division winner with the most standings points plays the wild card team with the fewest standings points. It’s important to note that both wild card teams can come from a single division.

Each playoff series lasts seven games with home-ice advantage given to the higher seed. This means that the higher seed gets to play four home games if the series were to go to seven games.

The NHL playoffs are generally considered to be among the best in all of pro sports. However, the race to make the playoffs can be fairly intense as well, and understanding how the standings work makes it easier to follow along and get the most from your viewing experience.