Canucks Scoreboard Watch: An Important Thursday Night

With the Western Conference wild card race growing more and more urgent, scoreboard watching has never been more important for the Vancouver Canucks and their fans. Tonight, March 27, all three teams that the Canucks are competing with for the final wild card spot will play, all at staggered times. If all three teams manage to collect a point, it could send Vancouver closer and closer to being eliminated from playoff contention. Here is how tonight’s games will impact the Canucks’ playoff chances. 

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Utah Hockey Club is the first team that plays tonight, at 4:00 pm PT against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They lost their most recent game, a 5–1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, on Monday night. This puts them at 75 points in 71 games played. Right now, Utah has the least likelihood to make the playoffs, sitting at 2.4% by Wednesday night. 

The St. Louis Blues are up next, taking on a Nashville Predators team that they just beat four days prior. St. Louis is the team to beat right now, as they currently hold the final wild card spot with 83 points on the season after defeating the Montréal Canadiens 6–1. Like some of the other teams on this list, they’re riding a flaming hot streak of seven straight wins. The only advantage that Vancouver currently has over the Blues is the fact that they have one game in hand. After Wednesday night, St. Louis has the highest odds of making the playoffs compared to the teams below them in the standings, with a playoff probability of 59.4%. If they win tonight’s match in regulation, these odds shoot up to 69.01%, while an overtime win would bring them up to 66.8%. A regulation loss would deal them a massive decrease, dropping their chances down to 46.52%. An overtime loss would keep them around 57.17%. 

Near the end of the night, the Calgary Flames take on the Dallas Stars. Calgary won their last game on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken, leapfrogging over the Canucks to sit directly behind St. Louis with 79 points in 70 games played. Right now, Calgary’s strength lies in the fact that they have three games on the Blues, two on the Canucks, and one on Utah. If they push their four-game win streak even farther, they can overtake St. Louis and snag the final wild card spot for themselves. The Flames are heading into Thursday night with a 31.9% chance of making the playoffs, which puts them nearly 10% ahead of the Canucks. A regulation win or loss would bring their chances up and down by 10% respectively — to 41.53% and 22.45%. An overtime win would give them a nine-percent increase, bringing their odds to 41.18%, while an overtime loss will drop them to 30.39%. 

One thing to keep an eye on is the position of the Minnesota Wild, who currently occupy the first wild card spot. Previously, Minnesota seemed out of reach, having stayed within the Central Division’s three spots early on. However, by the time the Trade Deadline rolled around, the Colorado Avalanche took over their spot and forced them into wild card territory. Since the start of 2025, the Wild have the sixth-most losses in the NHL, having lost 16 of their 34 games. As of right now, one St. Louis win and one Minnesota loss would tie these two teams in points, putting the Wild in much closer territory than what it may feel like. Minnesota plays the league-leading Washington Capitals at 4:30 pm PT tonight. While the odds of Minnesota dropping are slim, as they currently have an 85.4% chance of making the postseason, this still doesn’t mean they can’t have their spot taken away. Intriguingly enough, Minnesota has a higher chance of making the playoffs if they take tonight’s game into overtime — their odds shoot up to 86.44% if they lose, and 92.19% if they win. In regulation, a win will get them a probability percentage of 91.84%, while a loss gets them 78.91%. 

As it stands, things don’t look great for Vancouver. Two of the three teams they are competing against for a playoff spot are currently riding multi-game win streaks. Both the Blues and the Flames have been clicking well lately, and as it stands, it looks like they may not slow down. They won at a time when Vancouver could have pulled off a couple of wins, but ultimately were unable to despite small goal margins. If things continue the way they have been for the past week, Vancouver’s shot at making the playoffs will rely solely on one thing — luck. 

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