{"id":449046,"date":"2026-02-06T15:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/449046\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:40:17","slug":"buffalo-sabres-detroit-red-wings-anaheim-ducks-in-position-to-end-nhls-longest-playoff-droughts-at-olympic-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/449046\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks in position to end NHL\u2019s longest playoff droughts at Olympic break"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the NHL\u2019s Olympic break arrives, the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>, Detroit Red Wings<\/a> and Anaheim Ducks<\/a> all sit in position to end their lengthy playoff droughts.<\/p>\n

The Sabres are unrivaled in having missed the postseason in each of the past 14 seasons, and early in the year it looked like the drought would continue.<\/p>\n

But Buffalo has gone 21-5-2 over their past 28 games to surge into top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres sit five points ahead of the Blue Jackets, who are outside the playoff picture, and just two points back of both the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> and Detroit Red Wings<\/a>, who sit second and third in the Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n

The Sabres suffered a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> on Tuesday, marking just the second time the team has lost two straight games since early December.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, want to continue to get better and climb in the standings,\u201d said forward Tage Thompson<\/a>, who is heading to the Winter Olympics to play for Team USA. \u201cTonight was an opportunity to do that. It\u2019s tough when you let something like that slip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, we still have a lot of hockey left and can\u2019t let it affect the mind moving forward. We\u2019ve done a great job all year just turning the page and refocusing, whether it\u2019s a win or loss, and getting ready for the next challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Penguins have missed the playoffs in each of the past three years, though each has been costly with an aging core of stars Sidney Crosby<\/a>, Evgeni Malkin<\/a>, Kris Letang<\/a> and Erik Karlsson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has continued to retool on the fly this season, including moving starting netminder Tristan Jarry<\/a> to the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> amid a bounce-back start to the campaign, but have battled to stay in the playoff picture.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh is one point ahead of the New York Islanders<\/a> for second in the Metropolitan Division and five points clear of the Blue Jackets, with the division race offering a more likely path into the dance than the crowded wild-card picture.<\/p>\n

The Penguins had dropped two straight before beating the Sabres on Thursday, entering the break with a 7-1-1 record in their past nine games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked this morning about how there\u2019s been a lot of good since our last break. \u2026 I think we deserved to feel good going into the break,\u201d first-year head coach Dan Muse said. \u201cWe had to go in there today and earn that, and we did just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Metropolitan and wild-card standings Red Wings gamble on Gibson paying off<\/p>\n

The Red Wings are in the midst of the NHL\u2019s second-longest playoff drought at nine seasons following a streak of 25 straight postseason appearances. Detroit has held a playoff spot throughout this season as the off-season gamble to acquire goaltender John Gibson<\/a> has paid off. The 32-year-old netminder has gone 22-12-2 in his first season away from the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> with a .904 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average.<\/p>\n

Detroit also enters the break on a sour note after a 4-1 loss the Utah Mammoth<\/a> on Wednesday. Captain Dylan Larkin<\/a> pointed to the team\u2019s ninth-ranked power play as being crucial for their playoff hopes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the team dipped when we came off the ice, so that\u2019s a positive,\u201d said Larkin, who will also play for Team USA. \u201cWhen we get back from the break, it\u2019s going to be imperative that, down the stretch, the power play is continuing to build momentum but also scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Atlantic Standings Can the Ducks hang on in the West?<\/p>\n

In the Western Conference, the Ducks are currently in position to end a seven-year playoff drought, the third-longest drought behind the Sabres and Red Wings.<\/p>\n

Anaheim was hot early in the season, but cooled with just two wins in a 15-game stretch from Dec. 11 to Jan. 10. The Ducks have bounced back in remarkable fashion with a 9-2-0 record in their 11 games since.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our team is doing a great job of buying into what we want to do,\u201d defenceman Jackson LaCombe<\/a> said after a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken<\/a> on Tuesday in Anaheim\u2019s final game. \u201dEveryone is committing to playing better defence, that\u2019s shown over our last stretch here. I think we\u2019re really happy with where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ducks are currently holding the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a three-point cushion on the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anaheim is tied with the Seattle Kraken<\/a>, who sit third in the Pacific Division with 63 points \u2013one point back of the second-place Edmonton Oilers<\/a> and five points back of the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> for first. The Ducks have two games in hand on the Oilers and one on Vegas.<\/p>\n

The Pacific Division appears set to go down to the wire with the Kings having acquired the biggest name of the deadline season this week in winger Artemi Panarin<\/a>. Also not out of the race are the San Jose Sharks<\/a>, who have 58 points with a game in hand of the Ducks.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pacific and Wild-Card Standings <\/p>\n

Based on the current playoff picture, the Sharks are set to take over the torch of having the league\u2019s longest playoff drought which will hit seven seasons if they fail to qualify this spring.<\/p>\n

The Utah Mammoth<\/a> currently sit in the top wild-card spot as the team looks to make the playoffs for the first time since relocating in 2024 and will be fighting it out with the Pacific teams in the wild-card race with the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>, Minnesota Wild<\/a> and Dallas Stars<\/a> well ahead in the Central Division. The Nashville Predators<\/a> are also part of the wild-card race, just four points back of the Ducks after an ugly start to their season.<\/p>\n

Maple Leafs, Panthers on the outs<\/p>\n

As major playoff droughts appear set to end, the league\u2019s longest streaks are on pace to be halted as well. <\/p>\n

The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> are on the outside looking in after an active record of nine straight playoff appearances and the Florida Panthers<\/a> are last in the Atlantic Division after six straight trips to the postseason and back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> would take over as sharing the longest active streak mark if the standings remain the way they are now, with both teams on pace to extend their streaks to nine seasons. <\/p>\n

The NHL season resumes on Feb. 25, just over a week before the March 6 trade deadline, when the final sprint for playoff spots will begin. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NHL\u2019s Olympic break arrives, the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks all sit in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2210,233,5292,4759,1739,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-449046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim-ducks","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheimducks","11":"tag-apple-news","12":"tag-ducks","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116024444563619607","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}