The Most Important Games for a conference are those games in the upcoming week whose outcome most changes the final playoff picture. The Importance Factor provides a relative importance between games. Use this table to identify the most interesting Eastern conference games in the upcoming week of play. Click a team name to proceed to the team playoff picture page.
| Game | Importance Factor (0‑∼100) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Home | Visitor | |
| Capitals (27‑22‑7) |
Islanders (30‑20‑5) |
15 |
| Devils (28‑25‑2) |
Blue Jackets (27‑20‑7) |
13 |
| Penguins (28‑14‑11) |
Senators (26‑21‑7) |
12 |
| Panthers (28‑23‑3) |
Sabres (31‑18‑5) |
12 |
| Wild (32‑14‑10) |
Canadiens (31‑17‑7) |
9 |
| Avalanche (36‑8‑9) |
Red Wings (32‑18‑6) |
8 |
| Flames (22‑26‑6) |
Maple Leafs (25‑21‑9) |
5 |