Day 22 without sports 🏒: How would NHL playoff race look heading into season’s final weekend?

When the coronavirus forced the NHL to suspend its regular season March 12, fans lost out on the final 3½ weeks of the regular season that would have culminated this weekend.

In the games that were supposed to have been played between that date and now, every overtime loss or shootout victory would have mattered, with almost every team in both the Metropolitan (East) and Central (West) Divisions positioning themselves for playoff runs.

About the only “known” when play stopped was that the Boston Bruins were taking home the President’s Trophy. But in the Metropolitan, how far would the New York Islanders fall during the seven game winless streak that took them into the stoppage? What about the Carolina Hurricanes, who had the least games played (along with the Islanders) and won three in a row?

In total, four Metropolitan teams sat within two points and two games of one another — all fighting for wild card spots and outside the top three in the division. The Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins would have done battle for first place down the stretch. 

The various scenarios would have made the final three days of the regular season all the more intense — finally, an ending to the standing jockeying of the last month. Instead, the questions are unanswerable. In the Central, the battle for first between St. Louis and Colorado would have gone down to the wire, as would have Vegas and Edmonton in the Pacific. 

Thirteen games were on the docket for Thursday, with just two on Friday and 13 more on Saturday. The playoffs were set to begin April 8. 

Instead? No answers. 😭

Sports video of the day

The best story out of the NHL this season was emergency goaltender David Ayres coming off the bench to help the Carolina Hurricanes to victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

What to watch 

College football 

• The 2005 Rose Bowl, Texas vs. USC, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)

NFL 

• Brett Favre and the Vikings vs. the Packers at Lambeau in 2010, 7 p.m. ET (NBC Sports)

Story time! Here are some of our best

• NANCY ARMOUR:Simone Biles is sitting at home like the rest of us, and she’s not happy about it
• WIMBLEDON:Tournament canceled for first time since World War II
• SHIN-SOO CHOO:Rangers star giving $1,000 to every minor league player in team’s farm system
• NEW ORLEANS SAINTS:Team to hold NFL draft war room at local brewery
• COLLEGE FOOTBALL:Missouri coach not focused on what-ifs of 2020 season
• LONE RIDER:Triathlete defends his 200-mile lockdown ride after coronavirus backlash

This day in sports history: April 2 

1984: John Thompson Jr. becomes the first black coach to win the national championship when his Georgetown team, led by Patrick Ewing, defeat Houston. 

1990: UNLV, led by coach Jerry Tarkanian, deny Mike Krzyzewski and Duke the title by blasting them by 30 in the championship game. 

1995: Connecticut wins its first women’s basketball title, the first of 11 championships over the last 25 years from coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies. 

1995: The Major League Baseball strike, the longest in American major sports history, ends at 232 days. The strike resulted in the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, the first time no World Series was played since 1904.

2007: The Florida Gators repeat as men’s basketball champions.

Sports we are missing today

MLB 

• Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees
• New York Mets at Washington Nationals 
• Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
• Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates
• Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox 
• Milwaukee Brewers at Philadelphia Phillies
• Seattle Mariners at Kansas City Royals 
• Oakland Athletics at Minnesota Twins 
• Baltimore Orioles at St. Louis Cardinals 
• Los Angeles Angels at Texas Rangers

NBA 

• Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets
• Los Angeles Clippers at Sacramento Kings
• Utah Jazz at Portland Trail Blazers

NHL 

• Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders
• Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs
• New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins
• Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets
• Ottawa Senators at Florida Panthers
• Nashville Predators at Philadelphia Flyers
• Buffalo Sabres at New Jersey Devils
• Minnesota Wild at Washington Capitals 
• Boston Bruins at St. Louis Blues
• Winnipeg Jets at Colorado Avalanche
• Vegas Golden Knights at Calgary Flames 
• Dallas Stars at San Jose Sharks
• Vancouver Canucks at Arizona Coyotes

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca. 

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