This marks the eighth time in the last nine seasons that Toronto has missed the playoffs. Toronto ended its seven-year playoff drought last season, but it surrendered a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game 7 of the first round to the Boston Bruins and lost in overtime.
The Coyotes’ loss gave the Minnesota Wild one of the two wild-card playoff berths in the Western Conference. They clinched the seventh seed in the West with a 4-3 shootout win over the Boston bruins later in the night.
The Philadelphia Flyers were the other team to clinch a spot in the postseason Tuesday night with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. The Flyers likely will play the New York Rangers in Round 1 and can still climb over their Metropolitan Division rivals and secure home ice with a strong finish to the regular season. Philadelphia missed the playoffs last season and started 1-7-0 in 2013-14, but a strong second half propelled the team back to the postseason.
The Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Tuesday night and can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
