Tommy Novak netted the winner in the shootout as the Nashville Predators prevailed 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Monday, eliminating the hosts from playoff contention.

Earlier in the shootout, Calgary head coach Darryl Sutter went with grinder Nick Ritchie over the team's leading scorer, Tyler Toffoli, and 17-goal producer Andrew Mangiapane.

"Not much difference, if you do the percentages or odds," Sutter said postgame, according to TSN's Salim Nadim Valji. "You're going on practices, you're going on guys that have scored against (Predators goaltender Juuse Saros). That's not the point. It really had no bearing on the game. The difference is those great chances in overtime."

The Flames were expected to contend for the Pacific Division title this season.

Despite losing Johnny Gaudreau in free agency and being forced to trade Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in late July, Calgary managed to acquire Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar in the Tkachuk deal, along with prospect Cole Schwindt.

But instead of vying for the Pacific crown, the Flames struggled to find consistency in 2022-23. Calgary sits fifth in the division at 37-27-17.

The Flames didn't often get blown out during this campaign, but they were incredibly unsuccessful in close games.

Calgary will play its season finale at home against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.

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San Jose Sharks star Erik Karlsson notched his 100th point of the campaign Monday against the Winnipeg Jets, becoming the sixth defenseman in NHL history to reach the milestone.

Karlsson joins Hall of Famers Brian Leetch, Al MacInnis, Paul Coffey (five times), Denis Potvin, and Bobby Orr (six times) as the only blue-liners to accomplish the feat. Leetch was the last to do it in 1991-92.

The 32-year-old Karlsson is the oldest defenseman to reach the milestone. Coffey, at age 28, previously held that distinction.

It's been a remarkable bounce-back campaign for Karlsson, who missed a combined 69 games over the last five seasons due to injuries. His previous two campaigns represented his worst production on a per-game basis in the last 10 seasons. However, Karlsson is on track for his third career Norris Trophy this year.

Karlsson has 25 more points than the next defenseman behind him. He also ranks tied for second among all NHL skaters with 74 even-strength points this season - one shy of Connor McDavid for a share of the league lead.

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Success is all relative.

With a two-point lead in the Central Division with three games to go as of Monday morning, the Avalanche won't exceed expectations with a division title. After all, they were favored to win it before the season. Meanwhile, the Kraken's 2022-23 campaign can be considered an overall win by just making the playoffs, since expectations were for a sub-.500 season.

Then there's the Maple Leafs, whose bar for success is to either win a playoff series or win the Stanley Cup - or anywhere in between, depending on who you ask.

While many teams have yet to determine whether their season is a success, all 32 were assigned a season point total goal for bettors to buy (by betting the over) or sell (by betting the under).

With either two or three games left to play, let's look back at which teams - in the eyes of bettors - had a successful season and which have work to do to go over their prescribed point total.

Regular-season point total winners

It's strange to discuss the Coyotes in the same breath as the Bruins, but here we are. Arizona's expectations were so low that it could finish 28th overall and still have cashed bettors' over tickets with more than a week left in the season.

It won't come as a surprise that the Bruins led the way in gross margin, but they've also already racked up 37% more points than expected. The Kraken were second in that department, with already 20% more points than their expectation - which was well below what's required of a playoff team.

If getting one's team to play above expectation is the reflection of a coach, Jim Montgomery should win the Jack Adams Award, with Seattle's Dave Hakstol right behind him in voters' eyes. To handicap the betting markets for that award for future seasons, look at which team will exceed their point total by the highest percentage to determine which bet is worth making.

If the Jets seal a playoff spot in the season's final week, that would mean at least 11 of 16 playoff teams went over their point totals.

Regular-season point total success TBD

Bettors for five teams will still be made to sweat during the race to the finish line.

Of course Toronto's regular-season success barometer is still in question days before their annual high-stakes temperature check. No team teeters on a balance beam of joy and sorrow more than the Leafs and their backers. While the final three games are largely meaningless in the locker room, many bettors care more about what happens on a three-game road trip to close the season than the upcoming rematch with the Lightning.

In a rare instance of betting imitating life, the Islanders are more than motivated to accrue as many points as possible with two games to go, as they battle the Penguins and Panthers for the two wild cards in the Eastern Conference.

Regular-season point total losers

Speaking of Pittsburgh and Florida, bettors didn't expect them to be in such desperate states before the season. Of course, a playoff spot clinched and a potential deep run won't make their season-long backers feel any better about bets that were lost long ago. The same goes for the Avalanche and Lightning, whose Stanley Cup Final matchup last summer helped set the bar slightly too high this season.

Never a threat to hit their prescribed number, the Ducks and Blackhawks each have two points in their last 10 games and are in a battle for the most draft lottery balls with the Sharks and Blue Jackets. Bettors who didn't believe in a turnaround after those four teams missed the playoffs by a mile last year will be satisfied.

If the Flyers can't register three points in their final two games, it will mean that teams lined at less than 80 points went 6-2 to the under - making the "bet the bad teams to be bad" preseason strategy profitable.

Matt Russell is the senior betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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Bo Horvat apologized for ruffling the feathers of his former team's fan base with his postgame comments on Saturday.

Horvat raised eyebrows when he said the excitement of participating in the New York Islanders' push for the playoffs was "a lot better than Vancouver."

"I wasn't obviously expecting that," the former Canuck said Monday, per The Athletic's Kevin Kurz. "It was kind of a heat of the moment thing. I didn't mean any disrespect to the fans of Vancouver or my teammates or (the) city of Vancouver at all. It wasn't directed at them at all. The (Islanders) fans were all excited, and I was excited to be in a playoff push. It was just kind of one of those things where my emotions got the best of me.

"I was just really happy to be there, to be honest with you. It might have come out the wrong way to a lot of people so I apologize for that. I'm just excited to be in the position right now, to be in a playoff push, to be right there. I really enjoyed my time in Vancouver; I'm not trying to disrespect them at all. I'm sorry if it offended anybody but I'm really happy to be in this position right now."

The Canucks traded Horvat to the Islanders in January after nine seasons - including three-plus as captain - with Vancouver. He signed an eight-year, $68-million extension with New York shortly after being dealt.

The Canucks were 27th in the NHL with a 20-26-3 record when they moved Horvat. The club also replaced former head coach Bruce Boudreau with Rick Tocchet roughly a week before shipping out their former captain. Since Tocchet was brought in, Vancouver is the sixth-best team in the Western Conference at 18-11-4. Despite the positive turnaround, the Canucks have already been eliminated from postseason contention for the third consecutive season.

Horvat has registered 15 points in 28 games since arriving on Long Island, a stark decline in production from the 31 goals and 23 assists he put up in 49 games this season with the Canucks.

The Islanders hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 91 points through 80 games. They're tied in points with the Florida Panthers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are one back entering the final week of the regular season.

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