The NHL Playoffs is the annual elimination series where the winner is crowned the league’s best and takes home the Stanley Cup.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
– How Many Teams Participate In The Stanley Cup Playoffs?
– How Many Rounds Are There In The NHL Playoffs?
– How Many Games Are In A Series?
– Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
– What Happens In The Case Of A Tie During An NHL Playoff Game?
– When Do The NHL Playoffs Start?
– Who Are The Most Successful Teams In The History Of The NHL Playoffs?
– What Does It Mean To Be A Division Winner?
The NHL playoffs begin shortly after the 82-game NHL regular season ends. The top sixteen teams in the league qualify. The league is composed of two conferences (Eastern and Western) and each conference is composed of two divisions, the Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East and the Pacific and Central in the West. For league makeup, please check out our NHL teams list.
16 NHL teams make the postseason. Eight teams from each conference and each conference consists of the top 3 teams in each division, leaving two wild card teams. The wild card spots are determined regardless of division and are chosen based on best performance, with the first of these criteria being who finished with the most points.
There are four rounds in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, starting with sixteen in round 1, eight teams in round 2, four teams in round 3, also known as the conference finals and two teams in the final round more commonly known as the Stanley Cup Final.
Regardless of the round, it is a best-of-seven series. The first team to win four games advances to the next round.
Home ice advantage is determined based on the team with the better regular season record and each series is based on a 2-2-1-1-1 format. This means the top-ranking team will play home games on games #1, #2, #5 and #7.
Unlike the regular season, which is decided by 5 minutes of 3-on-3 overtime hockey, and if still left tied at the end of the 5 minutes, is decided by a shootout. The NHL Playoffs are decided by sudden-death overtime. Regular gameplay is left unchanged at 5-on-5. The game will go indefinitely, until one team scores.
The NHL playoffs commence after the conclusion of the 82-game NHL regular season. The start and end dates do vary year-over-year but typically it starts mid-April and ends at the beginning of June
The team with the most Stanley Cups in NHL Playoff history is the Montreal Canadiens with 24. They were followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs who have raised the Cup 13 times. For a complete list of all teams and how many Cups they’ve won, click here.
If your team is a division winner, they will hold one of the top two spots in their respective Conference, with the top spot going to the team with the better regular season record. There are four division winners total in the playoffs and four wild card teams total. A division winner will play a wild-card team in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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