How Do The NHL Playoffs Work?
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series.
Introduction
The Stanley Cup playoffs (French: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner of the Stanley Cup. Eight teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season points totals.
How the Playoffs Work
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, or Stanley Cup Finals.
The Format
The Stanley Cup Playoffs (NHL Playoffs) are a best-of-seven elimination tournament to crown the National Hockey League (NHL) champion for each season. Eight teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs.
Each series is played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning that the team with home-ice advantage (listed first below) will host games one, two, five, and seven, while their opponent will host games three, four, and six. In the Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record — regardless of whether they are from the Eastern or Western Conference.
The top three teams in each division make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The next two spots go to “wild card” teams —the two remaining clubs with the best records from each conference who did not win their division.
Assuming that all division winners and wild cards advance beyond their first playoff round (a condition that has not applied since 2013), they are reseeded as follows:
The division winner with the best record in each conference is seeded first overall. The other division winners are seeded second and third based on regular-season points.
The two wild card teams in each conference are seeded fourth and fifth based on regular-season points.
Within each conference quarterfinals (the first round), matchups are determined by seeding number within bracketed divisions: 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3, 5 vs 6 etc. In every playoff year since 1994, at least one No. 8 seed has advanced to the Conference Finals.
The Seeds
The top three teams in each division automatically qualify for the playoffs (the division winners are seeded first-third in their respective conference). The two remaining spots in each conference are filled by the next two best teams in the conference standings, regardless of division (these teams are “wild card” qualifiers).
In the first round of the playoffs, the division winner with the best record in each conference is matched against the wild-card team with the worst record; the division winner with the second-best conference record plays the wild-card team with the second-worst record. The matchups for each conference’s other two series are based on seeding number within each division, not by conference standings (for example, if all four division winners had more points than all four wild card qualifiers, regardless of seed numbers, a team could play a division rival it finished ahead of in the standings).
The Matchups
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the top three teams in each division and two wild card teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The first two rounds of the playoffs are divisional and the teams are re-seeded at the end of each round. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final are played between the remaining teams.
The NHL playoffs are a best-of-seven series. In each series, the team that scores four goals first or has more total goals after seven games advances to the next round. If both teams have scored an equal number of goals after seven games, the series is decided by overtime.
During overtime, each team plays with three skaters instead of four. The first team to score a goal during overtime wins the game and advances to the next round. If no team scores during overtime, the series goes to a shootout.
In a shootout, each team selects three skaters to take shots on goal from center ice. The goaltender tries to stop all of the shots. If one team scores more goals than the other during the shootout, that team wins the game and advances to the next round. If both teams have scored an equal number of goals after three rounds of shots, sudden death begins.
Sudden death is when each team selects one skater to take a shot on goal from center ice until one team scores and wins the game.
The Bracket
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams that have qualified by having one of the top eight regular-season records in their conference. The final round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series to determine the Stanley Cup champion.
Conclusion
The NHL playoffs are a best-of-seven series between the top teams from each conference. The first two rounds are played within the conference, with the first team to win four games advancing to the next round. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final are played between the winners of each conference. The first team to win four games in the Stanley Cup Final is crowned the Stanley Cup champion.
