How Many Games Is The First Round Of The NHL Playoffs?

The first round of the NHL playoffs is a best-of-seven series. So, how many games does that mean each team has to win to advance?

How the NHL Playoffs Work

The first round of the NHL playoffs is a best-of-seven series. The team with the better regular-season record has home-ice advantage, meaning they host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. The other team hosts Games 3, 4, and 6. If the series is tied after seven games, then it goes to a Game 7.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Stanley Cup Playoffs (fr: Séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is 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. Since the Conference Finals were introduced in 1982, the Stanley Cup Playoffs format has remained largely unchanged. As of 2020, 46 teams (24 in the United States and 22 in Canada) qualify for the playoffs each season: 16 teams from each conference (the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, and Pacific), with two Additionally, qualification has expanded over time – from six teams in 1933 to 31 today.

The First Round of the Playoffs

The first round of the NHL playoffs, also known as the qualifying round, is a best-of-five series between the bottom four seeds in each conference. The matchups are as follows:

Western Conference:

(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (12) Chicago Blackhawks
(6) Nashville Predators vs. (11) Arizona Coyotes
(7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (10) Minnesota Wild
(8) Calgary Flames vs. (9) Winnipeg Jets

Eastern Conference:

(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens
(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (11) New York Rangers
(7) New York Islanders vs. (10) Florida Panthers
(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (9) Columbus Blue Jackets

The playoff format changed for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the NHL regular season being shortened and teams playing far fewer games than usual. In a normal year, the first round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series between the top eight seeds in each conference.

How Many Games Are Played in the First Round?

The first round of the NHL playoffs is a best-of-seven series. meaning that the team that wins four games first, advance to the next round.

The Number of Games

In the Stanley Cup playoffs’ first round, there are a best-of-five series played.

The Length of the First Round

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a best-of-seven series. The higher-seeded team will host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary); the lower-seeded team will host Games 3 and 4 (if necessary).

In each series, the team that scores the most goals in the four games combined will win the series. If both teams have scored an equal number of goals at the end of four games, then each team will have won two games apiece (a ‘split’). In this case, the series will go to a fifth and deciding game, where the first team to score in Game 5 will win the series.

If both teams have split their four games and neither team has scored in Game 5, then the teams will play 20 minutes of sudden death overtime. If one team scores during sudden death overtime, that team will win the series. If no one scores during sudden death overtime, then the teams will keep playing sudden death overtime until someone scores and wins the series.

What Happens If the Series Is Tied After the First Round?

The first round of the NHL playoffs is a best-of-seven series. If the series is tied after the first seven games, then there will be a Game 8. If the series is still tied after that, then there will be a Game 9, and so on.

The Tiebreaker

The first tiebreaker is total goals scored in the series. If the teams remain tied, the next tiebreaker is total goals scored in all playoff games. If the teams have still not been decided, the next tiebreaker is head-to-head records.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, if two teams are tied at the end of regulation time in any game, they will play overtime. Overtime is 20 minutes long, and it is sudden death: the first team to score wins the game. If no team scores in overtime, the game will go to a shootout.

The Second Round

If the series is tied after the first round, then the second round will start. The second round is a best-of-seven series, meaning that the team who wins four games first will advance to the next round. If the series is still tied after seven games, then there will be a tiebreaker game to determine who advances.