How Many Nhl Playoff Games Are There?
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How many NHL playoff games are there? The answer may surprise you.
How the Playoffs Work
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 Stanley Cup champions.
The Qualifying Round
The Qualifying Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a best-of-five series between the bottom four teams in each conference, played entirely within the league’s respective hub cities. The first two games of each series will be played at one team’s home arena, with games three and four (if necessary) played at the other team’s arena. The fifth game (if necessary) will be played at a neutral site within the hub city.
The First Round
The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series. The team that finished with the better regular-season record — aka, the higher seed — gets home-ice advantage, meaning four of the seven games, if necessary, will be played at their arena. In each subsequent round, the team with home-ice advantage will alternate between home and away games until one team either wins four games or the series ends in a tie, at which point a seventh and decisive game will be played.
The Second Round
In the second round of the NHL playoffs, the remaining four teams in each conference play each other in best-of-seven series. The format is the same as the first round. The higher-seeded team hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 while the lower-seeded team hosts Games 3, 4 and 6.
The Conference Finals
The Conference Finals are the last step before the Stanley Cup Final, and they pit the winners of the two semifinals against each other. The winning team from each conference will advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
In the Conference Finals, the team with the better regular-season record will have home-ice advantage. The format is similar to the semifinals, with each team playing its opponent in a best-of-seven series.
The Conference Finals are typically scheduled to start two days after the conclusion of the semifinals.
The Stanley Cup Final
The Stanley Cup Final is the National Hockey League’s championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America’s oldest professional sports trophy. The Stanley Cup is awarded to the champion of the playoffs. The final round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series played between the two conference champions (Eastern and Western), with home ice advantage determined by total points accumulated by each team during the regular season.
How Many Games are Played in Each Round?
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, or the Conference Quarterfinals, is a best-of-seven series. The second round, or the Conference Semifinals, is also a best-of-seven series. The Conference Finals are a best-of-seven series. Finally, the Stanley Cup Final is a best-of-seven series.
The Qualifying Round
Since the NHL expanded to 31 teams for the 2017-18 season, the playoff format has changed slightly. The qualifying round is a best-of-five series between the bottom eight seeds in each conference. The winner of each series advances to the first round of the playoffs.
The First Round
In the first round of the playoffs, there are a total of five games played. Each team plays the other team twice, with each game having a possible winner. The first team to win three game is the winner of that series and moves on to the next round.
The Second Round
There are four best-of-seven series in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Conference Finals
In the Conference Finals, the winners of the two semifinal series play each other in a best-of-seven series to determine which team will advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Stanley Cup Final
The Stanley Cup Final is the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL), a professional ice hockey league. The Stanley Cup is awarded to the NHL’s playoff champion annually. The final showdown between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions was originally known as the Stanley Cup Finals. It was initially a best-of-five playoff, which changed to best-of-seven in 1914.
Since 1926, all finals have been played as best-of-seven series. Currently, home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final goes to the team that placed higher in the regular season standings, provided that they also won their respective divisional playoff bracket. If one team finished higher but lost their divisional playoff series, then home ice advantage would go to the team with more regular season points; if two such teams exist, it goes to the team who earned it first by finishing higher in the standings.
In 2014, for example, the Boston Bruins had 113 points and finished first in their division while the Chicago Blackhawks had 102 points and finished fourth in theirs. The Blackhawks won their divisional playoff series while the Bruins did not; as a result, despite having 11 fewer points than Chicago, Boston had home ice advantage because they finished higher in the standings. From 2013 to present, home teams have a 60–40 record in Game 7s of the Stanley Cup Finals.
