What Is the Playoff Format for the NHL?

The NHL playoff format is a bit different than other professional sports leagues. Here’s a quick breakdown of how it works.

The NHL’s playoff format has changed several times throughout the years.

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and seven in Canada. The playoff format has changed several times throughout NHL history.

The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded to the playoff champion at the end of each season. playoffs are an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the regular season to determine the Stanley Cup winner. The teams with the best records from each conference receive automatic berths into the playoffs, while the remaining teams compete in a qualifying round for the remaining spots.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are a best-of-seven tournament. In each round, the team with home-ice advantage (the higher seed) plays three of the seven games at home. The first team to win four games wins the series and advances to the next round.

The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final are also best-of-seven series. In recent years, the Conference Finals have been played before the Stanley Cup Final, but this is not always the case. The date of the Stanley Cup Final is determined by when Easter falls during that year’s postseason; because Easter Sunday is a major television Ratings day, NBC has always wanted that year’s Final to end no later than that date so as not to compete against it for ratings (unlike previous years when CBS held NHL broadcast rights). Therefore, if Easter falls early in April, as it did in 2019, then that year’s Stanley Cup Final will start in late May; if Easter falls late in April, as it did in 2020, then that year’s Final will start in early June.

The current playoff format is a best-of-seven series.

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, each round is a best-of-seven series. The team that has the better record in the regular season earns home-ice advantage, meaning they host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. The other team hosts Games 3, 4, and 6.

The first two rounds match up the conference’s second-place team against its third-place team, and the conference’s top seeds get a bye to the second round. In the second round (and all subsequent rounds), the lower-seeded team will play at home for Games 1 and 2, before the series shifts to the higher-seeded team’s arena for Games 3 through 7 (if necessary).

The Stanley Cup Final features the winner of the Western Conference playing against the winner of the Eastern Conference in a best-of-seven series. Home-ice advantage in this round goes to whichever conference wins more games in head-to-head play during the regular season.

The first two rounds are played within the conference, while the last two rounds are played between the conference champions.

Playoffs are held after the conclusion of the regular season. The Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of the NHL, is awarded to the playoff champion at the end of the playoffs.
The playoffs follow a tournament format. As of the 2019–20 season, 16 teams (the top four teams in each of the two conferences) qualify for the playoffs.
The first two rounds are played within the conference, while the last two rounds are played between the conference champions.
Winners of each round progress to play either an adjacent seed or a more favorable seed in subsequent rounds, until only two remain to contest for the Stanley Cup in what is usually referred to as The Finals.
If any series in any round has not been completed by June 15th (regardless of whether both teams have advanced to another round), it automatically becomes a best-of-seven series.
In all rounds prior to The Finals, home-ice advantage goes to(goes to?)the team with better regular season record — regardless(of) whether or not that team earned more points (as division winners receive playoff spots while wild card teams do not). In The Finals, home-ice advantage is given to?the team with better regular season record.

The team with the better record has home-ice advantage in all rounds.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 16 teams (the top 2 teams from each of the 4 divisions) compete for the Stanley Cup, the NHL’s championship trophy.

The team with the better record has home-ice advantage in all rounds. Each series is a best-of-seven game series. The team that wins four games wins the series.

If a team wins the first two games at home (called a “split”), it only needs to win one more game, either at home or on the road, to win the series. If a team loses the first two games at home (also called a “split”), it must win four in a row – two at home and two on the road – to win the series

If a series is tied after regulation in any round, overtime will be played.

If a series is tied after regulation in any round, overtime will be played. In the first two rounds, overtime will be played in its entirety regardless of how many goals are scored (i.e., there will be no “golden goal”). From the conference finals onwards, however, if a team scores in overtime, the game will end immediately (often referred to as the “golden goal” rule).

In the first round of the playoffs, the schedule is as follows:

-The top three teams in each division earn berths in the playoffs. The next two teams with the best records in each conference earn Wild Card spots.
-The division winner with the best record in each conference is matched against the Wild Card team with the lesser record. The other division winner is matched against the Wild Card team with the better record.
-The winners of those two series advance to play each other in the second round, which uses a best-of-seven format just like the first round.
-Home ice advantage goes to series winners with better regular season records.

In the first round of the playoffs, the division winner with the best record plays the wild-card team with the worst record.

The first round of the playoffs, or the qualifying round, is a best-of-five series. The division winner with the best record plays the wild-card team with the worst record. The second and third division winners play each other, and the two wild-card teams play each other.

In the second round, or the divisional semifinals, the four remaining teams are seeded according to their regular-season records. The division winner with the best record plays the wild-card team with the worst record, and the other two teams play each other.

In the third round, or the conference finals, the two remaining teams play each other in a best-of-seven series.

The Stanley Cup Final is a best-of-seven series between the conference champions.

The other two first-round series are matchup between the second- and third-place teams in each division.

In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in each conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lesser record; the division winner with the second-best record in each conference will play the wild-card team with the better record.

The three division winners in each conference will automatically advance to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The other two first-round series are matchup between the second- and third-place teams in each division.