 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Venue(s) | Rogers Place, Edmonton Scotiabank Arena, Toronto |
| Dates | August 1–September 28, 2020 |
| Teams | 24 |
| Defending champions | St. Louis Blues |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Runner-up | Dallas Stars |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Scoring leader(s) | Nikita Kucherov (Lightning) (34 points) |
| MVP | Victor Hedman (Lightning) |
The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2019–20 season. The playoffs began on August 1, 2020, and concluded on September 28, 2020, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Dallas Stars four games to two in the Stanley Cup Finals. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin in April, a few days after the regular season, and end in June. However, on March 12, the regular season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
On May 26, commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that the league was going to use a 24-team playoff format to finish the season, conducted in two or more host cities as "hubs" with players placed under strict health protocols, quarantined from the general public, and all games played behind closed doors with no fans admitted. On July 10, the league ratified an agreement for its protocols with the NHL Players Association (NHLPA). The Eastern Conference played its early-round games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, while the early rounds for the Western Conference, as well as the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals, were played at Rogers Place in Edmonton.[2] This was the first Stanley Cup playoffs to be contested entirely in Canada since 1925, as well as the first time that the Stanley Cup was awarded on Canadian ice since 2011.[3]
The Boston Bruins made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. The Pittsburgh Penguins increased their postseason appearance streak to fourteen seasons, the longest active streak. For the first time since 1996, all California-based teams, the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks, missed the playoffs. Six Canadian-based teams made the postseason this year, the most since 1993. It also marked the first time since 1986 that all four teams in cities based in Western Canada made the playoffs. In addition, it marked the first time that both the Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes (previously the original Jets, before relocation) qualified for the playoffs in the same season, as well as the first time that the Coyotes made the playoffs since 2012. For the first time since 1999, all former World Hockey Association teams (Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, and Colorado Avalanche) made the playoffs.
Game two of the Second Round series between the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights was the 94th game of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, surpassing the previous single-year record of 93 established in 2014. On September 17, the Tampa Bay Lightning became the first team in NHL history to win the clinching game of their first three series in overtime.[4] The Dallas Stars set the record for the most games played in one playoff year (27) in game six of the Stanley Cup Finals; the previous record (26) was shared by the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers, 2004 Calgary Flames, 2014 Los Angeles Kings, 2015 Tampa Bay Lightning and 2019 St. Louis Blues. Game six of the Stanley Cup Finals was also the 130th game of the playoffs, setting the all-time record for most games played in one playoff year.
All games that were originally scheduled on August 27 and 28 were postponed due to a wildcat strike, in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.[5]
Playoff format
On May 26, the league announced that 24 teams (12 per conference) advanced to this special conference-based playoff tournament with teams being seeded based on their points percentage at the time the regular season was suspended on March 12. The top four teams in each conference played in a separate seeding round-robin, with regular season overtime and shootout rules, with the clubs accumulating points like the regular season, to determine the seeding in the first round. In addition, any ties in the Round-robin standings were broken by the regular season points percentage. The eight lower seeded teams in each conference played in the Qualifying Round, a best-of-five series with playoff overtime rules. The winners of these series advanced to face one of the Round-Robin teams in the First Round.[6]
On May 28, the NHL stated that both the Round-robin and the Qualifying Round were to be counted under playoff records, on the same day that the league declared the winners of the stats-based regular-season NHL awards.[7] The league then announced on June 4 that all series after the Qualifying Round would remain a best-of-seven series but were re-seeded after each round.[8] With the ratification of an extension to the collective bargaining agreement on July 10, the league also announced that all teams participating in the qualifying round are considered to have made the playoffs and have participated in a playoff series.[9]
Host cities
The playoffs were held in two "hub" cities both in Canada; Edmonton, Alberta at Rogers Place, and Toronto, Ontario at Scotiabank Arena. They were announced as host cities on July 10 with the NHLPA's ratification of the Return to Play plan, and an extension to its collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA through the 2025–26 season. From the start of the playoffs through to the end of the Second Round, each city hosted all of the games for one conference: the Eastern Conference teams played in Toronto, and the Western Conference teams played in Edmonton. All games in the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals were played in Edmonton.[3]
Edmonton and Toronto were among a shortlist of ten host cities announced on May 26, along with Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Saint Paul, and Vancouver.[6] After the league cut the shortlist down to six cities on June 22, Las Vegas and Vancouver were considered to be the frontrunners to host games.[10] Shortly after this, Vancouver dropped out of consideration on June 25, after health officials in British Columbia were unable to agree with the league on a protocol in the event that a player tested positive for COVID-19.[11] Las Vegas and the other U.S. cities were passed over after Nevada and other U.S. states began to experience a spike in COVID-19 cases in late June; it was reported that the NHL originally intended to have one host city in Canada and one in the United States.[12][13]
With the New York Rangers playing designated home games in the hub cities instead of in Madison Square Garden, the team's home arena was able to keep its tax exemptions by executing an act of God clause in its agreement with New York City.[14] Under normal circumstances, like the 2014 NHL Stadium Series and 2018 NHL Winter Classic games played at other New York City venues, the Rangers would have always been designated as the visiting team to avoid breaking Madison Square Garden's tax-exempt status.[15]
Each group of teams played inside what was called a "bubble".[16][17] A secure perimeter was constructed around both venues with various amenities, with Edmonton's covering four hotels in the Ice District and Rogers Place's existing practice facilities, and Toronto's split between Exhibition Place (Hotel X, BMO Field, & Coca-Cola Coliseum) and the Fairmont Royal York hotel (which is connected to Scotiabank Arena). Both sites included fitness, dining and recreation areas. Restaurants were operating within the secure zones, and players were able to order outside food via concierge and local food delivery services. The games were held behind closed doors, but non-participating players were allowed to watch games.[18] A large "stage" with multiple video screens was constructed to cover the empty stands for both teams in each end of the arena, and in-arena presentation was customized for each team when they were the designated home team (including use of their goal music, among other features).[19][18] The league implemented a compressed playoff schedule with more back-to-back games than usual to help address "bubble fatigue" among the players, who had to live with monotonous daily routines away from their families for several weeks.[20]
Although the general public was not permitted within the direct vicinity of the arena or inside, Oilers Entertainment Group announced plans to set up an outdoor "FanFest" at the site of a former casino near Rogers Place with approval of municipal and provincial health officials, including a "drive-in" screening games and a beer garden.[21]
Medical protocols
Under the Return to Play plan that was ratified on July 10, any player could opt out of the restart without providing a reason and without any penalty, provided that they had informed their team by July 13, when formal training camps opened.[3] COVID-19 tests were then to be administered to players and staff every other day. On July 19, testing increased to three times 48 hours apart. The identities of those who tested positive were not released to the public, they would then be isolated and designated with the generic description "unfit for play" until they were medically cleared, and all injury updates were handled by the league instead of the teams.[22][23]
Teams arrived at their hub city on July 26; they were isolated in a "secure zone" consisting of their hotels, restaurants, practice facilities, and the arena. Testing was done every day,[22] as well as daily temperature and symptom checks. Individuals had to wear masks outside their hotel rooms except when eating, exercising, or while on the ice or bench. Other exceptions included during interviews with appropriate social distancing.[24]
Under the Quarantine Act, all travellers entering Canada at the time were required to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. The NHL received an exception to this policy for its players and staff, as long as they remained within the secure zone and were restricted from access to or by the general public.[25][26] Anybody who left the bubble without prior approval could have faced a mandatory 14-day quarantine or been barred from returning. Teams could have also faced fines or loss of draft picks.[23][24]
During the conclusions of each Qualifying Round series, teams exchanged fist bumps instead of the traditional handshakes.[27] As players and coaches continued to test negative for COVID-19, the traditional handshake lines returned at the end of each first-round series.[28] After entering the bubble, the league had no personnel test positive for the virus during the playoffs.[29]
Playoff teams
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:[30]
Eastern Conference
- Seeding Round-robin
- Boston Bruins, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – .714
- Tampa Bay Lightning – .657
- Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division champions – .652
- Philadelphia Flyers – .645
- Qualifying Round
- Pittsburgh Penguins – .623
- Carolina Hurricanes – .596
- New York Islanders – .588
- Toronto Maple Leafs – .579 (28 RWs)
- Columbus Blue Jackets – .579 (25 RWs)
- Florida Panthers – .565
- New York Rangers – .564
- Montreal Canadiens – .500
Western Conference
- Seeding Round-robin
- St. Louis Blues, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – .662
- Colorado Avalanche – .657
- Vegas Golden Knights, Pacific Division champions – .606
- Dallas Stars – .594
- Qualifying Round
- Edmonton Oilers – .585
- Nashville Predators – .565 (28 RWs)
- Vancouver Canucks – .565 (27 RWs)
- Calgary Flames – .564
- Winnipeg Jets – .563
- Minnesota Wild – .558
- Arizona Coyotes – .529
- Chicago Blackhawks – .514
Playoff bracket
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage. In the Stanley Cup Finals, home ice was determined based on regular season points percentage. Each best-of-five series followed a 2–2–1 format: the higher-seeded team was the designated as the host for games one and two (and game five, if necessary), and the lower-seeded team was the host for games three (and game four, if necessary). Each best-of-seven series followed a 2–2–1–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team was the host for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the lower-seeded team was the host for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). In the First Round, the top four teams in each conference were seeded one through four based on their final standings from the Round-robin. The teams that advanced from the Qualifying Round were re-seeded five through eight based on their regular season points percentage.
| Qualifying Round | First round | Second round | Conference finals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Philadelphia | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Montreal | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Philadelphia | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | NY Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Montreal | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Columbus | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Carolina | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | NY Rangers | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | NY Islanders | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | NY Islanders | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Florida | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | NY Islanders | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Toronto | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Columbus | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Boston | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Boston | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Carolina | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Dallas | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vegas | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Chicago | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vegas | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Vancouver | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Edmonton | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Chicago | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Colorado | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Arizona | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Nashville | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Arizona | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vegas | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Dallas | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Vancouver | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Minnesota | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Dallas | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Calgary | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Calgary | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Winnipeg | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Colorado | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Dallas | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Vancouver | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Exhibition games
Prior to the start of the playoffs, all 24 qualified teams played one exhibition game.[31]
July 28
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 2–3 | OT | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotiabank Arena | Recap |
| Edmonton Oilers | 4–1 | Calgary Flames | Rogers Place | Recap |
July 29
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 5–0 | Florida Panthers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap |
| Colorado Avalanche | 3–2 | Minnesota Wild | Rogers Place | Recap |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 2–3 | Washington Capitals | Scotiabank Arena | Recap |
| St. Louis Blues | 0–4 | Chicago Blackhawks | Rogers Place | Recap |
| New York Islanders | 2–1 | New York Rangers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap |
| Vancouver Canucks | 1–4 | Winnipeg Jets | Rogers Place | Recap |
July 30
| Nashville Predators | 2–0 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap |
| Boston Bruins | 1–4 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Scotiabank Arena | Recap |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 4–1 | Arizona Coyotes | Rogers Place | Recap |
Stanley Cup qualifiers
The top four playoff teams in each conference played in a round-robin tournament against each other to determine the final playoff seeding. The round-robin games were played with regular season overtime and shootout rules, with the teams accumulating points like the regular season, and any ties in the round-robin standings were broken by the regular-season points percentage instead of regulation wins.
The bottom eight playoff teams in each conference played in a best-of-five series to determine which four teams advanced to the first round. The qualifying round games were played with Stanley Cup playoff overtime rules. Seeding was determined by regular season points percentage.
Eastern Conference seeding round-robin
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PCT | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.645 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 6 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.657 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 | Washington Capitals | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.652 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.714 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 0 |
During the first game of round-robin play, the Flyers' Carter Hart made 34 saves against the Bruins in a 4–1 victory.[33] In the game between Washington and Tampa Bay, with the game forced to go to a shootout (the first in Stanley Cup playoff history), Nikita Kucherov's shot got past Braden Holtby for the winning goal in a 3–2 triumph.[34] The Lightning then faced the Bruins, and Tyler Johnson's goal at 18:33 of the third period won the game for Tampa Bay 3–2.[35] In the Flyers' match-up against the Capitals, Scott Laughton's two goals assisted Philadelphia's 3–1 victory.[36] Between the top two seeds, the Flyers defeated the Lightning 4–1 to take the first seed riding on Nicolas Aube-Kubel's two goals in the first period.[37] Battling out for the third spot, Holtby made 30 saves for Washington in their victory, defeating the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins 2–1.[38]
| August 2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4–1 | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Michael Raffl (1) – 05:33 Nate Thompson (1) – 09:31 Philippe Myers (1) – 18:59 |
Second period | 18:51 – Chris Wagner (1) | ||||||
| Scott Laughton (1) – 04:07 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Hart 34 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Jaroslav Halak 25 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| August 3 | Washington Capitals | 2–3 | SO | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 12:53 – Nikita Kucherov (1) | ||||||
| Richard Panik (1) – 17:24 Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) – pp – 19:32 |
Second period | 07:48 – Mitchell Stephens (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
T. J. Oshie  Evgeny Kuznetsov  Nicklas Backstrom |
Shootout | Victor Hedman Brayden Point Nikita Kucherov | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| August 5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–2 | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Brayden Point (1) – 07:33 Alex Killorn (1) – pp – 10:32 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 16:43 – Charlie McAvoy (1) | ||||||
| Tyler Johnson (1) – 18:33 | Third period | 01:47 – Chris Wagner (2) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 25 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 32 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| August 6 | Washington Capitals | 1–3 | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 13:03 – Scott Laughton (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:30 – Travis Sanheim (1) | ||||||
| Travis Boyd (1) – 08:49 | Third period | 08:37 – Scott Laughton (3) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 18 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 16 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| August 8 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4–1 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Nicolas Aube-Kubel (1) – 07:40 Nicolas Aube-Kubel (2) – 14:00 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joel Farabee (1) – 14:22 | Second period | 05:21 – pp – Tyler Johnson (2) | ||||||
| Tyler Pitlick (1) – en – 18:40 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Hart 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| August 9 | Boston Bruins | 1–2 | Washington Capitals | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 19:44 – T. J. Oshie (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake DeBrusk (1) – 10:30 | Third period | 02:49 – Tom Wilson (1) | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 30 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
Western Conference seeding round-robin
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PCT | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegas Golden Knights | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.606 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 6 |
| 2 | Colorado Avalanche | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.657 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 | Dallas Stars | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.594 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 2 |
| 4 | St. Louis Blues | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.662 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 1 |
During the first game between Colorado and St. Louis, Nazem Kadri scored with 0.1 remaining on the clock for the Avalanche emerging victorious 2–1.[39][40] Vegas staged a two-goal comeback in their game against Dallas, coming back from 3–1 down to win 5–3.[41] Avalanche goalie Pavel Francouz shut out the Stars 4–0 taking a 2–0 record in the Round-robin.[42] Vegas forward Alex Tuch and defenceman Shea Theodore both scored twice in their game against St. Louis, emerging victorious 6–4.[43] Battling out for the first seed, the Avalanche and Golden Knights held a back-and-forth affair until Alex Tuch scored in overtime to give Vegas a 4–3 victory, emerging as the top seed in the Western Conference.[44] The Round-robin finale between the Stars and Blues was to determine the third seed. Joe Pavelski tied the game at one for the Stars with only 32 seconds remaining in regulation, then Denis Gurianov scored the only goal of the shootout to give Dallas the third seed with the 2–1 victory.[45]
| August 2 | St. Louis Blues | 1–2 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| David Perron (1) – pp – 16:46 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:33 – Ryan Graves (1) 19:59 – pp – Nazem Kadri (1) | ||||||
| Jordan Binnington 36 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 31 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| August 3 | Dallas Stars | 3–5 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:04 – Chandler Stephenson (1) | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (1) – 07:50 Jamie Oleksiak (1) – 08:32 Corey Perry (1) – pp – 12:42 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 09:46 – Mark Stone (1) 11:15 – Nate Schmidt (1) 14:47 – William Carrier (1) 19:39 – en – William Karlsson (1) | ||||||
| Ben Bishop 28 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 24 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| August 5 | Colorado Avalanche | 4–0 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Cale Makar (1) – pp – 03:19 Joonas Donskoi (1) – 15:29 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Vladislav Namestnikov (1) – 17:30 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andre Burakovsky (1) – pp – 01:31 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pavel Francouz 27 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 36 saves / 40 shots | ||||||
| August 6 | Vegas Golden Knights | 6–4 | St. Louis Blues | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 04:02 – David Perron (2) | ||||||
| Shea Theodore (1) – pp – 06:50 Alex Tuch (1) – 10:47 Alex Tuch (2) – pp – 13:13 |
Second period | 01:45 – Colton Parayko (1) 14:07 – Colton Parayko (2) 14:28 – Troy Brouwer (1) | ||||||
| Zach Whitecloud (1) – 02:01 Mark Stone (2) – 12:31 Shea Theodore (2) – 14:49 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 13 saves / 17 shots | Goalie stats | Jordan Binnington 32 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
| August 8 | Vegas Golden Knights | 4–3 | OT | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Marchessault (1) – pp – 01:34 Nicolas Roy (1) – 12:55 |
Second period | 06:46 – pp – Nathan MacKinnon (1) 14:51 – Joonas Donskoi (2) | ||||||
| Jonathan Marchessault (2) – ps – 03:02 | Third period | 18:58 – J. T. Compher (1) | ||||||
| Alex Tuch (3) – 04:44 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Robin Lehner 32 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 9 | Dallas Stars | 2–1 | SO | St. Louis Blues | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 03:43 – Robert Thomas (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (2) – 19:28 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski Denis Gurianov |
Shootout | David Perron Vladimir Tarasenko Ryan O'Reilly | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 21 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Jake Allen 37 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
Eastern Conference qualifying round
(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens
Pittsburgh finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with 86 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .623. Montreal gained 71 points in 71 games for a points percentage of .500 to finish twelfth in the Eastern Conference. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with Montreal winning both previous series. They last met in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals, which Montreal won in seven games. Pittsburgh won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Canadiens upset the Penguins in four games. With game one remaining tied 2–2 after the third period, Jeff Petry scored in overtime to give the Canadiens the victory.[46] Among the 38 shots the Penguins forced on Carey Price in game two, Pittsburgh forward Jason Zucker's goal in the third period was the game-winner in their 3–1 triumph.[47] In game three, Jeff Petry's goal in the third period capped a two-goal comeback for Montreal winning the affair 4–3 and taking the series lead.[48] In game four, Carey Price shut the Penguins out 2–0 advancing the team to the First Round of the playoffs.[49]
| August 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–2 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1) – 11:27 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nick Suzuki (1) – 06:53 | Second period | 09:55 – Sidney Crosby (1) 12:34 – pp – Bryan Rust (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jeff Petry (1) – 13:57 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carey Price 39 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 32 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| August 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 04:25 – Sidney Crosby (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2) – 17:50 | Third period | 14:41 – Jason Zucker (1) 19:50 – en – Jake Guentzel (1) | ||||||
| Carey Price 35 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| August 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Patric Hornqvist (1) – pp – 08:40 Jason Zucker (2) – pp – 09:39 |
First period | 04:57 – Shea Weber (1) | ||||||
| Teddy Blueger (1) – 05:34 | Second period | 10:13 – Jonathan Drouin (1) 15:50 – Paul Byron (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:33 – Jeff Petry (2) | ||||||
| Matt Murray 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Carey Price 30 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| August 7 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 0–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 15:49 – Artturi Lehkonen (1) 19:28 – en – Shea Weber (2) | ||||||
| Tristan Jarry 20 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Carey Price 22 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 3–1 | |
(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (11) New York Rangers
Carolina finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with 81 points in 68 games for a points percentage of .596. New York gained 79 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .564 to finish eleventh in the Eastern Conference. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. New York won all four games in this year's regular season series.
The Hurricanes defeated the Rangers in a three-game sweep. In game one, Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin both recorded a goal and an assist in the Hurricanes 3–2 victory.[50] Andrei Svechnikov scored the Hurricanes' first playoff hat trick during game two in a 4–1 victory, giving Carolina the chance to clinch in game three.[51] Aho provided two goals and an assist in game three giving Carolina a 4–1 victory and advancing the team to the First Round of the playoffs.[52]
| August 1 | New York Rangers | 2–3 | Carolina Hurricanes | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:01 – Jaccob Slavin (1) | ||||||
| Mika Zibanejad (1) – 14:26 | Second period | 06:29 – pp – Sebastian Aho (1) | ||||||
| Marc Staal (1) – sh – 18:05 | Third period | 10:51 – Martin Necas (1) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 34 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Petr Mrazek 24 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 3 | New York Rangers | 1–4 | Carolina Hurricanes | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Artemi Panarin (1) – pp – 12:05 | First period | 04:32 – Andrei Svechnikov (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:11 – pp – Andrei Svechnikov (2) 02:22 – Jordan Martinook (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 14:02 – Andrei Svechnikov (3) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 30 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Petr Mrazek 23 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| August 4 | Carolina Hurricanes | 4–1 | New York Rangers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Teuvo Teravainen (1) – 03:18 | Second period | 00:12 – Chris Kreider (1) | ||||||
| Warren Foegele (1) – 05:07 Sebastian Aho (2) – 10:26 Sebastian Aho (3) – sh-en – 19:29 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| James Reimer 37 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Igor Shesterkin 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| Carolina won series 3–0 | |
(7) New York Islanders vs. (10) Florida Panthers
New York finished seventh in the Eastern Conference with 80 points in 68 games for a points percentage of .588. Florida gained 78 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .565 to finish tenth in the Eastern Conference. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2016 Eastern Conference first round, which New York won in six games. New York won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Islanders defeated the Panthers in four games. In game one, a 27-save performance by New York goalie Semyon Varlamov gave the Islanders a 2–1 victory.[53] Game two had Jordan Eberle score two goals for the Islanders, leading the team to a 4–2 victory.[54] The Panthers, in danger of elimination in game three, scored two power-play goals en route to a 3–2 victory to force a fourth game.[55] In the fourth game, Anthony Beauvillier scored twice for New York to send the Islanders to the First Round of the playoffs in a 5–1 victory.[56]
| August 1 | Florida Panthers | 1–2 | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 12:00 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 03:39 – pp – Anthony Beauvillier (1) | ||||||
| Jonathan Huberdeau (1) – 00:23 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sergei Bobrovsky 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 27 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| August 4 | Florida Panthers | 2–4 | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Mike Hoffman (1) – 11:16 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Aleksander Barkov (1) – pp – 07:54 | Second period | 06:12 – Matt Martin (1) 13:48 – pp – Ryan Pulock (1) 16:27 – Jordan Eberle (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:29 – pp – Jordan Eberle (2) | ||||||
| Sergei Bobrovsky 30 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 26 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| August 5 | New York Islanders | 2–3 | Florida Panthers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) – 16:26 | Second period | 04:02 – pp – Erik Haula (1) | ||||||
| Brock Nelson (1) – 18:33 | Third period | 00:41 – pp – Mike Hoffman (2) 02:48 – Brian Boyle (1) | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Sergei Bobrovsky 20 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| August 7 | New York Islanders | 5–1 | Florida Panthers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Anthony Beauvillier (2) – 11:32 Anthony Beauvillier (3) – 15:10 |
First period | 18:41 – pp – Mike Hoffman (3) | ||||||
| Brock Nelson (2) – pp – 08:01 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mathew Barzal (1) – 10:34 Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) – en – 17:17 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 24 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Sergei Bobrovsky 33 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| New York won series 3–1 | |
(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (9) Columbus Blue Jackets
Toronto finished eighth in the Eastern Conference with 81 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .579 and 28 RWs. Columbus had the same points percentage, but with 25 RWs they finished ninth. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. These teams split their two-game regular season series.
The Blue Jackets defeated the Maple Leafs in five games. Joonas Korpisalo shut out the Maple Leafs in game one, stopping all 28 shots in a 2–0 victory.[57] Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen responded with his own shut out in game two, stopping 20 shots in the process of a 3–0 victory.[58] Pierre-Luc Dubois's hat-trick, three-goal comeback-fulfilling, overtime goal spurred Columbus' game three victory, winning by a score of 4–3.[59] The Maple Leafs then responded with their own three-goal comeback, all while sporting an extra attacker with the goalie pulled. Auston Matthews then scored the overtime game-winner, the Leafs were victorious by a score of 4–3.[60] In game five, Korpisalo shut the door on the Leafs, stopping all 33 shots in a 3–0 victory to advance to the First Round of the playoffs.[61]
| August 2 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cam Atkinson (1) – 01:05 Alexander Wennberg (1) – en – 19:41 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joonas Korpisalo 28 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 33 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| August 4 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 0–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 16:00 – Auston Matthews (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:56 – John Tavares (1) 19:17 – en – Morgan Rielly (1) | ||||||
| Joonas Korpisalo 36 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 20 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| August 6 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–4 | OT | Columbus Blue Jackets | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Cody Ceci (1) – sh – 18:52 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| William Nylander (1) – pp – 07:08 Nicholas Robertson (1) – 08:48 |
Second period | 11:39 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:27 – Seth Jones (1) 10:49 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 18:24 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (3) | ||||||
| Frederik Andersen 39 saves / 43 shots | Goalie stats | Joonas Korpisalo 12 saves / 15 shots Elvis Merzlikins 21 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| August 7 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–3 | OT | Columbus Blue Jackets | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 03:58 – Cam Atkinson (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:40 – Vladislav Gavrikov (1) | ||||||
| William Nylander (2) – 16:03 John Tavares (2) – 16:54 Zach Hyman (1) – 19:37 |
Third period | 14:18 – Boone Jenner (1) | ||||||
| Auston Matthews (2) – pp – 13:10 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Frederik Andersen 36 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Elvis Merzlikins 49 saves / 53 shots | ||||||
| August 9 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 3–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Zach Werenski (1) – 06:29 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Liam Foudy (1) – 11:40 Nick Foligno (1) – en – 19:37 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joonas Korpisalo 33 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 19 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| Columbus won series 3–2 | |
Western Conference qualifying round
(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (12) Chicago Blackhawks
Edmonton finished fifth in the Western Conference with 83 points in 71 games for a points percentage of .585. Chicago gained 72 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .514 to finish twelfth in the Western Conference. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Edmonton winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 1992 Clarence Campbell Conference Final, which Chicago won in a four-game sweep. Chicago won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Blackhawks upset the Oilers in four games. Blackhawks rookie forward Dominik Kubalik scored two goals and assisted three times in game one, resulting in Chicago's 6–4 victory.[62] In game two, Oilers captain Connor McDavid recorded a hat-trick assisted thrice by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tying the series 1–1 in a 6–3 triumph.[63] In game three, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews scored twice, including the game-winner with 1:16 remaining in the game, capping off a 4–3 victory.[64] In game four, Kubalik's goal at 8:30 of the third period proved to be the series-winner, defeating the Oilers 3–2.[65]
| August 1 | Chicago Blackhawks | 6–4 | Edmonton Oilers | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Dylan Strome (1) – 05:51 Jonathan Toews (1) – pp – 07:56 Brandon Saad (1) – 09:17 Jonathan Toews (2) – 12:57 |
First period | 02:34 – pp – Connor McDavid (1) | ||||||
| Dominik Kubalik (1) – pp – 06:32 Dominik Kubalik (2) – pp – 17:35 |
Second period | 04:13 – pp – Leon Draisaitl (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:07 – pp – James Neal (1) 16:43 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1) | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 25 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 18 saves / 23 shots Mikko Koskinen 18 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| August 3 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–6 | Edmonton Oilers | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Patrick Kane (1) – 09:06 | First period | 00:19 – Connor McDavid (2) 04:05 – Connor McDavid (3) | ||||||
| Slater Koekkoek (1) – 04:22 Olli Maatta (1) – 15:13 |
Second period | 01:44 – Tyler Ennis (1) 17:10 – pp – Connor McDavid (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:25 – James Neal (2) 08:05 – Alex Chiasson (1) | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 29 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Mikko Koskinen 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 5 | Edmonton Oilers | 3–4 | Chicago Blackhawks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Leon Draisaitl (2) – 09:42 | First period | 09:14 – Olli Maatta (2) 19:55 – pp – Jonathan Toews (3) | ||||||
| Leon Draisaitl (3) – 04:07 Connor McDavid (5) – pp – 19:52 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 14:13 – Matthew Highmore (1) 18:44 – Jonathan Toews (4) | ||||||
| Mikko Koskinen 21 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| August 7 | Edmonton Oilers | 2–3 | Chicago Blackhawks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Josh Archibald (1) – 00:45 | First period | 05:16 – Brandon Saad (2) 07:56 – Matthew Highmore (2) | ||||||
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2) – 02:02 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 08:30 – Dominik Kubalik (3) | ||||||
| Mikko Koskinen 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 43 saves / 45 shots | ||||||
| Chicago won series 3–1 | |
(6) Nashville Predators vs. (11) Arizona Coyotes
Nashville finished sixth in the Western Conference with 78 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .565, winning the tiebreaker against Vancouver with 28 RWs. Arizona gained 74 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .529 to finish eleventh in the Western Conference. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2012 Western Conference semifinals, which Arizona won in five games. These teams split their two-game regular season series.
The Coyotes defeated the Predators in four games. In game one, the Coyotes jumped out to a 4–1 lead, scoring a power play and a shorthanded goal, and held off a Predators third period rally for the victory.[66] Although the Coyotes had two goals in the final minute of game two, the Predators successfully kept the lead winning 4–2.[67] In game three, Darcy Kuemper stopped 39 of 40 shots and his teammates exploded for three goals in the third period, leading to a 4–1 victory.[68] The Coyotes clinched in game four after much drama; they blew a 2–0 second period lead and allowed Filip Forsberg's tying goal with only 32 seconds left in regulation, but Brad Richardson scored the series-winner 5:27 into overtime.[69]
| August 2 | Arizona Coyotes | 4–3 | Nashville Predators | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson (1) – 07:59 Christian Dvorak (1) – 10:52 Clayton Keller (1) – pp – 15:42 |
First period | 19:57 – pp – Filip Forsberg (1) | ||||||
| Michael Grabner (1) – sh – 16:25 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:30 – Ryan Ellis (1) 08:56 – pp – Filip Forsberg (2) | ||||||
| Darcy Kuemper 40 saves / 43 shots | Goalie stats | Juuse Saros 33 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| August 4 | Arizona Coyotes | 2–4 | Nashville Predators | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 07:50 – Nick Bonino (1) 10:27 – Ryan Johansen (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 06:02 – Calle Jarnkrok (1) | ||||||
| Clayton Keller (2) – 19:03 Lawson Crouse (1) – 19:12 |
Third period | 13:49 – pp – Viktor Arvidsson (1) | ||||||
| Darcy Kuemper 24 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Juuse Saros 24 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 5 | Nashville Predators | 1–4 | Arizona Coyotes | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 05:09 – Christian Dvorak (2) | ||||||
| Viktor Arvidsson (2) – 07:31 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:08 – Conor Garland (1) 15:38 – pp – Taylor Hall (1) 18:06 – en – Carl Soderberg (1) | ||||||
| Juuse Saros 24 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Darcy Kuemper 39 saves / 40 shots | ||||||
| August 7 | Nashville Predators | 3–4 | OT | Arizona Coyotes | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 17:27 – Michael Grabner (2) | ||||||
| Matt Duchene (1) – pp – 04:29 Viktor Arvidsson (3) – 08:26 |
Second period | 01:37 – Phil Kessel (1) | ||||||
| Filip Forsberg (3) – 19:28 | Third period | 04:21 – Jordan Oesterle (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 05:27 – Brad Richardson (1) | ||||||
| Juuse Saros 30 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Darcy Kuemper 49 saves / 52 shots | ||||||
| Arizona won series 3–1 | |
(7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (10) Minnesota Wild
Vancouver finished seventh in the Western Conference with 78 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .565, losing the tiebreaker against Nashville with 27 RWs. Minnesota gained 77 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .558 to finish tenth in the Western Conference. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2003 Western Conference semifinals, which Minnesota came back from a 3–1 series deficit to win in seven games. Minnesota won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Canucks defeated the Wild in four games. Alex Stalock stopped all 28 shots he faced in Minnesota's game one victory; the Wild won 3–0.[70] In game two, Bo Horvat and Alexander Edler both had a goal and an assist to help Vancouver even the series 1–1 winning the contest 4–3.[71] Quinn Hughes assisted on all three goals and Jacob Markstrom stopped all 27 shots for Vancouver's game three victory.[72] In game four, the Canucks' Christopher Tanev provided two assists and the series-winning overtime goal to send Vancouver to the First Round of the playoffs. Tanev's goal at eleven seconds into overtime tied the second fastest playoff overtime goal.[73]
| August 2 | Minnesota Wild | 3–0 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Kevin Fiala (1) – pp – 02:50 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jared Spurgeon (1) – pp – 10:24 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jared Spurgeon (2) – en – 19:13 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alex Stalock 28 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 28 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| August 4 | Minnesota Wild | 3–4 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Luke Kunin (1) – sh – 17:16 | First period | 00:24 – Tanner Pearson (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 03:01 – J. T. Miller (1) 08:42 – Brock Boeser (1) | ||||||
| Kevin Fiala (2) – 17:31 Kevin Fiala (3) – 19:51 |
Third period | 06:22 – pp – Bo Horvat (1) | ||||||
| Alex Stalock 24 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 32 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| August 6 | Vancouver Canucks | 3–0 | Minnesota Wild | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brock Boeser (2) – pp – 13:49 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Antoine Roussel (1) – 02:18 Elias Pettersson (1) – pp – 18:38 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 27 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Alex Stalock 26 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| August 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 5–4 | OT | Minnesota Wild | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Tanner Pearson (2) – 12:52 | First period | 02:58 – pp – Luke Kunin (2) 13:32 – Eric Staal (1) | ||||||
| Brandon Sutter (1) – 07:20 Quinn Hughes (1) – pp – 08:44 |
Second period | 05:39 – Joel Eriksson Ek (1) 19:08 – Nico Sturm (1) | ||||||
| Bo Horvat (2) – 14:14 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Christopher Tanev (1) – 00:11 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 25 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Alex Stalock 26 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| Vancouver won series 3–1 | |
(8) Calgary Flames vs. (9) Winnipeg Jets
Calgary finished eighth in the Western Conference with 79 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .564. Winnipeg gained 80 points in 71 games for a points percentage of .563 to finish ninth in the Western Conference. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was also the first Stanley Cup playoff meeting between these two cities since the 1987 Smythe Division semifinals. Winnipeg won the only game in this year's regular season series, which was played outdoors.
The Flames defeated the Jets in four games. In game one, the Flames scored a power-play goal, then a short-handed goal, followed by another power-play goal in the second period to take a 4–1 victory.[74] The Jets tied the series 1–1 on Connor Hellebuyck's 28-save performance in a 3–2 victory.[75] In game three, Sean Monahan scored a goal and assisted twice in the Flames' 6–2 victory, giving his team a chance to advance in game four.[76] Cam Talbot led the Flames to the series victory in game four, shutting the Jets out by a score of 4–0, stopping all 31 shots in the process.[77]
| August 1 | Winnipeg Jets | 1–4 | Calgary Flames | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Andrew Copp (1) – 08:51 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:06 – pp – Johnny Gaudreau (1) 12:51 – sh – Tobias Rieder (1) 18:14 – pp – Mikael Backlund (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 18:19 – en – Andrew Mangiapane (1) | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Talbot 17 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| August 3 | Winnipeg Jets | 3–2 | Calgary Flames | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Jansen Harkins (1) – 07:18 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Adam Lowry (1) – 05:43 | Second period | 11:29 – Elias Lindholm (1) 17:29 – Sam Bennett (1) | ||||||
| Nikolaj Ehlers (1) – pp – 10:24 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Talbot 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 4 | Calgary Flames | 6–2 | Winnipeg Jets | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Elias Lindholm (2) – pp – 10:22 | First period | 10:04 – Nikolaj Ehlers (2) | ||||||
| Mikael Backlund (2) – 05:37 Sean Monahan (1) – pp – 07:49 Matthew Tkachuk (1) – 12:48 |
Second period | 08:09 – pp – Andrew Copp (2) | ||||||
| Milan Lucic (1) – pp – 08:28 Johnny Gaudreau (2) – en – 17:41 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cam Talbot 33 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| August 6 | Calgary Flames | 4–0 | Winnipeg Jets | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Dillon Dube (1) – 03:21 Sam Bennett (2) – 19:59 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sean Monahan (2) – en – 16:59 Rasmus Andersson (1) – en – 17:18 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cam Talbot 31 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| Calgary won series 3–1 | |
First round
- Note: Teams seeded 1–4 in each conference were based on their final standings from the Round-robin. All teams advancing from the Qualifying Round were re-seeded 5–8 based on their regular season points percentage.
Eastern Conference first round
(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens
Philadelphia earned the first seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing 3–0 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 89 points in 69 games for a .645 points percentage. Montreal earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference as the lowest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Pittsburgh. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams with both teams splitting the six previous series. They last met in the 2010 Eastern Conference Final, which Philadelphia won in five games. Philadelphia won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Flyers eliminated the Canadiens in six games. In game one, Carter Hart made 27 saves against the Canadiens, defeating Montreal 2–1.[78] Prior to game two, Canadiens head coach Claude Julien left the bubble due to an emergency stent being placed in his coronary artery. Kirk Muller was named interim head coach for the remainder of the series while Julien recovered in Montreal.[79] Montreal tied the series after game two on Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi two goals and Carey Price's 30-save 5–0 shut out victory.[80] In game three, Flyers forward Jakub Voracek scored the only goal of the game and Hart turned away all 23 shots in a 1–0 shutout.[81] Hart continued his shutout into game four, stopping all 29 shots in a 2–0 victory.[82] In game five, Joel Armia scored twice for the Canadiens forcing a sixth game after 5–3 victory.[83] Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist in game six for the Flyers who defeated the Canadiens 3–2 and advanced to the Second Round.[84]
| August 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–2 | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 08:54 – pp – Jakub Voracek (1) | ||||||
| Shea Weber (3) – pp – 14:38 | Second period | 14:54 – Joel Farabee (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carey Price 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Carter Hart 27 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| August 14 | Montreal Canadiens | 5–0 | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Tomas Tatar (1) – 01:02 Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3) – 12:36 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tomas Tatar (2) – pp – 01:25 Joel Armia (1) – 17:57 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4) – pp – 10:35 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carey Price 30 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Carter Hart 22 saves / 26 shots Brian Elliott 5 saves / 6 shots | ||||||
| August 16 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1–0 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Jakub Voracek (2) – 05:21 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Hart 23 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Carey Price 19 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| August 18 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–0 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Michael Raffl (2) – 06:32 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Philippe Myers (2) – 17:04 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Hart 29 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Carey Price 20 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| August 19 | Montreal Canadiens | 5–3 | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Joel Armia (2) – sh – 02:53 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joel Armia (3) – 10:12 Brendan Gallagher (1) – pp – 11:30 |
Second period | 02:35 – pp – Jakub Voracek (3) 06:37 – pp – Jakub Voracek (4) | ||||||
| Nick Suzuki (2) – 10:59 Phillip Danault (1) – en – 19:42 |
Third period | 10:37 – pp – Joel Farabee (3) | ||||||
| Carey Price 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Carter Hart 28 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| August 21 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Ivan Provorov (1) – 00:28 Kevin Hayes (1) – 05:23 |
First period | 10:03 – pp – Nick Suzuki (3) | ||||||
| Michael Raffl (3) – 04:26 | Second period | 06:05 – Nick Suzuki (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Hart 31 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Carey Price 14 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| Philadelphia won series 4–2 | |
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (7) Columbus Blue Jackets
Tampa Bay earned the second seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing 2–1 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 92 points in 70 games for a .657 points percentage. Columbus earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference as the second lowest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Toronto. This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second postseason match-up between these two teams. Columbus won last year's Eastern Conference First Round playoff meeting in a four-game sweep. Tampa Bay won the only game in this year's regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Blue Jackets in five games. In game one, with the match tied at two, the teams headed into overtime. At 10:27 of the fifth overtime, Lightning forward Brayden Point ended the 3–2 marathon nearly six hours after its start. It was the fourth-longest game in NHL history.[85] Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 85 saves during the affair, the most in a playoff overtime game since 1955–56 when league started keeping saves as a statistic.[86] Normie Smith is considered to have the all-time record for saves in a playoff game when he made 92 saves in a sextuple overtime game in 1936.[87] The Blue Jackets tied the series on Pierre-Luc Dubois's two assists and Korpisalo's 36 saves in game two, winning 3–1.[88] In game three, Point continued his point streak scoring the second goal of a 3–2 Lightning victory.[89] Barclay Goodrow and Yanni Gourde both scored and provided an assist for the Lightning in game four, who defeated the Blue Jackets 2–1 and took a 3–1 series lead.[90] In game five, the Blue Jackets overcame a two-goal deficit to take the lead 4–2, however the Lightning were able to tie the score with 1:38 remaining in the game, which required overtime again. At 5:12 of the first overtime, Point's backhanded shot over Korpisalo ended the series, avenging last year's series for the Lightning, and sending them to the Second Round.[91]
| August 11 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2–3 | 5OT | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Pierre-Luc Dubois (4) – pp – 02:39 | First period | 06:27 – Brayden Point (2) | ||||||
| Oliver Bjorkstrand (1) – 19:12 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:23 – Yanni Gourde (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Fifth overtime period | 10:27 – Brayden Point (3) | ||||||
| Joonas Korpisalo 85 saves / 88 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 61 saves / 63 shots | ||||||
| August 13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 3–1 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Ryan Murray (1) – 12:52 Oliver Bjorkstrand (2) – pp – 18:35 |
First period | 05:24 – Nikita Kucherov (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Wennberg (2) – 11:27 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joonas Korpisalo 36 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| August 15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–2 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Alex Killorn (2) – 15:48 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brayden Point (4) – 14:16 Victor Hedman (1) – 18:53 |
Second period | 01:49 – Riley Nash (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:37 – Eric Robinson (1) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 15 saves / 17 shots | Goalie stats | Joonas Korpisalo 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| August 17 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2–1 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Barclay Goodrow (1) – 00:16 Yanni Gourde (2) – 04:09 |
Second period | 05:48 – Cam Atkinson (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Joonas Korpisalo 20 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| August 19 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 4–5 | OT | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Nick Foligno (2) – 11:51 | First period | 05:38 – Tyler Johnson (3) 06:39 – Blake Coleman (1) | ||||||
| Kevin Stenlund (1) – pp – 09:35 Alexander Wennberg (3) – 19:44 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Oliver Bjorkstrand (3) – 09:33 | Third period | 12:01 – Kevin Shattenkirk (1) 18:22 – Anthony Cirelli (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 05:12 – Brayden Point (5) | ||||||
| Joonas Korpisalo 20 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 37 saves / 41 shots | ||||||
| Tampa Bay won series 4–1 | |
(3) Washington Capitals vs. (6) New York Islanders
Washington earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing 1–2 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 90 points in 69 games for a .652 points percentage. New York earned the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference as the second highest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Florida. This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with New York winning five of the seven previous series. They last met in the 2015 Eastern Conference First Round, which Washington won in seven games. These teams split the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Islanders defeated the Capitals in five games. In game one, Josh Bailey's short-handed goal at 6:52 of the third period put the Islanders ahead 3–2 and with Anthony Beauvillier's goal to make it 4–2 New York held onto their lead to take the victory.[92] Jean-Gabriel Pageau's two assists helped the Islanders take game two 5–2 taking a 2–0 series lead.[93] The Islanders took a 3–0 series lead after game three ended in overtime on Mathew Barzal's goal, giving New York a 2–1 victory.[94] In game four, Alexander Ovechkin's two goals extended the series for the Capitals in a 3–2 victory.[95] Beauvillier's two goals helped shut the door against the Capitals, defeating them 4–0 and advancing to Second Round.[96]
| August 12 | New York Islanders | 4–2 | Washington Capitals | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jordan Eberle (3) – 18:57 | Second period | 05:27 – pp – T. J. Oshie (2) 11:18 – pp – T. J. Oshie (3) | ||||||
| Anders Lee (1) – 00:51 Josh Bailey (1) – sh – 06:52 Anthony Beauvillier (4) – 11:55 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 23 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| August 14 | New York Islanders | 5–2 | Washington Capitals | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:56 – Alexander Ovechkin (1) | ||||||
| Nick Leddy (1) – pp – 02:56 Matt Martin (2) – 05:01 Brock Nelson (3) – 06:54 |
Second period | 06:39 – Alexander Ovechkin (2) | ||||||
| Cal Clutterbuck (1) – 17:14 Anders Lee (2) – en – 18:21 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 27 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| August 16 | Washington Capitals | 1–2 | OT | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 14:50 – Anders Lee (3) | ||||||
| Evgeny Kuznetsov (2) – pp – 05:50 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 04:28 – Mathew Barzal (2) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 32 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 22 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| August 18 | Washington Capitals | 3–2 | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:50 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4) 09:16 – Mathew Barzal (3) | ||||||
| Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) – 03:35 Alexander Ovechkin (3) – pp – 05:29 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (4) – 03:40 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 26 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| August 20 | New York Islanders | 4–0 | Washington Capitals | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Anthony Beauvillier (5) – pp – 10:19 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anthony Beauvillier (6) – 09:33 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nick Leddy (2) – en – 17:47 Josh Bailey (2) – en – 18:31 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 21 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 13 saves / 15 shots | ||||||
| New York won series 4–1 | |
(4) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Carolina Hurricanes
Boston earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing 0–3 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 100 points in 70 games for a .714 points percentage. Carolina earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference as the highest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating the New York Rangers. This was the second consecutive postseason match-up and sixth playoff meeting overall between these two teams; with Boston winning four of the five previous series. Boston won last year's Eastern Conference Final series in a four-game sweep. Boston won the only game in this year's regular season series.
The Bruins defeated the Hurricanes in five games. Due to game one of the Blue Jackets–Lightning series extending to the fifth overtime, game one of this series was postponed to the next day.[97] The Bruins and Hurricanes had their own overtime marathon in game one with the game tied at three, but the game ended at 1:13 of the second overtime with Patrice Bergeron's goal.[98] In game two, Martin Necas assisted twice for the Hurricanes who defeated the Bruins 3–2.[99] With Tuukka Rask opting to leave the bubble, Jaroslav Halak started game three for the Bruins during which he made 29 saves, defeating the Hurricanes for a 3–1 victory.[100][101] In game four, the Bruins came back from a 2–0 deficit, scoring four goals in the third period to overtake the Hurricanes by a final score of 4–3.[102] In game five, David Pastrnak assisted twice in a defensive match defeating the Hurricanes 2–1 and advancing to the Second Round.[103]
| August 12 | Carolina Hurricanes | 3–4 | 2OT | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Joel Edmundson (1) – 13:02 | First period | 17:45 – David Pastrnak (1) | ||||||
| Brock McGinn (1) – sh – 04:59 | Second period | 04:38 – Charlie Coyle (1) | ||||||
| Haydn Fleury (1) – 09:49 | Third period | 00:59 – David Krejci (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 01:13 – Patrice Bergeron (1) | ||||||
| Petr Mrazek 36 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| August 13 | Carolina Hurricanes | 3–2 | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 15:41 – pp – David Krejci (2) | ||||||
| Teuvo Teravainen (2) – pp – 15:13 Andrei Svechnikov (4) – 16:41 |
Second period | 19:55 – pp – Brad Marchand (1) | ||||||
| Dougie Hamilton (1) – 08:30 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| James Reimer 33 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 15 | Boston Bruins | 3–1 | Carolina Hurricanes | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Charlie Coyle (2) – pp – 00:14 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sean Kuraly (1) – sh – 01:16 Brad Marchand (2) – en – 19:29 |
Third period | 06:30 – pp – Nino Niederreiter (1) | ||||||
| Jaroslav Halak 29 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Petr Mrazek 36 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
| August 17 | Boston Bruins | 4–3 | Carolina Hurricanes | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 09:17 – Justin Williams (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 12:08 – Jordan Martinook (2) | ||||||
| Jake DeBrusk (2) – 07:26 Connor Clifton (1) – 10:10 Brad Marchand (3) – 11:40 Jake DeBrusk (3) – 14:17 |
Third period | 18:33 – Teuvo Teravainen (3) | ||||||
| Jaroslav Halak 16 saves / 19 shots | Goalie stats | James Reimer 29 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| August 19 | Carolina Hurricanes | 1–2 | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Haydn Fleury (2) – 09:35 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 15:20 – pp – David Krejci (3) 19:56 – pp – Patrice Bergeron (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Petr Mrazek 25 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Jaroslav Halak 23 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Boston won series 4–1 | |
Western Conference first round
(1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks
Vegas earned the first seed in the Western Conference after finishing 3–0 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 86 points in 71 games for a .606 points percentage. Chicago earned the eighth seed in the Western Conference as the lowest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Edmonton. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Vegas won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Blackhawks in five games. In game one, Reilly Smith scored twice and provided an assist for the Golden Knights' 4–1 victory.[104] Smith then ended game two at 7:13 of the first overtime; his team was victorious by a score of 4–3.[105] In game three, the Golden Knights continued their win streak, defeating the Blackhawks 2–1 on Marc-Andre Fleury's 26 saves.[106] Chicago ended Vegas' win streak in game four, riding on Corey Crawford's 48 saves performance to defeat the Golden Knights 3–1.[107] In game five, Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal to put Vegas ahead in the third period. From there, they played defensively, turning away seven shots to win 4–3 and advance to the Second Round of the playoffs.[108]
| August 11 | Chicago Blackhawks | 1–4 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| David Kampf (1) – sh – 10:51 | Second period | 07:22 – Shea Theodore (3) 09:39 – William Carrier (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:32 – Reilly Smith (1) 08:14 – Reilly Smith (2) | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 30 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 19 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| August 13 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–4 | OT | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 10:44 – Paul Stastny (1) 15:35 – Tomas Nosek (1) | ||||||
| Kirby Dach (1) – 03:17 Dominik Kubalik (4) – pp – 12:07 Dylan Strome (2) – 19:46 |
Second period | 17:20 – Mark Stone (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 07:13 – Reilly Smith (3) | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 35 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 22 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| August 15 | Vegas Golden Knights | 2–1 | Chicago Blackhawks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| William Karlsson (2) – sh – 04:12 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrick Brown (1) – 15:23 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 06:21 – Olli Maatta (3) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 24 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 16 | Vegas Golden Knights | 1–3 | Chicago Blackhawks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Shea Theodore (4) – 13:58 | First period | 04:08 – Drake Caggiula (1) 13:40 – Matthew Highmore (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:49 – en – Alex DeBrincat (1) | ||||||
| Robin Lehner 22 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 48 saves / 49 shots | ||||||
| August 18 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–4 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Jonathan Toews (5) – 10:32 Alex DeBrincat (2) – 18:19 |
First period | 19:29 – Max Pacioretty (1) | ||||||
| Patrick Kane (2) – 04:02 | Second period | 00:57 – Mark Stone (4) 07:28 – pp – Alec Martinez (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:34 – Alex Tuch (4) | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 35 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| Vegas won series 4–1 | |
(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (7) Arizona Coyotes
Colorado earned the second seed in the Western Conference after finishing 2–1 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 92 points in 70 games for a .657 points percentage. Arizona earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference as the second lowest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Nashville. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2000 Western Conference quarterfinals, which Colorado won in five games. These teams split their two-game regular season series.
The Avalanche defeated the Coyotes in five games. The Avalanche limited the Coyotes to fourteen shots in game one and Philipp Grubauer stopped all of them in their 3–0 victory.[109] In game two, Avalanche right wing Andre Burakovsky scored the game-winning goal with 2:53 remaining in the third period to defeat the Coyotes 3–2.[110] Darcy Kuemper made 49 saves in game three, giving the Coyotes a 4–2 victory and their first win of the series.[111] The Avalanche provided a defensive and offensive approach to game four routing out the Coyotes 7–1 and limiting their shots to 15 giving them a chance to clinch in game five.[112] In game five, the Avalanche continued their dominance in a 7–1 victory, advancing to the Second Round on Nathan MacKinnon's two goals and two assists.[113]
| August 12 | Arizona Coyotes | 0–3 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:05 – pp – Nazem Kadri (2) 13:15 – J. T. Compher (2) 14:28 – Mikko Rantanen (1) | ||||||
| Darcy Kuemper 37 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 14 saves / 14 shots | ||||||
| August 14 | Arizona Coyotes | 2–3 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Clayton Keller (3) – 16:49 | First period | 03:40 – Nathan MacKinnon (2) | ||||||
| Michael Grabner (3) – 05:06 | Second period | 03:37 – Tyson Jost (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 17:07 – Andre Burakovsky (2) | ||||||
| Darcy Kuemper 25 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| August 15 | Colorado Avalanche | 2–4 | Arizona Coyotes | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 06:29 – Derek Stepan (1) | ||||||
| Andre Burakovsky (3) – 13:12 | Second period | 19:26 – Brad Richardson (2) | ||||||
| Mikko Rantanen (2) – 19:03 | Third period | 18:40 – en – Taylor Hall (2) 19:55 – en – Lawson Crouse (2) | ||||||
| Pavel Francouz 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Darcy Kuemper 49 saves / 51 shots | ||||||
| August 17 | Colorado Avalanche | 7–1 | Arizona Coyotes | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Matt Nieto (1) – 14:07 Nazem Kadri (3) – pp – 16:07 Nazem Kadri (4) – pp – 19:39 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joonas Donskoi (3) – 11:37 | Second period | 13:31 – pp – Jakob Chychrun (1) | ||||||
| Cale Makar (2) – 00:19 Matt Calvert (1) – 02:57 Mikko Rantanen (3) – pp – 16:24 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Philipp Grubauer 14 saves / 15 shots | Goalie stats | Darcy Kuemper 18 saves / 22 shots Antti Raanta 5 saves / 8 shots | ||||||
| August 19 | Arizona Coyotes | 1–7 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 04:39 – pp – Nazem Kadri (5) 08:29 – pp – Sam Girard (1) 18:32 – Nazem Kadri (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 09:51 – Nathan MacKinnon (3) 10:49 – pp – Nathan MacKinnon (4) 18:16 – Nikita Zadorov (1) | ||||||
| Clayton Keller (4) – 06:51 | Third period | 15:19 – J. T. Compher (3) | ||||||
| Darcy Kuemper 24 saves / 30 shots Antti Raanta 5 saves / 6 shots |
Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 23 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Colorado won series 4–1 | |
(3) Dallas Stars vs. (6) Calgary Flames
Dallas earned the third seed in the Western Conference after finishing 1–2 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 82 points in 69 games for a .594 points percentage. Calgary earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference as the second highest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Winnipeg. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1981 Stanley Cup Semifinals, which the then-Minnesota North Stars won in six games. Calgary won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Stars eliminated the Flames in six games. Dillon Dube scored twice for Calgary in game one as the Flames took the victory 3–2.[114] In game two, with forty seconds remaining, Jamie Oleksiak scored the game-winning goal for Dallas defeating Calgary 5–4.[115] Cam Talbot stopped all 35 shots he faced in game three defeating the Stars 2–0 and taking a 2–1 series lead.[116] In game four, Stars forward Joe Pavelski scored a hat trick and Alexander Radulov's overtime-game winner tied the series 2–2, defeating the Flames 5–4.[117] Anton Khudobin made 28 saves for the Stars in game five, defeating the Flames 2–1 and taking a 3–2 series lead.[118] In game six, the Stars recovered from a 3–0 deficit led by Denis Gurianov's four goals, completing the series with a 7–3 victory.[119]
| August 11 | Calgary Flames | 3–2 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Dillon Dube (2) – pp – 10:54 Dillon Dube (3) – 18:02 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Rasmus Andersson (2) – 16:01 | Second period | 10:52 – Denis Gurianov (1) 11:01 – Jamie Benn (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cam Talbot 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 13 | Calgary Flames | 4–5 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Dillon Dube (4) – 00:19 | First period | 02:42 – Alexander Radulov (1) 11:14 – Miro Heiskanen (1) | ||||||
| Derek Forbort (1) – 13:00 | Second period | 04:50 – Miro Heiskanen (2) 15:05 – pp – Corey Perry (2) | ||||||
| Tobias Rieder (2) – sh – 12:24 Sam Bennett (3) – pp – 17:11 |
Third period | 19:20 – Jamie Oleksiak (2) | ||||||
| Cam Talbot 31 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 14 | Dallas Stars | 0–2 | Calgary Flames | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:58 – sh – Mikael Backlund (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:36 – T. J. Brodie (1) | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 21 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Talbot 35 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| August 16 | Dallas Stars | 5–4 | OT | Calgary Flames | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Joe Pavelski (3) – pp – 18:11 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (4) – 03:14 Denis Gurianov (2) – pp – 19:23 |
Second period | 01:54 – pp – Johnny Gaudreau (3) 03:57 – pp – Sam Bennett (4) 14:50 – Sam Bennett (5) | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (5) – 19:48 | Third period | 03:11 – sh – Tobias Rieder (3) | ||||||
| Alexander Radulov (2) – 16:05 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 36 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Talbot 57 saves / 62 shots | ||||||
| August 18 | Calgary Flames | 1–2 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Mikael Backlund (4) – 19:14 | First period | 10:13 – sh – Jamie Benn (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:12 – John Klingberg (1) | ||||||
| Cam Talbot 30 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 28 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| August 20 | Dallas Stars | 7–3 | Calgary Flames | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Miro Heiskanen (3) – pp – 09:36 | First period | 03:42 – Andrew Mangiapane (2) 05:38 – pp – Johnny Gaudreau (4) 06:34 – Rasmus Andersson (3) | ||||||
| Denis Gurianov (3) – 00:59 Denis Gurianov (4) – 03:25 Radek Faksa (1) – pp – 05:47 Joe Pavelski (6) – 07:22 Denis Gurianov (5) – 15:30 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Denis Gurianov (6) – 09:02 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 38 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Talbot 11 saves / 15 shots David Rittich 6 saves / 9 shots | ||||||
| Dallas won series 4–2 | |
(4) St. Louis Blues vs. (5) Vancouver Canucks
St. Louis earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference after finishing 0–3 in the round-robin; during the regular season they finished with 94 points in 71 games for a .662 points percentage. Vancouver earned the fifth seed in the Western Conference as the highest advancing seed from the Qualifying Round by defeating Minnesota. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Vancouver winning all three previous series. They last met in the 2009 Western Conference quarterfinals, which Vancouver won in a four-game sweep. Vancouver won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Canucks defeated the Blues in six games. Canucks captain Bo Horvat scored twice in game one, defeating the Blues 5–2.[120] Although Blues forward Samuel Blais tied game two with seven seconds remaining, Horvat's second goal of the game at 5:55 of overtime gave the Canucks a 4–3 victory and a 2–0 series lead.[121] In game three, Jake Allen made 39 saves and Brayden Schenn scored the overtime-game winning goal, defeating the Canucks 3–2.[122] The Blues evened up the series in game four, with Ryan O'Reilly scoring twice in a 3–1 victory.[123] Vancouver came back from a two-goal deficit in game five to defeat St. Louis 4–3 and take a 3–2 series lead.[124] Tyler Motte scored twice in game six, sending the Canucks to the Second Round and handily defeating the Blues 6–2.[125]
| August 12 | Vancouver Canucks | 5–2 | St. Louis Blues | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Bo Horvat (3) – pp – 04:29 | First period | 16:37 – pp – David Perron (3) | ||||||
| Elias Pettersson (2) – pp – 08:37 | Second period | 09:49 – Jaden Schwartz (1) | ||||||
| Troy Stecher (1) – 05:37 Bo Horvat (4) – 08:01 J. T. Miller (2) – pp – 19:21 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jordan Binnington 17 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| August 14 | Vancouver Canucks | 4–3 | OT | St. Louis Blues | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Bo Horvat (5) – sh – 07:23 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tanner Pearson (3) – pp – 13:01 | Second period | 18:56 – pp – Ryan O'Reilly (1) | ||||||
| Elias Pettersson (3) – pp – 05:36 | Third period | 09:02 – Samuel Blais (1) 19:53 – Jaden Schwartz (2) | ||||||
| Bo Horvat (6) – 05:55 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 34 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Jordan Binnington 21 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| August 16 | St. Louis Blues | 3–2 | OT | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Justin Faulk (1) – 08:16 David Perron (4) – 18:02 |
Second period | 01:19 – pp – J. T. Miller (3) 18:39 – Elias Pettersson (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brayden Schenn (1) – 15:06 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake Allen 39 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 46 saves / 49 shots | ||||||
| August 17 | St. Louis Blues | 3–1 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Ryan O'Reilly (2) – pp – 16:43 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ryan O'Reilly (3) – 06:52 Alex Pietrangelo (1) – pp – 15:47 |
Second period | 00:40 – J. T. Miller (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake Allen 22 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 34 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| August 19 | Vancouver Canucks | 4–3 | St. Louis Blues | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Tyler Motte (1) – sh – 13:15 | First period | 15:41 – Brayden Schenn (2) 19:31 – Ryan O'Reilly (4) | ||||||
| J. T. Miller (5) – 11:54 Jake Virtanen (1) – 16:08 Tyler Motte (2) – 18:17 |
Second period | 05:51 – pp – Zach Sanford (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 36 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Jake Allen 26 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| August 21 | St. Louis Blues | 2–6 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:45 – Jay Beagle (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:09 – Antoine Roussel (2) 06:49 – Troy Stecher (2) 08:06 – pp – Brock Boeser (3) | ||||||
| Jaden Schwartz (3) – 06:32 Jaden Schwartz (4) – 18:38 |
Third period | 13:19 – Tyler Motte (3) 19:10 – en – Tyler Motte (4) | ||||||
| Jordan Binnington 14 saves / 18 shots Jake Allen 5 saves / 6 shots |
Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 34 saves / 36 shots | ||||||
| Vancouver won series 4–2 | |
Second round
Eastern Conference second round
(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (6) New York Islanders
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Philadelphia winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 1987 Patrick Division finals, which Philadelphia won in seven games. New York won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Islanders upset the Flyers in seven games after giving up a 3–1 series lead. Semyon Varlamov posted his second consecutive shutout in game one, stopping all 29 shots for 4–0 Islanders victory.[126] The Flyers prevented a three-goal comeback from the Islanders in game two with Philippe Myers' goal at 2:41 of overtime to defeat New York 4–3.[127] Varlamov made 26 saves for the Islanders in game three, emerging victorious 3–1.[128] In game four, Brock Nelson scored twice and Thomas Greiss made 36 saves for the Islanders in a 3–2 victory.[129] Although the Flyers dropped a 3–1 lead in the third period of game five, they forced a sixth game on Scott Laughton's overtime goal to win 4–3.[130] In game six, the Flyers held a back-and-forth affair reaching the second overtime where Ivan Provorov's goal at 15:03 kept Philadelphia's season alive, defeating New York 5–4.[131] In game seven, Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists and Greiss stopped all sixteen shots he faced in a 4–0 shutout to send the Islanders to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in 27 years.[132]
| August 24 | New York Islanders | 4–0 | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Andy Greene (1) – 06:06 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau (5) – 02:54 Anders Lee (4) – 08:50 Devon Toews (1) – en – 12:21 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 29 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Carter Hart 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| August 26 | New York Islanders | 3–4 | OT | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 01:57 – Kevin Hayes (2) 09:43 – Kevin Hayes (3) 15:09 – Sean Couturier (1) | ||||||
| Anders Lee (5) – pp – 11:45 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anthony Beauvillier (7) – 11:11 Jean-Gabriel Pageau (6) – 17:51 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 02:41 – Philippe Myers (3) | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 7 saves / 10 shots Thomas Greiss 20 saves / 21 shots |
Goalie stats | Carter Hart 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| August 29 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1–3 | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Tyler Pitlick (2) – 14:18 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:12 – Matt Martin (3) 19:54 – Leo Komarov (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:41 – pp – Anders Lee (6) | ||||||
| Carter Hart 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| August 30 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–3 | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sean Couturier (2) – 15:19 | Second period | 06:52 – Brock Nelson (4) | ||||||
| Ivan Provorov (2) – 18:55 | Third period | 07:18 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) 11:12 – Brock Nelson (5) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 30 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Thomas Greiss 36 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
| September 1 | New York Islanders | 3–4 | OT | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mathew Barzal (4) – pp – 01:20 | Second period | 15:45 – Claude Giroux (1) 18:18 – James van Riemsdyk (1) | ||||||
| Brock Nelson (6) – 15:46 Derick Brassard (1) – 17:19 |
Third period | 04:32 – Matt Niskanen (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 12:20 – Scott Laughton (4) | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 28 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Carter Hart 29 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| September 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 5–4 | 2OT | New York Islanders | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Kevin Hayes (4) – 10:16 James van Riemsdyk (2) – 11:52 |
First period | 16:33 – Derick Brassard (2) | ||||||
| Michael Raffl (4) – 13:21 | Second period | 01:24 – Matt Martin (4) 03:06 – pp – Anders Lee (7) 19:30 – Mathew Barzal (5) | ||||||
| Scott Laughton (5) – 09:53 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ivan Provorov (3) – 15:03 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Hart 49 saves / 53 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 26 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| September 5 | New York Islanders | 4–0 | Philadelphia Flyers | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Scott Mayfield (1) – 09:27 Andy Greene (2) – 13:12 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brock Nelson (7) – 11:26 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anthony Beauvillier (8) – en – 13:42 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Thomas Greiss 16 saves / 16 shots | Goalie stats | Carter Hart 22 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| New York won series 4–3 | |
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (4) Boston Bruins
This was the third playoff series between these two teams with both teams splitting the two previous series. They last met in the 2018 Eastern Conference second round, which Tampa Bay won in five games. Tampa Bay won the round-robin game between these two teams earlier in this year's playoffs 3–2. Tampa Bay won three of four games in this year's regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Bruins in five games. Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves for the Bruins in game one who defeated the Lightning 3–2.[133] In game two, Ondrej Palat scored the overtime-winning goal for Tampa Bay, tying the series 1–1 in a 4–3. victory.[134] The Lightning had an offensive outburst in game three, scoring seven goals against Boston in a 7–1 rout.[135] Palat scored twice for the Lightning in game four, defeating the Bruins 3–1 and taking a 3–1 series lead.[136] In game five, Victor Hedman ended the series 14:10 into double-overtime for the Lightning, defeating the Bruins 3–2 and advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.[137]
| August 23 | Boston Bruins | 3–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Charlie Coyle (3) – 18:52 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| David Pastrnak (2) – pp – 04:34 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brad Marchand (4) – 01:17 | Third period | 08:50 – Victor Hedman (2) 18:46 – Victor Hedman (3) | ||||||
| Jaroslav Halak 35 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| August 25 | Boston Bruins | 3–4 | OT | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| Nick Ritchie (1) – 03:14 | First period | 12:42 – Blake Coleman (2) | ||||||
| Brad Marchand (5) – pp – 14:33 | Second period | 15:28 – Nikita Kucherov (3) | ||||||
| Brad Marchand (6) – 16:02 | Third period | 10:40 – Blake Coleman (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 04:40 – Ondrej Palat (1) | ||||||
| Jaroslav Halak 36 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 22 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| August 26 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 7–1 | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Ondrej Palat (2) – pp – 12:46 Yanni Gourde (3) – 13:01 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mikhail Sergachev (1) – pp – 02:14 Alex Killorn (3) – pp – 08:35 Brayden Point (6) – 15:23 Alex Killorn (4) – 18:01 |
Second period | 04:56 – pp – Brad Marchand (7) | ||||||
| Nikita Kucherov (4) – 03:58 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Jaroslav Halak 12 saves / 16 shots Dan Vladar 12 saves / 15 shots | ||||||
| August 29 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–1 | Boston Bruins | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | |||
| Ondrej Palat (3) – 08:59 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ondrej Palat (4) – 12:29 Victor Hedman (4) – pp – 18:04 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:04 – pp – Jake DeBrusk (4) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Jaroslav Halak 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 31 | Boston Bruins | 2–3 | 2OT | Tampa Bay Lightning | Scotiabank Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| David Pastrnak (3) – pp – 12:38 | Second period | 04:21 – Ondrej Palat (5) | ||||||
| David Krejci (4) – 17:27 | Third period | 12:03 – Anthony Cirelli (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 14:10 – Victor Hedman (5) | ||||||
| Jaroslav Halak 32 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 45 saves / 47 shots | ||||||
| Tampa Bay won series 4–1 | |
Western Conference second round
(1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (5) Vancouver Canucks
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. These two teams split their two-game regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Canucks in seven games after giving up a 3–1 series lead. In game one, Robin Lehner stopped all 26 shots he faced as the Golden Knights defeated the Canucks 5–0.[138] Jacob Markstrom made 38 saves for the Canucks in game two, tying the series 1–1 and defeating the Golden Knights 5–2.[139] Lehner posted his second shutout of the series, stopping all 31 shots in game three, defeating the Canucks 3–0.[140] Max Pacioretty scored twice and provided an assist for the Golden Knights in game four, who defeated the Canucks 5–3 to take a 3–1 series lead.[141] In game five, rookie goaltender Thatcher Demko made 42 saves for the Canucks, defeating the Golden Knights 2–1 to force a sixth game.[142] Demko shut out the Golden Knights in game six, stopping all 48 shots he faced in a 4–0 victory.[143] In game seven, the Golden Knights limited the Canucks' shots to fourteen throughout three periods, shutting out Vancouver 3–0 and advancing to the Western Conference Final.[144]
| August 23 | Vancouver Canucks | 0–5 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:37 – Jonathan Marchessault (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:13 – pp – Reilly Smith (4) 11:35 – Mark Stone (5) 16:34 – Alex Tuch (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:47 – Max Pacioretty (2) | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 29 saves / 34 shots Thatcher Demko 5 saves / 5 shots |
Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 26 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 25 | Vancouver Canucks | 5–2 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Tyler Toffoli (1) – 01:29 Bo Horvat (7) – pp – 10:59 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Elias Pettersson (5) – 18:35 | Second period | 06:34 – Alex Tuch (6) | ||||||
| Bo Horvat (8) – 00:18 Tanner Pearson (4) – en – 19:30 |
Third period | 18:34 – pp – Max Pacioretty (3) | ||||||
| Jacob Markstrom 38 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 29 | Vegas Golden Knights | 3–0 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Alex Tuch (7) – 04:05 Zach Whitecloud (2) – 05:28 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mark Stone (6) – pp – 02:19 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Robin Lehner 31 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| August 30 | Vegas Golden Knights | 5–3 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Max Pacioretty (4) – pp – 09:28 Chandler Stephenson (2) – 13:19 |
First period | 11:15 – pp – Elias Pettersson (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:07 – Bo Horvat (9) 11:26 – pp – Tyler Toffoli (2) | ||||||
| Nate Schmidt (2) – 02:52 Max Pacioretty (5) – 07:02 William Karlsson (3) – 08:29 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jacob Markstrom 28 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| September 1 | Vancouver Canucks | 2–1 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brock Boeser (4) – 15:36 | Second period | 15:12 – Shea Theodore (5) | ||||||
| Elias Pettersson (7) – 03:19 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Thatcher Demko 42 saves / 43 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 15 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| September 3 | Vegas Golden Knights | 0–4 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:50 – Jake Virtanen (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:03 – J. T. Miller (6) 08:16 – Quinn Hughes (2) 15:22 – en – Bo Horvat (10) | ||||||
| Robin Lehner 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Thatcher Demko 48 saves / 48 shots | ||||||
| September 4 | Vancouver Canucks | 0–3 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:52 – pp – Shea Theodore (6) 17:54 – en – Alex Tuch (8) 19:54 – en – Paul Stastny (2) | ||||||
| Thatcher Demko 33 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 14 saves / 14 shots | ||||||
| Vegas won series 4–3 | |
(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3) Dallas Stars
This was the fifth playoff series between these two teams, with both teams splitting the four previous series. They last met in the 2006 Western Conference quarterfinals, which Colorado won in five games. Colorado won the round-robin game between these two teams earlier in this year's playoffs 4–0. Dallas won all four games in this year's regular season series.
The Stars defeated the Avalanche in seven games after giving up a 3–1 series lead. In game one, Alexander Radulov scored twice, also providing an assist, in a 5–3 victory for the Stars.[145] After falling behind 2–0 in game two, the Stars rallied past the Avalanche, scoring four goals in the second period and defeating Colorado 5–2.[146] In game three, the Avalanche spoiled a two-goal comeback by the Stars, scoring three straight in the third period with 7:58 remaining to defeat Dallas 6–4.[147] The Stars held off a late rally by the Avalanche in game four, keeping the score at 5–4 and taking a 3–1 series lead with the victory.[148] In game five, the Avalanche had a first period offensive outburst, scoring five goals, including four within a span of 2:36 (one second from equalling the league record for the fastest four goals by one team in a game in playoff history) to win 6–3.[149] Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to fourteen games, scoring a goal and recording an assist in game six to defeat the Stars 4–1 and force a seventh game.[150] In game seven, the two teams battled it throughout three periods scoring four against each other, but 7:24 into overtime Joel Kiviranta's hat trick goal gave the Stars the victory, advancing to the Western Conference Final with a 5–4 victory.[151]
| August 22 | Dallas Stars | 5–3 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Tyler Seguin (1) – 04:00 Blake Comeau (1) – 09:51 Alexander Radulov (3) – 16:28 |
First period | 05:04 – Nathan MacKinnon (5) | ||||||
| Alexander Radulov (4) – 09:09 | Second period | 04:36 – Gabriel Landeskog (1) 18:29 – Nathan MacKinnon (6) | ||||||
| Roope Hintz (1) – 08:47 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 7 saves / 10 shots Pavel Francouz 18 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| August 24 | Dallas Stars | 5–2 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 06:08 – pp – Nathan MacKinnon (7) | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (7) – pp – 09:54 Radek Faksa (2) – pp – 10:37 Alexander Radulov (5) – 15:34 Esa Lindell (1) – 19:14 |
Second period | 08:44 – pp – Mikko Rantanen (4) | ||||||
| Jamie Oleksiak (3) – en – 19:50 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 38 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Pavel Francouz 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| August 26 | Colorado Avalanche | 6–4 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:12 – Tyler Seguin (2) | ||||||
| Nikita Zadorov (2) – 01:00 Andre Burakovsky (4) – 04:41 Gabriel Landeskog (2) – 11:00 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mikko Rantanen (5) – 12:02 Nazem Kadri (7) – 13:54 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (1) – en – 18:26 |
Third period | 04:42 – Denis Gurianov (7) 09:02 – Blake Comeau (2) 10:47 – Jamie Benn (3) | ||||||
| Pavel Francouz 33 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 26 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| August 30 | Colorado Avalanche | 4–5 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 06:18 – John Klingberg (2) 08:33 – pp – Radek Faksa (3) 10:45 – pp – Jamie Benn (4) | ||||||
| Valeri Nichushkin (1) – 13:24 Cale Makar (3) – pp – 19:34 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Valeri Nichushkin (2) – 11:24 Vladislav Namestnikov (2) – 19:56 |
Third period | 07:30 – pp – Roope Hintz (2) 08:02 – Denis Gurianov (8) | ||||||
| Pavel Francouz 21 saves / 26 shots Michael Hutchinson 3 saves / 3 shots |
Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 33 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| August 31 | Dallas Stars | 3–6 | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 04:37 – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (2) 11:51 – Andre Burakovsky (5) 12:32 – Nathan MacKinnon (8) 13:43 – Nazem Kadri (8) 14:27 – Mikko Rantanen (6) | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (8) – 07:50 Miro Heiskanen (4) – pp – 17:31 |
Second period | 18:04 – Andre Burakovsky (6) | ||||||
| Jamie Benn (5) – pp – 14:12 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ben Bishop 15 saves / 19 shots Anton Khudobin 20 saves / 22 shots |
Goalie stats | Michael Hutchinson 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| September 2 | Colorado Avalanche | 4–1 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Nikita Zadorov (3) – 19:28 | First period | 17:35 – Miro Heiskanen (5) | ||||||
| Cale Makar (4) – 07:48 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mikko Rantanen (7) – 03:21 Nathan MacKinnon (9) – en – 17:14 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Michael Hutchinson 27 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 20 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| September 4 | Dallas Stars | 5–4 | OT | Colorado Avalanche | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Alexander Radulov (6) – pp – 02:39 | First period | 03:48 – Vladislav Namestnikov (3) 09:43 – Andre Burakovsky (7) | ||||||
| Joel Kiviranta (1) – 03:06 | Second period | 05:45 – pp – Nazem Kadri (9) | ||||||
| Alexander Radulov (7) – pp – 11:28 Joel Kiviranta (2) – 16:30 |
Third period | 16:20 – Vladislav Namestnikov (4) | ||||||
| Joel Kiviranta (3) – 07:24 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 40 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Michael Hutchinson 30 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| Dallas won series 4–3 | |
Conference finals
Eastern Conference final
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (6) New York Islanders
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Tampa Bay winning both previous series. They last met in the 2016 Eastern Conference second round, which Tampa Bay won in five games. This was Tampa Bay's sixth Conference finals appearance. They last went to the conference finals in 2018, which they lost to the Washington Capitals in seven games. This was New York's fifth appearance in the conference finals. They last went to the conference finals in 1993, which they lost against the Montreal Canadiens in five games. New York won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Islanders in six games. In game one, Lightning forwards Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov both had five points in an 8–2 rout: Point had two goals and three assists and Kucherov scored a goal and assisted four times.[152] Kucherov scored the game-winning goal with nine seconds remaining in game two to give the Lightning a 2–1 victory.[153] After giving up a 3–1 lead in game three, Brock Nelson's goal with 3:25 left put the Islanders ahead, emerging victorious 5–3.[154] In game four, three Lightning players had two points and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy provided an assist in Tampa Bay's 4–1 victory to take a 3–1 series lead.[155] In game five, Islanders forward Jordan Eberle scored at 12:30 of double overtime to win the game 2–1 and extend the series to a sixth game.[156] Anthony Cirelli's goal at 13:18 of the first overtime period in game six gave the Lightning a 2–1 victory sending Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2015.[4]
| September 7 | New York Islanders | 2–8 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Jordan Eberle (4) – pp – 04:33 | First period | 01:14 – Brayden Point (7) 08:12 – pp – Victor Hedman (6) 10:46 – Ryan McDonagh (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:03 – Yanni Gourde (4) 13:18 – pp – Brayden Point (8) | ||||||
| Nick Leddy (3) – 08:46 | Third period | 05:51 – Nikita Kucherov (5) 09:31 – Ondrej Palat (6) 13:15 – pp – Yanni Gourde (5) | ||||||
| Thomas Greiss 6 saves / 9 shots Semyon Varlamov 20 saves / 25 shots |
Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 22 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| September 9 | New York Islanders | 1–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Matt Martin (5) – 01:24 | First period | 18:25 – Victor Hedman (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:51 – Nikita Kucherov (6) | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| September 11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–5 | New York Islanders | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Mikhail Sergachev (2) – 16:31 | First period | 12:58 – Cal Clutterbuck (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:50 – Adam Pelech (1) 13:50 – Anthony Beauvillier (9) | ||||||
| Ondrej Palat (7) – pp – 02:32 Tyler Johnson (4) – 12:04 |
Third period | 16:35 – Brock Nelson (8) 19:24 – en – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 34 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| September 13 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 4–1 | New York Islanders | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Blake Coleman (4) – 11:42 Ondrej Palat (8) – 11:54 |
Second period | 11:27 – Brock Nelson (9) | ||||||
| Brayden Point (9) – 03:33 Patrick Maroon (1) – en – 17:36 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 32 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| September 15 | New York Islanders | 2–1 | 2OT | Tampa Bay Lightning | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Ryan Pulock (2) – pp – 15:41 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:00 – Victor Hedman (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jordan Eberle (5) – 12:30 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Semyon Varlamov 36 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 22 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| September 17 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2–1 | OT | New York Islanders | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Victor Hedman (9) – 06:28 | First period | 04:15 – Devon Toews (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anthony Cirelli (3) – 13:18 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Semyon Varlamov 46 saves / 48 shots | ||||||
| Tampa Bay won series 4–2 | |
Western Conference final
(1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (3) Dallas Stars
This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Vegas won their round-robin game between these two teams earlier in this year's playoffs 5–3. This was Vegas' second appearance in the conference finals. Their only previous Conference finals was in 2018, which they won against the Winnipeg Jets in five games. This was Dallas's seventh Conference finals appearance. They last went to the conference finals in 2008, which they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in six games. These teams split their two games in this year's regular season series.
The Stars defeated the Golden Knights in five games. Anton Khudobin made 25 saves and John Klingberg scored the only goal of game one for the Stars, shutting out Vegas 1–0.[157] Robin Lehner posted his own shutout in game two, stopping all 24 shots in the Golden Knights' 3–0 victory.[158] In game three, Alexander Radulov gave the Stars a 2–1 series lead after his goal 31 seconds into overtime ensured Dallas a 3–2 victory.[159] Khudobin made 32 saves in game four, leading the Stars to a 2–1 win.[160] In game five, the Stars came back from a 2–0 deficit in the third period to force overtime and at 3:36 of the first overtime, Denis Gurianov scored to send the Stars to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years with a 3–2 victory.[161]
| September 6 | Dallas Stars | 1–0 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| John Klingberg (3) – 02:36 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 25 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| September 8 | Dallas Stars | 0–3 | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:53 – Paul Stastny (3) 08:24 – pp – William Karlsson (4) 14:32 – Tomas Nosek (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 24 saves / 27 shots Jake Oettinger 5 saves / 5 shots |
Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 24 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| September 10 | Vegas Golden Knights | 2–3 | OT | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 19:43 – Jamie Oleksiak (4) | ||||||
| Shea Theodore (7) – pp – 03:49 Mark Stone (7) – 12:46 |
Third period | 07:35 – Jamie Benn (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 00:31 – Alexander Radulov (8) | ||||||
| Robin Lehner 20 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 38 saves / 40 shots | ||||||
| September 12 | Vegas Golden Knights | 1–2 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alec Martinez (2) – pp – 07:44 | Second period | 11:34 – Joe Pavelski (9) 19:01 – pp – Jamie Benn (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Robin Lehner 18 saves / 20 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 32 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| September 14 | Dallas Stars | 3–2 | OT | Vegas Golden Knights | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 08:14 – Chandler Stephenson (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jamie Benn (8) – 09:54 Joel Kiviranta (4) – pp – 16:13 |
Third period | 00:15 – Reilly Smith (5) | ||||||
| Denis Gurianov (9) – pp – 03:36 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 34 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Robin Lehner 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| Dallas won series 4–1 | |
Stanley Cup Finals
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Tampa Bay made their third Finals appearance. They last went to the Finals in 2015, which they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Dallas made their fifth appearance in the Finals. They last went to the Finals in 2000, which they lost to the New Jersey Devils in six games. Dallas won both games in this year's regular season series.
| September 19 | Dallas Stars | 4–1 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Joel Hanley (1) – 05:40 | First period | 12:32 – Yanni Gourde (6) | ||||||
| Jamie Oleksiak (5) – 12:30 Joel Kiviranta (5) – 19:32 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jason Dickinson (1) – en – 18:42 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 35 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 16 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| September 21 | Dallas Stars | 2–3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:23 – pp – Brayden Point (10) 14:22 – pp – Ondrej Palat (9) 15:16 – Kevin Shattenkirk (2) | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (10) – pp – 14:43 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mattias Janmark (1) – 05:27 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| September 23 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 5–2 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Nikita Kucherov (7) – 05:33 Steven Stamkos (1) – 06:58 |
First period | 11:19 – sh – Jason Dickinson (2) | ||||||
| Victor Hedman (10) – pp – 00:54 Brayden Point (11) – 12:02 Ondrej Palat (10) – 18:55 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 06:49 – Miro Heiskanen (6) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 22 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 24 saves / 29 shots Jake Oettinger 3 saves / 3 shots | ||||||
| September 25 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 5–4 | OT | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Brayden Point (12) – 19:27 | First period | 07:17 – John Klingberg (4) 18:28 – Joe Pavelski (11) | ||||||
| Brayden Point (13) – pp – 02:08 Yanni Gourde (7) – pp – 18:54 |
Second period | 08:26 – Corey Perry (3) | ||||||
| Alex Killorn (5) – 06:41 | Third period | 11:35 – Joe Pavelski (12) | ||||||
| Kevin Shattenkirk (3) – pp – 06:34 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 30 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| September 26 | Dallas Stars | 3–2 | 2OT | Tampa Bay Lightning | Rogers Place | Recap | ||
| Corey Perry (4) – 17:52 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:37 – Ondrej Palat (11) | ||||||
| Joe Pavelski (13) – 13:15 | Third period | 03:38 – Mikhail Sergachev (3) | ||||||
| Corey Perry (5) – 09:23 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anton Khudobin 39 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 30 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| September 28 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2–0 | Dallas Stars | Rogers Place | Recap | |||
| Brayden Point (14) – pp – 12:23 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Blake Coleman (5) – 07:01 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 22 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Anton Khudobin 27 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| Tampa Bay won series 4–2 | |
Player statistics
Skaters
These are the top ten skaters based on points, following the conclusion of the playoffs.[162]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikita Kucherov | Tampa Bay Lightning | 25 | 7 | 27 | 34 | +15 | 22 |
| Brayden Point | Tampa Bay Lightning | 23 | 14 | 19 | 33 | +12 | 10 |
| Miro Heiskanen | Dallas Stars | 27 | 6 | 20 | 26 | +8 | 2 |
| Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche | 15 | 9 | 16 | 25 | +13 | 12 |
| Victor Hedman | Tampa Bay Lightning | 25 | 10 | 12 | 22 | +13 | 24 |
| Mikko Rantanen | Colorado Avalanche | 15 | 7 | 14 | 21 | +11 | 6 |
| John Klingberg | Dallas Stars | 26 | 4 | 17 | 21 | –5 | 14 |
| Josh Bailey | New York Islanders | 22 | 2 | 18 | 20 | +8 | 0 |
| Joe Pavelski | Dallas Stars | 27 | 13 | 6 | 19 | +6 | 30 |
| Jamie Benn | Dallas Stars | 27 | 8 | 11 | 19 | +2 | 32 |
Goaltenders
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[163]
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carey Price | Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 5 | 5 | 282 | 18 | 1.78 | .936 | 2 | 605:32 |
| Joonas Korpisalo | Columbus Blue Jackets | 9 | 3 | 5 | 320 | 19 | 1.90 | .941 | 2 | 599:00 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | Tampa Bay Lightning | 25 | 18 | 7 | 740 | 54 | 1.90 | .927 | 1 | 1,708:12 |
| Robin Lehner | Vegas Golden Knights | 16 | 9 | 7 | 386 | 32 | 1.99 | .917 | 4 | 965:52 |
| Semyon Varlamov | New York Islanders | 20 | 11 | 7 | 559 | 44 | 2.14 | .921 | 2 | 1,232:44 |
| Carter Hart | Philadelphia Flyers | 14 | 9 | 5 | 431 | 32 | 2.23 | .926 | 2 | 859:38 |
| Cam Talbot | Calgary Flames | 10 | 5 | 4 | 316 | 24 | 2.42 | .924 | 2 | 595:33 |
Activism
On August 26, 2020, various professional athletes in the U.S began to go on strike from their respective sports contests in response to the August 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the protests which followed. These strikes began with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[164] Other players in the NBA, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and Women's National Basketball Association soon followed suit and also decided not to play their August 26 games.[165]
When these cancellations south of the border began, NHL players were still isolated in the Edmonton and Toronto bubbles, with game two of the Islanders–Flyers series already in progress when the Bucks first announced their decision to not play. The NHL then continued to play the remaining August 26 games, as NHL players did not take a strong stand for the rest of the day. After pressure brought by the postponement of games by the other leagues, and discussions by players of the Hockey Diversity Alliance such as Evander Kane and Mathew Dumba, the NHLPA announced that they would not play their games on August 27 and August 28. The affected games involved all eight teams remaining: game three between the Flyers and Islanders, game three between the Golden Knights and Canucks, game four between the Lightning and Bruins, and game four between the Avalanche and Stars. The NHL fully supported their decision to postpone the games.[5] On September 1, Dallas Stars president Brad Alberts reported that his team had lost some corporate and personal season ticket holders as a result of the protest.[166]
Television
This marked the sixth postseason under Rogers Media's 12-year contract for Canadian television rights to the NHL. All games were exclusively broadcast by Sportsnet and CBC under the Hockey Night in Canada brand, and streamed on Sportsnet Now, CBCSports.ca (for games televised by CBC), or the subscription service Rogers NHL Live.[167][168]
This also marked the ninth postseason under NBC Sports' current 10-year contract for American rights. All national coverage of games were aired on either NBCSN, the NBC broadcast network, CNBC, NHL Network, or USA Network. During the round-robins, Qualifying Round, and First Round, excluding games exclusively broadcast on NBC, the regional rightsholders of each participating U.S. team produced local telecasts of their respective games.[169][170]
Only technical staff such as cameramen and producers were present inside the "bubble". A clean host feed was then sent to media partners to add commentary and surrounding coverage, and interviews with players had to be conducted via videoconferencing.[171] Commentators called the games remotely off of monitors from either their respective studios or from their home arena press boxes. This same arrangement was also done for the radio networks of every team.[172][173]
While it was initially stated that all commentators would broadcast remotely, the league eventually allowed a handful of both Sportsnet and NBC commentators and reporters into the hubs to call select games.[23] Chris Cuthbert, who jumped from TSN to Sportsnet during the break in June, and Louie DeBrusk were on-site in Edmonton;[174] and Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson were on-site in Toronto during the Qualifying, First, and Second Rounds; they later moved to the Edmonton hub.[175] For NBC, John Forslund, Mike Milbury, and Brian Boucher were initially sent to Toronto; and Pierre McGuire to Edmonton. Milbury was later removed from commentary for the remainder of NBC Sports' coverage after making insensitive comments following the fifth game of the Islanders–Capitals First Round series.[176] Gord Miller later joined Forslund, Milbury, and Boucher at the Toronto bubble and alternated with Forslund on a handful of broadcasts.[177] Most of NBC's other commentators began working games remotely from NBC Sports' studios in Stamford, Connecticut, with NBC planning for "the majority of calls" to eventually be conducted on-site, including the last two rounds of the playoffs in Edmonton.[178][179] Kenny Albert, who worked for both NBC and the New York Rangers radio broadcasts, traveled to the Edmonton bubble after the Rangers were eliminated in the Qualifying Round. Albert called play-by-play of every game of the Western Conference Second Round and the first three games of the Western Conference finals before leaving the Edmonton bubble to join the NFL on Fox broadcast team. Forslund, Boucher, and Eddie Olczyk later flew to the Edmonton bubble to call the conference finals.[180][181] In the case of NBC lead play-by-play commentator Mike "Doc" Emrick, he was working games from his home studio in Metro Detroit because he is a cancer survivor over the age of 70, and therefore at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.[182][181]
Additional cameras were used to provide new angles not usually possible when a crowd is present,[182] and de-emphasize views of the arenas' stands. The telecasts used simulated crowd noise provided by Electronic Arts, combined with recordings of team-specific chants by season ticketholders of participating teams (the latter of which will also be played in-arena). All games carried a five second broadcast delay in order to censor offensive language.[19][18][183][184]
NBC staff were working on the Toronto broadcasts, while Sportsnet staff did the same with the Edmonton broadcasts.[23][185] Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun reported that Canadian freelance broadcast workers were upset that NBC personnel were being allowed into Canada to work in Toronto instead of them.[185] The NHL's EVP of communications Gary Meagher stated that splitting production in this manner had been intended "from the onset". Premier of Ontario Doug Ford admitted that plans of NBC's involvement were not part of the early negotiations with the league.[186]
Viewership
Average U.S. viewership of the playoff rounds were down by 28% compared to 2019, the lowest to-date over the course of NBC's current broadcast rights contract. Amid expanded competition due to the difference in scheduling, game one of the Stanley Cup Finals was seen by only 2.12 million viewers;[187][188] with an average of 2.15 million across the entire series, it was the least-watched Stanley Cup Finals since 2007, and down 61% over 2019. Airing opposite a Monday Night Football contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, Game six was seen by 2.88 million viewers, the least-watched series-clinching game since at least 2000.[189]
References
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- ↑ Gulitti, Tom (July 10, 2020). "NHL, NHLPA ratify CBA extension through 2025-26 season". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- 1 2 3 Johnston, Chris (July 10, 2020). "NHL is back in business with ratification of CBA, return-to-play plan". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Sports & Media. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
- 1 2 Crosby, Wes (September 17, 2020). "Lightning defeat Islanders in OT in Game 6, advance to Cup Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
- 1 2 Bengel, Chris (August 27, 2020). "NHLPA announces they will not play in Thursday or Friday's Stanley Cup Playoff games". CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
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- ↑ Wyshynski, Greg (May 28, 2020). "From the Dept. of "Is The Qualification Round a Playoff Round?"". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
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- ↑ "NHL, NHLPA ratify four-year CBA extension, Return to Play Plan". nhl.com. NHL Public Relations. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ↑ Duncan, Josh (June 23, 2020). "NHL down to 6 potential hub cities and Vancouver is reportedly a front runner". KelownaNow.com. Now Media Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
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- 1 2 Gulitti, Tom (July 11, 2020). "NHL health, safety protocols approved by CDC". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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- ↑ Cole, Mike (August 5, 2020). "Here's What NHL's Stanley Cup Playoff Handshake Lines Look Like In COVID-19 World". NESN.com. NESN. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ↑ Smith, Stephen (August 31, 2020). "Hockey's Fights and Handshakes? Not Exactly Socially Distant". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ↑ Spector, Mark (September 29, 2020). "Completion of Stanley Cup Playoffs an achievement worth celebrating". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
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- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 2, 2020). "Flyers defeat Bruins in opening game of Qualifiers round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 3, 2020). "Lightning defeat Capitals in Cup Qualifiers round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 5, 2020). "Lightning defeat Bruins in Cup Qualifiers round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (August 6, 2020). "Flyers defeat Capitals for second win of Qualifiers round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 8, 2020). "Flyers defeat Lightning in round-robin, win Eastern Conference top seed". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 9, 2020). "Capitals defeat Bruins in round-robin, are No. 3 seed in East". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 2, 2020). "Kadri scores with 0.1 seconds left, Avalanche defeat Blues in round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Blackburn, Pete (August 2, 2020). "Avalanche beat Blues on wild buzzer-beating goal from Nazem Kadri". CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 3, 2020). "Golden Knights rally for round-robin win against Stars". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 5, 2020). "Francouz, Avalanche shut out Stars in Cup Qualifiers round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 6, 2020). "Golden Knights defeat Blues in Cup Qualifiers round-robin". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Sadwoski, Rick (August 8, 2020). "Golden Knights defeat Avalanche in OT in round-robin, win West top seed". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 9, 2020). "Stars defeat Blues in round-robin, secure No. 3 seed in West". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 1, 2020). "Canadiens defeat Penguins in OT, win Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 3, 2020). "Penguins defeat Canadiens in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 5, 2020). "Canadiens defeat Penguins in Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers, take series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 7, 2020). "Canadiens shut out Penguins in Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, win series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (August 1, 2020). "Hurricanes defeat Lundqvist, Rangers in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
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- ↑ Rosen, Dan (August 4, 2020). "Hurricanes sweep Rangers in Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers, reach playoffs". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 1, 2020). "Islanders hold off Panthers in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 4, 2020). "Islanders defeat Panthers in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers, extend series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
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- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 7, 2020). "Islanders defeat Panthers in Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, win series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 2, 2020). "Blue Jackets shut out Maple Leafs in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 4, 2020). "Maple Leafs shut out Blue Jackets in Game 2, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
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- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 7, 2020). "Maple Leafs rally, defeat Blue Jackets in OT to win Game 4, extend series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 9, 2020). "Blue Jackets shut out Maple Leafs in Game 5 of Cup Qualifiers, win series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 1, 2020). "Blackhawks defeat Oilers in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 3, 2020). "McDavid hat trick helps Oilers top Blackhawks in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 5, 2020). "Blackhawks defeat Oilers in Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers, take series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ↑ Rosen, Dan (August 7, 2020). "Blackhawks defeat Oilers in Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, win series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 2, 2020). "Coyotes defeat Predators in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 4, 2020). "Predators defeat Coyotes in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 5, 2020). "Coyotes defeat Predators in Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers, take series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 7, 2020). "Coyotes top Predators in OT to win Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, end series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 2, 2020). "Wild shut out Canucks in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 5, 2020). "Canucks defeat Wild in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 6, 2020). "Canucks shut out Wild in Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers, lead series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ↑ Sherrod, Chelsea (August 9, 2020). "CANUCKS WIN IN OVERTIME, ADVANCE TO STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND". wktv.com. Heartland Media, LLC. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 1, 2020). "Flames defeat Jets in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 3, 2020). "Ehlers helps Jets even Cup Qualifier with Game 2 victory against Flames". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 4, 2020). "Flames defeat Jets in Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers, take series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 6, 2020). "Flames eliminate Jets in Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, reach playoffs". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 12, 2020). "Hart, Flyers edge Canadiens in Game 1 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Kaplan, Emily (August 14, 2020). "Canadiens coach Claude Julien gets stent, released from hospital". ESPN.com. ESPN Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 14, 2020). "Canadiens blank Flyers in Game 2, even Eastern First Round without Julien". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 16, 2020). "Flyers shut out Canadiens in Game 3, take lead in Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 18, 2020). "Hart, Flyers defeat Canadiens in Game 4 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 19, 2020). "Canadiens top Flyers in Game 5, stay alive in Eastern First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 21, 2020). "Flyers defeat Canadiens in Game 6, win Eastern First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 11, 2020). "Lightning defeat Blue Jackets in 5OT in Game 1 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Bengel, Chris (August 11, 2020). "NHL Playoffs: Brayden Point lifts Lightning past Blue Jackets in wild five-overtime game". CBSSports.com. CBS Broadcasting, Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Kreiser, John (March 23, 2020). "March 24: Red Wings win longest game in NHL history". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 13, 2020). "Blue Jackets top Lightning in Game 2 of Eastern First Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 15, 2020). "Lightning defeat Blue Jackets in Game 3, lead Eastern First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 17, 2020). "Lightning defeat Blue Jackets in Game 4 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Farrell, Sean (August 19, 2020). "Lightning top Blue Jackets in overtime in Game 5, win Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 12, 2020). "Islanders surge past Capitals in Game 1 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Compton (August 14, 2020). "Islanders defeat Capitals in Game 2 of Eastern First Round, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 16, 2020). "Islanders defeat Capitals in overtime in Game 3 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 18, 2020). "Capitals rally past Islanders in Game 4, stay alive in East First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 20, 2020). "Islanders shut out Capitals in Game 5, win Eastern First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ Thomas, Alex (August 11, 2020). "Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes Game 1 Postponed". BostonHockeyNow.com. National Hockey Now and Boston Hockey Now. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Lane, Jon (August 12, 2020). "Bruins defeat Hurricanes in 2OT in Game 1 of Eastern First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 13, 2020). "Hurricanes defeat Bruins in Game 2 of Eastern First Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Dupont, Kevin Paul (August 15, 2020). "Bruins are sympathetic, but know it's time to move on from Tuukka Rask". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 15, 2020). "Bruins defeat Hurricanes in Game 3 of Eastern First Round, lead series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 17, 2020). "Bruins rally past Hurricanes in Game 4, extend Eastern First Round lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 19, 2020). "Bruins defeat Hurricanes in Game 5, win Eastern First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 11, 2020). "Golden Knights defeat Blackhawks in Game 1 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 13, 2020). "Golden Knights defeat Blackhawks in OT in Game 2 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 15, 2020). "Fleury, Golden Knights defeat Blackhawks in Game 3 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 16, 2020). "Blackhawks top Golden Knights in Game 4, avoid sweep in West First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 18, 2020). "Golden Knights top Blackhawks in Game 5, win Western First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 12, 2020). "Avalanche shut out Coyotes in Game 1 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 14, 2020). "Avalanche defeat Coyotes in Game 2, extend lead in Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 15, 2020). "Coyotes defeat Avalanche in Game 3, get first win in Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 17, 2020). "Avalanche score seven, top Coyotes in Game 4, pad West First Round lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Sadowski, Rick (August 19, 2020). "Avalanche defeat Coyotes in Game 5, win Western First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ↑ Vickeres, Aaron (August 11, 2020). "Dube, Flames edge Stars in Game 1 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 14, 2020). "Stars defeat Flames in Game 2 of Western First Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 14, 2020). "Flames shut out Stars in Game 3, take lead in Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 16, 2020). "Stars defeat Flames in OT in Game 4, even Western First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 18, 2020). "Stars defeat Flames in Game 5, lead Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ Vickers, Aaron (August 20, 2020). "Stars use big rally to eliminate Flames in Game 6 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 12, 2020). "Horvat, Canucks defeat Blues in Game 1 of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 14, 2020). "Canucks defeat Blues in OT in Game 2 of Western First Round, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 17, 2020). "Blues defeat Canucks in OT in Game 3, first win of Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ "Blues win Game 4 against Canucks, even Western First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 19, 2020). "Canucks put Blues on brink with Game 5 win in Western First Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 21, 2020). "Canucks knock out Blues in Game 6, win Western First Round series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 24, 2020). "Islanders shut out Flyers in Game 1 of Eastern Second Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (August 26, 2020). "Flyers use OT to defeat Islanders in Game 2, even Eastern Second Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 29, 2020). "Islanders top Flyers in Game 3 of Eastern Second Round, take series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (August 30, 2020). "Islanders defeat Flyers in Game 4 of Eastern Second Round, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (September 1, 2020). "Flyers use OT to defeat Islanders in Game 5, extend Eastern Second Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ↑ Compton, Brian (September 3, 2020). "Flyers top Islanders in 2OT in Game 6 of Eastern Second Round, tie series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ↑ Kimelman, Adam (September 5, 2020). "Islanders shut out Flyers in Game 7, advance to Eastern Conference Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 23, 2020). "Bruins hold off Lightning in Game 1 of Eastern Second Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 25, 2020). "Lightning top Bruins in OT in Game 2 of Eastern Second Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 28, 2020). "Lightning score seven, top Bruins in Game 3 for Eastern Second Round lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 29, 2020). "Lightning defeat Bruins in Game 4 of Eastern Second Round, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (August 31, 2020). "Lightning eliminate Bruins in 2OT of Game 5, advance to Eastern Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 23, 2020). "Golden Knights score five, blank Canucks in Game 1 of West Second Round". NHL.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 25, 2020). "Canucks top Golden Knights in Game 2 of Western Second Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 29, 2020). "Golden Knights shut out Canucks in Game 3, take series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (August 30, 2020). "Golden Knights rally past Canucks in Game 4, extend series lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (September 1, 2020). "Canucks top Golden Knights in Game 5 of West Second Round, extend series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (September 3, 2020). "Canucks blank Golden Knights in Game 6 of West Second Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ↑ Morreale, Mike (September 4, 2020). "Golden Knights shut out Canucks in Game 7, advance to West Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 22, 2020). "Radulov, Stars defeat Avalanche in Game 1 of Western Second Round". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 24, 2020). "Stars rally past Avalanche in Game 2 of Western Second Round, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 26, 2020). "Avalanche top Stars in Game 3 of West Second Round, first win of series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 30, 2020). "Stars defeat Avalanche in Game 4 of Western Second Round, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (August 31, 2020). "Avalanche defeat Stars in Game 5 of Western Second Round, extend series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 2, 2020). "Avalanche defeat Stars in Game 6 of Western Second Round, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 4, 2020). "Stars top Avalanche in Game 7, advance to Western Conference Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (September 7, 2020). "Lightning score eight, defeat Islanders in Game 1 of Eastern Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (September 9, 2020). "Kucherov, Lightning defeat Islanders in Game 2 of East Final, extend lead". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (September 11, 2020). "Islanders recover, top Lightning in Game 3 for first win of Eastern Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (September 13, 2020). "Lightning defeat Islanders in Game 4, move one win from Cup Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
- ↑ Crosby, Wes (September 15, 2020). "Islanders top Lightning in 2OT in Game 5 of East Final, avoid elimination". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 6, 2020). "Stars shut out Golden Knights in Game 1 of Western Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 8, 2020). "Golden Knights shut out Stars in Game 2 of Western Final, even series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 10, 2020). "Stars defeat Golden Knights in OT in Game 3 of Western Final, lead series". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 12, 2020). "Stars hold off Golden Knights in Game 4 of Western Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ↑ Satriano, David (September 14, 2020). "Stars defeat Golden Knights in OT in Game 5, reach Stanley Cup Final". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
- ↑ "NHL.com Stats". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P.
- ↑ "NHL.com - Stats". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P.
- ↑ Bontemps, Tim; Andrews, Malika (August 26, 2020). "Bucks boycotting Game 5 vs. Magic, source says". ESPN. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ↑ Gregory, Sean (August 27, 2020). "Why Jacob Blake's Shooting Sparked an Unprecedented Sports Boycott". Time. Time U.S.A. LLC. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ↑ Reyes, Lorenzo (September 1, 2020). "Dallas Stars president says team lost season ticket holders over Black Lives Matter support". USAToday.com. USA Today. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ↑ "Three Leagues. One Network. Game On! Sportsnet is Canada's Home to the Return of Live NHL, MLB and NBA Action This Summer". Sportsnet (Press release). Rogers Sports & Media. July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ↑ "Sportsnet announces Stanley Cup Qualifiers broadcasting schedule". Sportsnet. Rogers Sports & Media. July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ↑ Wyshynski, Greg (July 7, 2020). "The NHL is still working on U.S. broadcast plans for its 24-team postseason restart". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ↑ "NBC Sports to Present Up To 120 Hours of 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers Coverage". NBC Sports (Press release). July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ↑ Morris, Jim (June 26, 2020). "NHL media remain in flux while awaiting finalized coverage plans ahead of restart". CBC.ca. CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ↑ Sirott, Bob (July 30, 2020). "Troy Murray on broadcasting games while not in the stadium: It had a Winter Classic feel to it". WGN Radio. Nexstar Media Group. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ Svoboda, Jeff (August 1, 2020). "NHL adds atmosphere to postseason games during unique time". NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ↑ Jones, Terry (July 21, 2020). "Chris Cuthbert ready to bring Edmonton's Hub City to hockey fans". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Sadler, Emily (July 28, 2020). "Hockey's back, and here's how you can expect broadcasts to change". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Sports & Media. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ↑ Bonesteel, Matt; Russell, Jake (August 23, 2020). "NBC Sports announces Mike Milbury has stepped away from his role as NHL analyst for rest of playoffs". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ↑ Gord Miller [@GMillerTSN] (August 1, 2020). "Getting ready for puck drop in Toronto, game one of the Qualifying Round series between the Panthers and Islanders. I'll be with @AJMleczko at 4pm et on @NBCSN" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ Schwartz, Jared (July 28, 2020). "NBC reveals its plan for covering the NHL playoffs". New York Post. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ↑ "NBC Sports Announces Commentary and Production Details Ahead of NHL'S 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers". NBC Universal. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ↑ Best, Neil (August 17, 2020). "Isles and NHL playoff schedule a wild ride for broadcasters Brendan Burke and A.J. Mleczko". Newsday.com. Newsday. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- 1 2 Best, Neil (September 9, 2020). "Doc Emrick will call Islanders-Lightning series starting in Game 4". Newsday. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- 1 2 Costa, Brandon (July 31, 2020). "NHL Returns: League, NBC Sports, Rogers SportsNet Ready Made-for-TV Product as Quest for Stanley Cup Resumes". Sports Video Group. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ↑ Thomas, Jim (July 21, 2020). "Blues notebook: Fans asked to participate in virtual cheering for playoffs". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ↑ Francis, Eric (July 21, 2020). "NHL teams seek 'somewhat normal' atmosphere in home away from home". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- 1 2 Simmons, Steve (July 13, 2020). "SIMMONS: 'NHL sold us out,' Canadian broadcast worker says. 'Government sold us out'". Toronto Sun. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ↑ "NHL defends decision to have NBC broadcast restart from Toronto hub". CBC.ca. Canadian Press. July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ↑ "In challenging year, NHL enters Cup Final at low". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
- ↑ Lucia, Joe (September 22, 2020). "Facing unprecedented competition, NHL playoff ratings are in the tank". AwfulAnnouncing.com. www.AwfulAnnouncing.com. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
- ↑ "Stanley Cup ends with series-highs, but historic lows". Sports Media Watch. September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
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