2026 Stanley Cup playoffs

NHL postseason tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs is the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2025–26 season. The playoffs began on April 18, 2026 and will conclude with the Stanley Cup Final with the series ending no later than June 21.[1]

DatesApril 18 – June 21, 2026
Teams16
Defending championsFlorida Panthers
(did not qualify)
Quick facts Tournament details, Dates ...
2026 Stanley Cup playoffs
Tournament details
DatesApril 18 – June 21, 2026
Teams16
Defending championsFlorida Panthers
(did not qualify)
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The Colorado Avalanche qualified for the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e., best record) during the regular season. The Buffalo Sabres ended their NHL-record 15-year playoff drought, clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 2011. The Anaheim Ducks qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2018, ending their eight-year playoff drought. The Philadelphia Flyers also ended their six-year playoff drought by making the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2015–16 season, ending what was the longest playoff streak in the NHL. The longest active playoff streak is now held jointly by the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, who have qualified for the playoffs every year since 2018. Additionally, the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs, becoming the first defending champions to fail to qualify since the 2014–15 Los Angeles Kings and also became the first two-time defending champion to miss the playoffs since the 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens.[2] The Winnipeg Jets also became the fifth defending Presidents' Trophy winner to fail to qualify for the playoffs. This is also the first time in league history that consecutive defending Presidents' Trophy winners failed to make the playoffs. The Utah Mammoth tied the Seattle Kraken as the second-fastest expansion team to clinch their first playoff berth, doing so in their second season. For the first time since 1966, none of the New York metropolitan area-based teams (the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers) qualified for the playoffs.[3]

For the first time since 2019, following Tampa Bay’s elimination in the first round, neither of the NHL's Florida-based teams will be in the Stanley Cup Final.

Playoff seeds

Further information: Stanley Cup playoffs § Current format

This is the eleventh year in which the top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference).

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:[4]

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

  1. Buffalo Sabres, Atlantic Division champions – 109 points
  2. Tampa Bay Lightning – 106 points (40 RWs)
  3. Montreal Canadiens – 106 points (34 RWs)

Metropolitan Division

  1. Carolina Hurricanes, Metropolitan Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 113 points
  2. Pittsburgh Penguins – 98 points (34 RWs)
  3. Philadelphia Flyers – 98 points (27 RWs)

Wild Cards

  1. Boston Bruins – 100 points
  2. Ottawa Senators – 99 points

Western Conference

Central Division

  1. Colorado Avalanche, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 121 points
  2. Dallas Stars – 112 points
  3. Minnesota Wild – 104 points

Pacific Division

  1. Vegas Golden Knights, Pacific Division champions – 95 points
  2. Edmonton Oilers – 93 points
  3. Anaheim Ducks – 92 points

Wild Cards

  1. Utah Mammoth – 92 points
  2. Los Angeles Kings – 90 points

Playoff bracket

In each round, teams compete in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage plays at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team plays at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top three teams in each division made the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference, for a total of eight teams from each conference.

In the first round, the lower seeded wild card in the conference will play against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card plays against the other division winner, and both wild cards are de facto #4 seeds. The other series will match the second and third-place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home-ice advantage is awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it is awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

First round Second round Conference finals Stanley Cup Final
            
A1 Buffalo 4
WC1 Boston 2
A1 Buffalo 3
A3 Montreal 4
A2 Tampa Bay 3
A3 Montreal 4
A3 Montreal 1
Eastern Conference
M1 Carolina 0
M1 Carolina 4
WC2 Ottawa 0
M1 Carolina 4
M3 Philadelphia 0
M2 Pittsburgh 2
M3 Philadelphia 4
 
 
C1 Colorado 4
WC2 Los Angeles 0
C1 Colorado 4
C3 Minnesota 1
C2 Dallas 2
C3 Minnesota 4
C1 Colorado 0
Western Conference
P1 Vegas 1
P1 Vegas 4
WC1 Utah 2
P1 Vegas 4
P3 Anaheim 2
P2 Edmonton 2
P3 Anaheim 4
Legend
  • A1, A2, A3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Atlantic Division, respectively
  • M1, M2, M3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Metropolitan Division, respectively
  • C1, C2, C3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Central Division, respectively
  • P1, P2, P3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Pacific Division, respectively
  • WC1, WC2 – The first and second place Wild Card teams, respectively

First round

Eastern Conference first round

(A1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins

The Buffalo Sabres finished first in the Atlantic Division with 109 points. The Boston Bruins earned 100 points to finish as the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams with Boston winning six of the eight previous series. They last met in the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Boston won in six games. The Sabres qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Boston won three of the four games in the regular season series.

The Sabres defeated the Bruins in six games. Tage Thompson scored two of the four Sabres goals in the third period of game one, coming back from a two-goal deficit to defeat Boston 4–3.[5] In game two, Viktor Arvidsson scored twice for Boston as the Bruins emerged victorious with a 4–2 victory.[6] Alex Lyon made 24 saves in game three, backstopping the Sabres to a 3–1 victory.[7] In game four, Lyon stopped 23 shots as six different players scored for the Sabres, defeating the Bruins 6–1 to take a 3–1 series lead.[8] David Pastrňák kept the Bruins' season alive in game five, scoring the overtime goal to force a sixth game in a 2–1 affair.[9] In game six, Lyon made 25 saves and Tage Thompson assisted twice for the Sabres, sending Buffalo to the second round for the first time since 2007 with a 4–1 triumph.

April 19 Boston Bruins 3–4 Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
Morgan Geekie (1) – 10:52 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Elias Lindholm (1) – 01:08
David Pastrnak (1) – pp – 19:52		 Third period 12:02 – Tage Thompson (1)
15:44 – Tage Thompson (2)
16:36 – Mattias Samuelsson (1)
18:48 – en – Alex Tuch (1)
Jeremy Swayman 34 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 17 saves / 20 shots
April 21 Boston Bruins 4–2 Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Viktor Arvidsson (1) – 04:54
Morgan Geekie (2) – 16:29
Pavel Zacha (1) – pp – 18:10		 Second period No scoring
Viktor Arvidsson (2) – 00:16 Third period 13:54 – Bowen Byram (1)
15:08 – Peyton Krebs (1)
Jeremy Swayman 34 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 15 saves / 19 shots
Alex Lyon 7 saves / 7 shots
April 23 Buffalo Sabres 3–1 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Bowen Byram (2) – 10:58 Second period 02:36 – Tanner Jeannot (1)
Alex Tuch (2) – 04:03
Noah Ostlund (2) – en – 18:36		 Third period No scoring
Alex Lyon 24 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Jeremy Swayman 27 saves / 29 shots
April 26 Buffalo Sabres 6–1 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Peyton Krebs (2) – 04:17
Josh Doan (1) – 07:10
Zach Benson (1) – 09:15
Bowen Byram (3) – 14:23		 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Beck Malenstyn (1) – 05:08
Alex Tuch (3) – 06:32		 Third period 19:20 – sh – Sean Kuraly (1)
Alex Lyon 23 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Jeremy Swayman 23 saves / 29 shots
Joonas Korpisalo 6 saves / 6 shots
April 28 Boston Bruins 2–1 OT Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
No scoring First period 03:35 – pp – Rasmus Dahlin (1)
Elias Lindholm (2) – 09:22 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
David Pastrnak (2) – 09:14 First overtime period No scoring
Jeremy Swayman 26 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Alex Lyon 27 saves / 29 shots
May 1 Buffalo Sabres 4–1 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Alex Tuch (4) – 03:25
Mattias Samuelsson (2) – 12:26		 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 01:54 – David Pastrnak (3)
Zach Benson (2) – 05:58
Josh Norris (1) – en – 16:40		 Third period No scoring
Alex Lyon 25 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Jeremy Swayman 22 saves / 25 shots
Buffalo wins series 4–2

(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A3) Montreal Canadiens

The Tampa Bay Lightning finished second in the Atlantic Division with 106 points. The Montreal Canadiens also earned 106 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division as Tampa Bay won the first tie-breaker of regulation wins. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Tampa Bay winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, which Tampa Bay won in five games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

The Canadiens defeated the Lightning in seven games, with each game-winning goal scored in the third period or overtime. In addition, each game was decided by one goal, the first time in a seven-game series since 2015 and the third overall. In game one, Juraj Slafkovský's hat trick goal in overtime gave the Canadiens a 4–3 victory.[10] Game two also required overtime in which J. J. Moser scored for Tampa Bay to tie the series 1–1 with a 3–2 victory.[11] In game three, Lane Hutson scored the overtime winner for the Canadiens, giving Montreal a 3–2 victory.[12] Brandon Hagel scored twice in game four, tying the series 2–2 for the Lightning with a 3–2 victory.[13] In game five, Jakub Dobeš made 38 saves for the Canadiens in a 3–2 victory, taking a 3–2 series lead in the process.[14] The Lightning forced a seventh game as Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 30 shots he faced and Gage Goncalves scored in overtime in a 1–0 victory.[15] In game seven, Kaiden Guhle assisted twice and Dobeš made 28 saves to send Montreal to the second round with a 2–1 victory.[16] The Canadiens set an NHL record for the fewest shots on goal in a playoff win, registering only nine shots.[17]

April 19 Montreal Canadiens 4–3 OT Tampa Bay Lightning Benchmark International Arena Recap  
Josh Anderson (1) – 13:24 First period No scoring
Juraj Slafkovsky (1) – pp – 19:36 Second period 12:15 – pp – Darren Raddysh (1)
12:44 – Brandon Hagel (1)
Juraj Slafkovsky (2) – pp – 05:56 Third period 08:58 – pp – Brandon Hagel (2)
Juraj Slafkovsky (3) – pp – 01:22 First overtime period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 20 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Andrei Vasilevskiy 15 saves / 19 shots
April 21 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 OT Tampa Bay Lightning Benchmark International Arena Recap  
Lane Hutson (1) – pp – 16:11 First period 08:40 – Brandon Hagel (3)
Josh Anderson (2) – 18:36 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 12:33 – Nikita Kucherov (1)
No scoring First overtime period 12:48 – J. J. Moser (1)
Jakub Dobes 31 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Andrei Vasilevskiy 25 saves / 27 shots
April 24 Tampa Bay Lightning 2–3 OT Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
Brayden Point (1) – pp – 07:42 First period 04:53 – Alexandre Texier (1)
Brandon Hagel (4) – 04:47 Second period 12:43 – Kirby Dach (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 02:09 – Lane Hutson (2)
Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Jakub Dobes 15 saves / 17 shots
April 26 Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Jake Guentzel (1) – 19:06 Second period 10:06 – Zachary Bolduc (1)
13:29 – pp – Cole Caufield (1)
Brandon Hagel (5) – pp – 01:40
Brandon Hagel (6) – 15:07		 Third period No scoring
Andrei Vasilevskiy 16 saves / 18 shots Goalie stats Jakub Dobes 17 saves / 20 shots
April 29 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Tampa Bay Lightning Benchmark International Arena Recap  
Brendan Gallagher (1) – 03:00 First period No scoring
Kirby Dach (2) – 07:00 Second period 06:49 – Dominic James (1)
17:23 – Jake Guentzel (2)
Alexandre Texier (2) – 01:06 Third period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 38 saves / 40 shots Goalie stats Andrei Vasilevskiy 21 saves / 24 shots
May 1 Tampa Bay Lightning 1–0 OT Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Gage Goncalves (1) – 09:03 First overtime period No scoring
Andrei Vasilevskiy 30 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Jakub Dobes 32 saves / 33 shots
May 3 Montreal Canadiens 2–1 Tampa Bay Lightning Benchmark International Arena Recap  
Nick Suzuki (1) – 18:39 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 13:27 – pp – Dominic James (2)
Alex Newhook (1) – 11:07 Third period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 28 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Andrei Vasilevskiy 7 saves / 9 shots
Montreal wins series 4–3

(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC2) Ottawa Senators

The Carolina Hurricanes finished first in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference earning 113 points. The Ottawa Senators earned 99 points to finish as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina won two of the three games in the regular season series.

The Hurricanes defeated the Senators in a four-game sweep. In game one, Frederik Andersen stopped all 22 shots he faced, backstopping the Hurricanes to a 2–0 shutout.[18] Game two required overtime, wherein Mark Jankowski originally scored in the first overtime for the Hurricanes. However, the goal was overturned for being offside. Jordan Martinook was then given a penalty shot following the overturn, becoming the fifth player to be given a penalty shot in overtime.[19] He did not score on the penalty shot, but did score in the second overtime.[20] The Hurricanes took a 3–0 series lead after game three with Taylor Hall assisting twice in Carolina's 2–1 victory.[21] In game four, Sebastian Aho scored twice and Logan Stankoven scored in his fourth consecutive game to send the Hurricanes to the second round for the sixth straight season with a 4–2 victory.[22]

April 18 Ottawa Senators 0–2 Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 02:11 – Logan Stankoven (1)
No scoring Third period 07:15 – Taylor Hall (1)
Linus Ullmark 27 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Frederik Andersen 22 saves / 22 shots
April 20 Ottawa Senators 2–3 2OT Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center Recap  
No scoring First period 06:31 – pp – Logan Stankoven (2)
Drake Batherson (1) – 10:47
Dylan Cozens (1) – 16:40		 Second period 07:50 – Sebastian Aho (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring Second overtime period 13:53 – Jordan Martinook (1)
Linus Ullmark 46 saves / 49 shots Goalie stats Frederik Andersen 37 saves / 39 shots
April 23 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 Ottawa Senators Canadian Tire Centre Recap  
Logan Stankoven (3) – 05:13 First period No scoring
Jackson Blake (1) – 17:29 Second period 16:06 – Drake Batherson (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Frederik Andersen 21 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Linus Ullmark 25 saves / 27 shots
April 25 Carolina Hurricanes 4–2 Ottawa Senators Canadian Tire Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Taylor Hall (2) – 15:15 Second period 17:08 – pp – Drake Batherson (3)
Logan Stankoven (4) – pp – 09:10
Sebastian Aho (2) – en – 17:38
Sebastien Aho (3) – en – 18:45		 Third period 18:11 – Dylan Cozens (2)
Frederik Andersen 25 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Linus Ullmark 26 saves / 28 shots
Carolina wins series 4–0

(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (M3) Philadelphia Flyers

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division with 98 points. The Philadelphia Flyers also earned 98 points to finish third in the Metropolitan Division as Pittsburgh won the first tie-breaker of regulation wins. This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two intrastate rivals, with Philadelphia winning four of the seven previous series. They last met in the 2018 Eastern Conference first round, which Pittsburgh won in six games. The Flyers qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2020. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

The Flyers defeated the Penguins in six games. Porter Martone scored the game-winning goal with 2:37 left in game one to give Philadelphia a 3–2 victory.[23] In game two, Daniel Vladař stopped all 27 shots he faced against the Penguins, helping Philadelphia win 3–0.[24] In game three, Trevor Zegras provided a goal and an assist in the Flyers' 5–2 victory, giving Philadelphia a 3–0 series lead.[25] Pittsburgh avoided elimination in game four as both Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell provided a goal and an assist in a 4–2 Penguins victory.[26] The Penguins continued to avoid elimination in game five as Crosby scored and assisted in Pittsburgh's 3–2 triumph.[27] Game six remained scoreless into overtime, where Cam York scored for Philadelphia, advancing the Flyers to the second round.[28]

April 18 Philadelphia Flyers 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Jamie Drysdale (1) – 09:19 Second period 15:51 – Evgeni Malkin (1)
Travis Sanheim (1) – 10:00
Porter Martone (1) – 17:23		 Third period 18:59 – Bryan Rust (1)
Daniel Vladar 15 saves / 17 shots Goalie stats Stuart Skinner 17 saves / 20 shots
April 20 Philadelphia Flyers 3–0 Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Porter Martone (2) – 13:39
Garnet Hathaway (1) – sh – 17:43		 Second period No scoring
Luke Glendening (1) – en – 17:55 Third period No scoring
Daniel Vladar 27 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Stuart Skinner 21 saves / 23 shots
April 22 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Philadelphia Flyers Xfinity Mobile Arena Recap  
Evgeni Malkin (2) – pp – 04:18 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 05:18 – pp – Trevor Zegras (1)
09:06 – Rasmus Ristolainen (1)
11:18 – Nick Seeler (1)
Erik Karlsson (1) – pp – 09:39 Third period 16:30 – pp – Noah Cates (1)
18:48 – en – Owen Tippett (1)
Stuart Skinner 24 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Daniel Vladar 27 saves / 29 shots
April 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 Philadelphia Flyers Xfinity Mobile Arena Recap  
Sidney Crosby (1) – pp – 14:24 First period No scoring
Rickard Rakell (1) – 01:03 Second period 15:40 – Denver Barkey (1)
Kris Letang (1) – 04:27
Connor Dewar (2) – en – 19:03		 Third period 07:03 – Travis Konecny (1)
Arturs Silovs 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Daniel Vladar 17 saves / 20 shots
April 27 Philadelphia Flyers 2–3 Pittsburgh Penguins PPG Paints Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 02:45 – Elmer Söderblom (1)
Alex Bump (1) – 03:29
Travis Sanheim (2) – 15:03		 Second period 03:17 – Connor Dewar (1)
17:12 – Kris Letang (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Daniel Vladar 18 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Arturs Silovs 18 saves / 20 shots
April 29 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–1 OT Philadelphia Flyers Xfinity Mobile Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 17:32 – Cam York (1)
Arturs Silovs 31 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Daniel Vladar 42 saves / 42 shots
Philadelphia wins series 4–2

Western Conference first round

(C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (WC2) Los Angeles Kings

The Colorado Avalanche earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with 121 points. The Los Angeles Kings earned 90 points to finish as the second wild card in the Western Conference. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Colorado winning both previous series. They last met in the 2002 Western Conference quarterfinals, which Colorado won in seven games. Colorado won all three games in the regular season series.

The Avalanche defeated the Kings in a four-game sweep. Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves in game one as the Avalanche defeated the Kings 2–1.[29] Nicolas Roy scored the overtime-winning goal for the Avalanche in game two, defeating the Kings 2–1.[30] In game three, Artturi Lehkonen provided a goal and assist for the Avalanche, taking a 3–0 series lead with a 4–2 victory.[31] In game four, Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and provided an assist in a 5–1 victory, advancing the Avalanche to the second round.[32]

April 19 Los Angeles Kings 1–2 Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 15:29 – Artturi Lehkonen (1)
Artemi Panarin (1) – pp – 17:38 Third period 05:50 – Logan O'Connor (1)
Anton Forsberg 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Scott Wedgewood 24 saves / 25 shots
April 21 Los Angeles Kings 1–2 OT Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Artemi Panarin (2) – pp – 13:04 Third period 16:25 – Gabriel Landeskog (1)
No scoring First overtime period 07:44 – Nicolas Roy (1)
Anton Forsberg 34 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Scott Wedgewood 24 saves / 25 shots
April 23 Colorado Avalanche 4–2 Los Angeles Kings Crypto.com Arena Recap  
Gabriel Landeskog (2) – 05:29 First period No scoring
Cale Makar (1) – 12:12 Second period 05:55 – pp – Trevor Moore (1)
Artturi Lehkonen (2) – sh – 07:39
Brock Nelson (1) – en – 17:42		 Third period 15:57 – pp – Adrian Kempe (1)
Scott Wedgewood 24 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Anton Forsberg 19 saves / 22 shots
April 26 Colorado Avalanche 5–1 Los Angeles Kings Crypto.com Arena Recap  
Nathan MacKinnon (1) – pp – 13:13 First period No scoring
Cale Makar (2) – 05:48 Second period 13:43 – Joel Edmundson (1)
Nicolas Roy (2) – 03:13
Devon Toews (1) – 06:01
Nathan MacKinnon (2) – en – 14:22		 Third period No scoring
Scott Wedgewood 24 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Anton Forsberg 27 saves / 31 shots
Colorado wins series 4–0

(C2) Dallas Stars vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild

The Dallas Stars finished second in the Central Division with 112 points. The Minnesota Wild earned 104 points to finish third in the Central. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Dallas winning both previous series. They last met in the 2023 Western Conference first round, which Dallas won in six games. These teams split their four games in the regular season.

The Wild defeated the Stars in six games. Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy both scored twice and provided an assist in Minnesota's 6–1 rout of game one.[33] In game two, Wyatt Johnston scored twice for the Stars, who tied the series 1–1 with a 4–2 victory.[34] Game three required double overtime, where Johnston scored for the Stars in a 4–3 victory.[35] Game four also required overtime; this time Boldy scored for the Wild, tying the series with a 3–2 triumph.[36] Kirill Kaprizov scored and provided two assists for the Wild in game five, giving the Wild a 3–2 series lead with a 4–2 win.[37] Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldy both scored two goals for the Wild in game six, advancing Minnesota with a 5–2 victory to the second round for the first time since 2015.[38]

April 18 Minnesota Wild 6–1 Dallas Stars American Airlines Center Recap  
Joel Eriksson Ek (1) – pp – 05:35 First period No scoring
Kirill Kaprizov (1) – 00:56
Ryan Hartman (1) – 03:28
Matt Boldy (1) – 06:30		 Second period 15:10 – pp – Jason Robertson (1)
Joel Eriksson Ek (2) – pp – 08:13
Matt Boldy (2) – en – 16:52		 Third period No scoring
Jesper Wallstedt 27 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Jake Oettinger 23 saves / 28 shots
April 20 Minnesota Wild 2–4 Dallas Stars American Airlines Center Recap  
Brock Faber (1) – 11:33 First period 08:58 – Wyatt Johnston (1)
No scoring Second period 04:02 – pp – Matt Duchene (1)
Brock Faber (2) – 09:47 Third period 07:09 – Jason Robertson (2)
19:10 – pp-en – Wyatt Johnston (2)
Jesper Wallstedt 28 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Jake Oettinger 28 saves / 30 shots
April 22 Dallas Stars 4–3 2OT Minnesota Wild Grand Casino Arena Recap  
Mikko Rantanen (1) – pp – 01:25
Jason Robertson (3) – 13:48		 First period 18:20 – Marcus Johansson (1)
No scoring Second period 05:00 – Joel Eriksson Ek (3)
17:25 – Michael McCarron (1)
Matt Duchene (2) – pp – 10:18 Third period No scoring
Wyatt Johnston (3) – pp – 12:08 Second overtime period No scoring
Jake Oettinger 28 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Jesper Wallstedt 32 saves / 36 shots
April 25 Dallas Stars 2–3 OT Minnesota Wild Grand Casino Arena Recap  
Jason Robertson (4) – pp – 12:08 First period 13:52 – Brock Faber (3)
Miro Heiskanen (1) – pp – 19:25 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 14:40 – Marcus Foligno (1)
No scoring First overtime period 19:29 – Matt Boldy (3)
Jake Oettinger 40 saves / 43 shots Goalie stats Jesper Wallstedt 43 saves / 45 shots
April 28 Minnesota Wild 4–2 Dallas Stars American Airlines Center Recap  
Mats Zuccarello (1) – 03:51 First period 08:58 – pp – Miro Heiskanen (2)
Matt Boldy (4) – pp – 19:28 Second period No scoring
Michael McCarron (2) – 07:47
Kirill Kaprizov (2) – 18:00		 Third period 16:39 – Jason Robertson (5)
Jesper Wallstedt 20 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Jake Oettinger 24 saves / 28 shots
April 30 Dallas Stars 2–5 Minnesota Wild Grand Casino Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 06:23 – Quinn Hughes (1)
Wyatt Johnston (4) – pp – 07:01
Mavrik Bourque (1) – 16:08		 Second period 17:00 – Vladimir Tarasenko (1)
No scoring Third period 10:38 – Quinn Hughes (2)
18:29 – en – Matt Boldy (5)
19:45 – en – Matt Boldy (6)
Jake Oettinger 16 saves / 19 shots Goalie stats Jesper Wallstedt 21 saves / 23 shots
Minnesota wins series 4–2

(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) Utah Mammoth

The Vegas Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division with 95 points. The Utah Mammoth earned 92 points to finish as the first wild card in the Western Conference. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams and the first playoff series for the Mammoth. Utah won two of the three games in the regular season series.

The Golden Knights defeated the Mammoth in six games. In game one, Carter Hart made 31 saves for the Golden Knights, who defeated the Mammoth 4–2.[39] Kailer Yamamoto provided two assists in Utah's 3–2 victory in game two, tying the series 1–1 and giving the Mammoth their first playoff victory.[40] In game three, Lawson Crouse scored twice giving Utah their first home playoff victory with a 4–2 triumph.[41] In game four, Jack Eichel's goal for Vegas was overturned in overtime due to an offside call. However, the Golden Knights tied the series 2–2 on Shea Theodore's overtime goal, earned in a 5–4 victory.[42] Game five also required overtime, which favored Vegas as Brett Howden scored shorthanded to give the Golden Knights a 3–2 series lead with a 5–4 win.[43] In game six, Mitch Marner scored twice for Vegas as the Golden Knights defeated the Mammoth 5–1 to advance to the second round.[44]

April 19 Utah Mammoth 2–4 Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Recap  
Logan Cooley (1) – 19:49 First period No scoring
Kevin Stenlund (1) – 05:07 Second period 03:44 – Colton Sissons (1)
No scoring Third period 05:33 – pp – Mark Stone (1)
07:20 – Nic Dowd (1)
18:21 – en – Ivan Barbashev (1)
Karel Vejmelka 27 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Carter Hart 31 saves / 33 shots
April 21 Utah Mammoth 3–2 Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Recap  
MacKenzie Weegar (1) – own – 16:59 First period 11:42 – pp – Mark Stone (2)
Dylan Guenther (1) – 14:56 Second period 15:58 – Ivan Barbashev (2)
Logan Cooley (2) – 14:00 Third period No scoring
Karel Vejmelka 19 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Carter Hart 27 saves / 29 shots
April 24 Vegas Golden Knights 2–4 Utah Mammoth Delta Center Recap  
No scoring First period 12:59 – MacKenzie Weegar (2)
17:45 – pp – Dylan Guenther (2)
Jack Eichel (1) – 13:20 Second period 04:06 – Lawson Crouse (1)
09:48 – Lawson Crouse (2)
Nic Dowd (2) – 16:52 Third period No scoring
Carter Hart 8 saves / 12 shots Goalie stats Karel Vejmelka 30 saves / 32 shots
April 27 Vegas Golden Knights 5–4 OT Utah Mammoth Delta Center Recap  
Pavel Dorofeyev (1) – 01:12
Brett Howden (1) – sh – 18:38		 First period No scoring
Cole Smith – 03:26 Second period 08:04 – Nick Schmaltz (1)
08:33 – Ian Cole (1)
Brett Howden (2) – 10:25 Third period 01:45 – Michael Carcone (1)
05:10 – Clayton Keller (1)
Shea Theodore (1) – 19:08 First overtime period No scoring
Carter Hart 27 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Karel Vejmelka 31 saves / 36 shots
April 29 Utah Mammoth 4–5 2OT Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Recap  
John Marino (1) – 17:11 First period 19:19 – pp – Pavel Dorofeyev (2)
Lawson Crouse (3) – 10:40 Second period 15:37 – Pavel Dorofeyev (3)
17:17 – Shea Theodore (2)
Dylan Guenther (3) – 05:54
Michael Carcone (2) – 12:42		 Third period 19:47 – Pavel Dorofeyev (4)
No scoring Second overtime period 05:28 – sh – Brett Howden (3)
Karel Vejmelka 31 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Carter Hart 34 saves / 38 shots
May 1 Vegas Golden Knights 5–1 Utah Mammoth Delta Center Recap  
Brett Howden (4) – 15:02 First period No scoring
Mitch Marner (1) – 19:15 Second period No scoring
Colton Sissons (2) – 09:39
Mitch Marner (2) – pp – 12:09
Cole Smith (2) – en – 16:24		 Third period 07:41 – Kailer Yamamoto (1)
Carter Hart 22 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Karel Vejmelka 21 saves / 26 shots
Vegas wins series 4–2

(P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. (P3) Anaheim Ducks

The Edmonton Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division with 93 points. The Anaheim Ducks earned 92 points to finish third in the Pacific. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with both teams splitting the two previous series. They last met in the 2017 Western Conference second round, which Anaheim won in seven games. The Ducks qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Edmonton won two of the three games in the regular season series.

The Ducks defeated the Oilers in six games. Kasperi Kapanen spoiled the Ducks' comeback in game one, scoring with 1:54 left in the game to make it 4–3 for the Oilers.[45] In game two, Jackson LaCombe provided three assists for the Ducks, defeating the Oilers 6–4.[46] Mikael Granlund scored a goal and assisted thrice in game three, giving the Ducks a 7–4 victory.[47] In game four, the Ducks came back from a two-goal deficit to force overtime. In overtime, Ryan Poehling initially scored the winning goal, but a controversial call on the goal required video review to confirm whether the puck had crossed the goal line. After the video review, Poehling's goal stood and the Ducks took a 3–1 series lead with a 4–3 victory.[48][49] The Oilers avoided in elimination in game five as Leon Draisaitl scored twice in a 4–1 affair.[50]Troy Terry and Chris Kreider provided a goal and two assists in game six, giving Anaheim a 5–2 victory and its first playoff series win since 2017.[51]

April 20 Anaheim Ducks 3–4 Edmonton Oilers Rogers Place Recap  
No scoring First period 17:21 – Jason Dickinson (1)
18:21 – Kasperi Kapanen (1)
Troy Terry (1) – 00:19
Leo Carlsson (1) – 04:38
Troy Terry (2) – pp – 14:29		 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 11:30 – Jason Dickinson (2)
18:06 – Kasperi Kapanen (2)
Lukas Dostal 30 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Connor Ingram 25 saves / 28 shots
April 22 Anaheim Ducks 6–4 Edmonton Oilers Rogers Place Recap  
Cutter Gauthier (1) – pp – 12:48 First period 08:58 – Leon Draisaitl (1)
Jacob Trouba (1) – 02:44
Alex Killorn (1) – pp – 05:35
Ryan Poehling (1) – sh – 15:50		 Second period 11:46 – Connor Murphy (1)
17:48 – Zach Hyman (1)
Cutter Gauthier (2) – 15:08
Ryan Poehling (2) – en – 18:50		 Third period 13:51 – Josh Samanski (1)
Lukas Dostal 33 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Connor Ingram 22 saves / 27 shots
April 24 Edmonton Oilers 4–7 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Vasily Podkolzin (1) – 13:12 First period 16:18 – Mason McTavish (1)
17:45 – pp – Mikael Granlund (1)
Kasperi Kapanen (3) – 03:57
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1) – 05:39		 Second period 12:37 – Alex Killorn (2)
Connor McDavid (1) – pp – 08:36 Third period 02:53 – Beckett Sennecke (1)
03:35 – Leo Carlsson (2)
16:57 – Jeffrey Viel (1)
18:27 – en – Jackson LaCombe (1)
Connor Ingram 32 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats Lukas Dostal 20 saves / 24 shots
April 26 Edmonton Oilers 3–4 OT Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Kaspari Kapanen (4) – 00:38
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2) – 06:32		 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 07:36 – Cutter Gauthier (3)
18:43 – Mikael Granlund (2)
Evan Bouchard (1) – 03:27 Third period 13:31 – Jeffrey Viel (2)
No scoring First overtime period 02:29 – Ryan Poehling (3)
Tristan Jarry 34 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Lukas Dostal 24 saves / 27 shots
April 28 Anaheim Ducks 1–4 Edmonton Oilers Rogers Place Recap  
No scoring First period 00:38 – Vasily Podkolzin (2)
08:33 – Zach Hyman (2)
10:13 – Leon Draisaitl (2)
Alex Killorn (3) – pp – 08:26 Second period 10:24 – pp – Leon Draisaitl (3)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Lukas Dostal 6 saves / 9 shots
Ville Husso 10 saves / 11 shots		 Goalie stats Connor Ingram 29 saves / 30 shots
April 30 Edmonton Oilers 2–5 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Connor Murphy (2) – 15:14 First period 09:56 – Ryan Poehling (4)
13:43 – Chris Kreider (1)
16:50 – pp – Cutter Gauthier (4)
No scoring Second period 19:13 – Troy Terry (3)
Vasily Podkolzin (3) – 01:13 Third period 17:26 – Leo Carlsson (3)
Connor Ingram 26 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Lukas Dostal 25 saves / 27 shots
Anaheim wins series 4–2

Second round

Note: All times listed are in EDT (UTC–4). Potential games are listed in italics if necessary.

Eastern Conference second round

(A1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (A3) Montreal Canadiens

This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with Montreal winning four of the seven previous series. They last met in the 1998 Eastern Conference semifinals, which Buffalo won in a four-game sweep. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

The Canadiens defeated the Sabres in seven games. In game one, Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod both provided a goal and an assist for the Sabres, defeating the Canadiens 4–2.[52] Alex Newhook scored twice and Jakub Dobeš made 29 saves for the Canadiens, defeating the Sabres 5–1.[53] Newhook scored twice again in game three as the Canadiens routed the Sabres 6–2.[54] In game four, Tage Thompson provided a goal and an assist to give the Sabres a 3–2 victory, tying the series 2–2.[55] Nick Suzuki scored a goal and two assists and Juraj Slafkovský assisted thrice in game five, helping Montreal secure a 6–3 victory and a 3–2 series lead.[56] Buffalo came back from a two-goal deficit in game six, scoring seven unanswered goals en route to an 8–3 victory and forcing a seventh game.[57] In game seven, the Sabres forced overtime after being down 2–0. In overtime, Alex Newhook scored to give Montreal a 3–2 victory, and a conference final berth.

May 6 Montreal Canadiens 2–4 Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
Nick Suzuki (2) – pp – 19:16 First period 04:31 – Josh Doan (2)
13:26 – pp – Ryan McLeod (1)
Kirby Dach (3) – 16:31 Second period 03:32 – Jordan Greenway (1)
09:01 – pp – Bowen Byram (4)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 12 saves / 16 shots Goalie stats Alex Lyon 26 saves / 28 shots
May 8 Montreal Canadiens 5–1 Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
Alex Newhook (2) – 01:36
Mike Matheson (1) – 04:27		 First period No scoring
Alex Newhook (3) – 04:47 Second period 19:21 – Zach Benson (3)
Alexandre Carrier (1) – 03:54
Nick Suzuki (3) – en – 15:59		 Third period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 29 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Alex Lyon 23 saves / 27 shots
May 10 Buffalo Sabres 2–6 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
Tage Thompson (3) – 00:53 First period 15:31 – Alex Newhook (4)
Rasmus Dahlin (2) – 14:46 Second period 06:05 – pp – Cole Caufield (2)
10:43 – Zachary Bolduc (2)
12:17 – pp – Juraj Slafkovský (4)
No scoring Third period 08:46 – Kirby Dach (4)
15:14 – awd, en – Alex Newhook (5)
Alex Lyon 31 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Jakub Dobes 26 saves / 28 shots
May 12 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
Mattias Samuelsson (3) – 06:32 First period 10:08 – Alex Newhook (6)
19:47 – pp – Cole Caufield (3)
Tage Thompson (4) – pp – 07:00 Second period No scoring
Zach Benson (4) – pp – 04:41 Third period No scoring
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Jakub Dobeš 19 saves / 22 shots
May 14 Montreal Canadiens 6–3 Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
Cole Caufield (4) – 06:31
Alexandre Texier (3) – 07:54		 First period 02:00 – Jason Zucker (1)
07:45 – Josh Doan (3)
10:15 – Konsta Helenius (1)
Josh Anderson (3) – 08:01
Jake Evans (1) – 16:12
Nick Suzuki (4) – pp – 17:33		 Second period No scoring
Ivan Demidov (1) – pp – 03:32 Third period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 33 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 18 saves / 23 shots
Alex Lyon 2 saves / 3 shots
May 16 Buffalo Sabres 8–3 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
Rasmus Dahlin (3) – 00:32
Jason Zucker (2) – pp – 13:56		 First period 01:40 – Arber Xhekaj (1)
08:12 – pp – Ivan Demidov (2)
10:14 – sh – Jake Evans (2)
Zach Benson (5) – 01:00
Jack Quinn (1) – pp – 10:54
Konsta Helenius (2) – 12:59		 Second period No scoring
Jack Quinn (2) – pp – 09:58
Tage Thompson (5) – en – 14:12
Zach Metsa (1) – pp – 17:49		 Third period No scoring
Alex Lyon 1 save / 4 shots
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 18 saves / 18 shots		 Goalie stats Jakub Dobes 27 saves / 33 shots
Jacob Fowler 1 save / 2 shots
May 18 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 OT Buffalo Sabres KeyBank Center Recap  
Phillip Danault (1) – 04:30
Zachary Bolduc (3) – pp – 14:29		 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 13:19 – Jordan Greenway (2)
No scoring Third period 06:27 – Rasmus Dahlin (4)
Alex Newhook (7) – 11:22 First overtime period No scoring
Jakub Dobes 37 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 22 saves / 25 shots
Montreal wins series 4–3

(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (M3) Philadelphia Flyers

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina won three of the four games in the regular season series.

The Hurricanes defeated the Flyers in a four-game sweep. In game one, Logan Stankoven continued his goal-scoring streak, scoring twice while Frederik Andersen stopped all 19 shots to defeat the Flyers 3–0.[58] The Hurricanes came back from a two-goal deficit in game two as Taylor Hall scored in overtime to give Carolina a 2–0 series lead.[59] In game three, Andrei Svechnikov scored a goal and provided an assist, giving Carolina a 3–0 series lead with a 4–1 victory.[60] Game four was tied 2–2 going into overtime, wherein, Jackson Blake scored his second goal of the game, sending Carolina to the conference final with a 3–2 victory.[61] Carolina became the first team to have back-to-back series sweeps since the 1992 Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Carolina is also the first team since the 1985 Edmonton Oilers to start the playoffs 8–0 and the first to do since the four-round, best-of-seven format was introduced in 1987.[62]

May 2 Philadelphia Flyers 0–3 Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center Recap  
No scoring First period 01:31 – Logan Stankoven (5)
07:30 – Jackson Blake (2)
No scoring Second period 16:16 – Logan Stankoven (6)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Daniel Vladar 20 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Frederik Andersen 19 saves / 19 shots
May 4 Philadelphia Flyers 2–3 OT Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center Recap  
Jamie Drysdale (2) – pp – 04:02
Sean Couturier (1) – 04:41		 First period 10:21 – pp – Nikolaj Ehlers (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 11:21 – Seth Jarvis (1)
No scoring First overtime period 18:54 – Taylor Hall (3)
Daniel Vladar 39 saves / 42 shots Goalie stats Frederik Andersen 34 saves / 36 shots
May 7 Carolina Hurricanes 4–1 Philadelphia Flyers Xfinity Mobile Arena Recap  
Jordan Staal (1) – pp –17:27 First period No scoring
Jalen Chatfield (1) – sh – 15:59 Second period 02:31 – Trevor Zegras (2)
Andrei Svechnikov (1) – pp – 03:52
Nikolaj Ehlers (2) – 07:08		 Third period No scoring
Frederik Andersen 18 saves / 19 shots Goalie stats Daniel Vladar 26 saves / 30 shots
May 9 Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers Xfinity Mobile Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 07:50 – Tyson Foerster (1)
Jackson Blake (3) – 12:35 Second period No scoring
Logan Stankoven (7) – 04:13 Third period 05:52 – Alex Bump (2)
Jackson Blake (4) – 05:28 First overtime period No scoring
Frederik Andersen 15 saves / 17 shots Goalie stats Daniel Vladar 37 saves / 40 shots
Carolina wins series 4–0

Western Conference second round

(C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Minnesota winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 2014 Western Conference first round, which Minnesota won in seven games. These teams split their four-game regular-season series.

The Avalanche defeated the Wild in five games. Game one was a high-scoring affair as Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Martin Nečas each had three or more points for the Avalanche while Quinn Hughes had three for the Wild. During the game, the Wild came back from a three-goal deficit to briefly take the lead 5–4, but the Avalanche scored five more goals to emerge victorious 9–6.[63] In game two, Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal and assisted twice for the Avalanche as they defeated the Wild 5–2.[64] Kirill Kaprizov had three points and Jesper Wallstedt made 35 saves in game three for the Wild, defeating the Avalanche 5–1.[65] In game four, the Avalanche recovered from an early 1–0 deficit defeating Minnesota 5–2 to take a 3–1 series lead.[66] The Avalanche came back from a 3–0 deficit in game five, scoring in overtime on Brett Kulak, sending Colorado to the conference final with a 4–3 victory.[67]

May 3 Minnesota Wild 6–9 Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena Recap  
Marcus Johansson (2) – 15:02
Ryan Hartman (2) – 16:04		 First period 11:12 – Sam Malinski (1)
12:04 – Jack Drury (1)
13:13 – pp – Artturi Lehkonen (3)
Vladimir Tarasenko (2) – 06:45
Quinn Hughes (3) – 12:43
Marcus Foligno (2) – sh – 16:55		 Second period 04:16 – Nick Blankenburg (1)
18:04 – Devon Toews (2)
Mats Zuccarello (2) – 16:01 Third period 03:21 – Cale Makar (3)
05:42 – Nazem Kadri (1)
17:06 – Cale Makar (4)
17:52 – en – Nathan MacKinnon (3)
Jesper Wallstedt 34 saves / 42 shots Goalie stats Scott Wedgewood 30 saves / 36 shots
May 5 Minnesota Wild 2–5 Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena Recap  
Kirill Kaprizov (3) – 02:57 First period 02:51 – Martin Necas (1)
No scoring Second period 08:24 – pp – Gabriel Landeskog (3)
01:24 – Nicolas Roy (3)
Marcus Johansson (3) – 14:33 Third period 13:18 – pp – Nathan MacKinnon (4)
19:55 – en – Valeri Nichushkin (1)
Filip Gustavsson 18 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Scott Wedgewood 29 saves / 31 shots
May 9 Colorado Avalanche 1–5 Minnesota Wild Grand Casino Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 15:11 – Kirill Kaprizov (4)
16:44 – pp – Quinn Hughes (4)
Nathan MacKinnon (5) – 13:11 Second period 04:21 – pp – Ryan Hartman (3)
13:31 – Brock Faber (4)
No scoring Third period 19:54 – en – Matt Boldy (7)
Scott Wedgewood 9 saves / 12 shots
Mackenzie Blackwood 12 saves / 13 shots		 Goalie stats Jesper Wallstedt 35 saves / 36 shots
May 11 Colorado Avalanche 5–2 Minnesota Wild Grand Casino Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 09:46 – pp – Danila Yurov (1)
Nazem Kadri (2) – pp – 06:08 Second period No scoring
Ross Colton (1) – 06:56
Parker Kelly (1) – 11:32
Nathan MacKinnon (6) – en – 19:27
Brock Nelson (2) – en – 19:52		 Third period 09:15 – Nico Sturm (1)
Mackenzie Blackwood 19 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Jesper Wallstedt 29 saves / 32 shots
May 13 Minnesota Wild 3–4 OT Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena Recap  
Marcus Johansson (4) – 00:34
Nick Foligno (1) – 11:03
Nick Foligno (2) – 15:56		 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 11:00 – Parker Kelly (2)
No scoring Third period 16:27 – Jack Drury (2)
18:37 – Nathan MacKinnon (7)
No scoring First overtime period 03:52 – Brett Kulak (1)
Jesper Wallstedt 30 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Mackenzie Blackwood 10 saves / 13 shots
Scott Wedgewood 7 saves / 7 shots
Colorado wins series 4–1

(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (P3) Anaheim Ducks

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Anaheim won all three games in the regular season series.

The Golden Knights defeated the Ducks in six games. Carter Hart made 33 saves for the Golden Knights in game one, backstopping Vegas to a 3–1 victory.[68] In game two, Lukáš Dostál made 21 saves for the Ducks, tying the series with a 3–1 victory.[69] Mitch Marner had a hat trick in game three for the Golden Knights, defeating the Ducks 6–2.[70] In game four, Cutter Gauthier assisted thrice for the Ducks, tying the series 2–2 with a 4–3 victory.[71] Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice, including the overtime-winning goal in game five for the Golden Knights, defeating the Ducks 3–2 to take a 3–2 series lead.[72] In game six, Dorofeyev scored twice and Hart made 31 saves for Golden Knights, sending Vegas to the conference final with a 5–1 victory.

May 4 Anaheim Ducks 1–3 Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 03:14 – Brett Howden (5)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Mikael Granlund (3) – 13:37 Third period 15:02 – Ivan Barbashev (3)
19:54 – en – Mitch Marner (3)
Lukas Dostal 19 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Carter Hart 33 saves / 34 shots
May 6 Anaheim Ducks 3–1 Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Beckett Sennecke (2) – 11:23 Second period No scoring
Leo Carlsson (4) – 06:36
Jansen Harkins (1) – en – 16:30		 Third period 19:53 – pp – Mark Stone (3)
Lukas Dostal 21 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Carter Hart 25 saves / 27 shots
May 8 Vegas Golden Knights 6–2 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Shea Theodore (3) – 01:06
Brayden McNabb (1) – sh – 12:13
Mitch Marner (4) – pp – 19:55		 First period No scoring
Mitch Marner (5) – 09:19
Mitch Marner (6) – 17:56		 Second period No scoring
Brett Howden (5) – en – 18:04 Third period 06:30 – Beckett Sennecke (3)
15:09 – Chris Kreider (2)
Carter Hart 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Lukas Dostal 5 saves / 8 shots
Ville Husso 17 saves / 19 shots
May 10 Vegas Golden Knights 3–4 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Pavel Dorofeyev (5) – pp – 10:22 First period 08:43 – pp – Beckett Sennecke (4)
15:25 – Mikael Granlund (4)
Brett Howden (7) – 04:04 Second period 17:58 – pp – Alex Killorn (4)
Tomas Hertl (1) – 18:56 Third period 03:43 – Ian Moore (1)
Carter Hart 19 saves / 23 shots Goalie stats Lukas Dostal 18 saves / 21 shots
May 12 Anaheim Ducks 2–3 OT Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Recap  
Beckett Sennecke (5) – pp – 12:36 First period 16:13 – pp – Pavel Dorofeyev (6)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Olen Zellweger (1) – 16:55 Third period 04:48 – Tomas Hertl (2)
No scoring First overtime period 04:10 – Pavel Dorofeyev (7)
Lukas Dostal 29 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Carter Hart 34 saves / 36 shots
May 14 Vegas Golden Knights 5–1 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Mitch Marner (7) – 01:02
Brett Howden (8) – sh – 08:30
Shea Theodore (4) – pp – 17:19		 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 12:46 – Mikael Granlund (5)
Pavel Dorofeyev (8) – 02:52
Pavel Dorofeyev (9) – 13:30		 Third period No scoring
Carter Hart 31 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Lukas Dostal 16 saves / 21 shots
Vegas wins series 4–2

Conference finals

Main article: NHL conference finals

Eastern Conference final

(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (A3) Montreal Canadiens

This will be the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Montreal winning five of the seven previous series. They last met in the 2006 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Carolina won in six games. Carolina will be making their second consecutive and seventh overall conference finals appearance. Carolina lost the previous year's Eastern Conference final against the Florida Panthers in five games. This will be Montreal's ninth appearance in the semifinal/conference finals since the league began using a 16-team or greater playoff format in 1980. Their most recent appearance was in the 2021 semifinals, which Montreal won against the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. Montreal won all three games in the regular season series.

May 21 Montreal Canadiens 6–2 Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center Recap  
Cole Caufield (5) – 01:00
Phillip Danault (2) – 04:04
Alexandre Texier (4) – 08:11
Ivan Demidov (3) – 11:32		 First period 00:33 – Seth Jarvis (2)
No scoring Second period 02:46 – Eric Robinson (1)
Juraj Slafkovský (5) – 07:05
Juraj Slafkovský (6) – en – 17:32		 Third period No scoring
Jakub Dobeš 24 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Frederik Andersen 16 saves / 21 shots
May 23 Montreal Canadiens 7:00 p.m. Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center TNT, TruTV, CBC, SN
May 25 Carolina Hurricanes 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre TNT, TruTV, CBC, SN
May 27 Carolina Hurricanes 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre TNT, TruTV, CBC, SN
May 29 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center TNT, TruTV, CBC, SN
May 31 Carolina Hurricanes TBD Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre TNT, TruTV, SN
June 2 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. Carolina Hurricanes Lenovo Center TNT, TruTV, CBC, SN
Montreal leads series 1–0

Western Conference final

(C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (P1) Vegas Golden Knights

This will be the second playoff series between these two teams. Their only previous series was in the 2021 West Division second round, which Vegas won in six games. This will be Vegas's fifth semifinals/conference finals appearance. Their most recent appearance was in 2023 against the Dallas Stars, which Vegas won in six games. This will be Colorado's tenth appearance in the conference final. They last made the conference final in 2022, which Colorado won against the Edmonton Oilers in a four-game sweep. Colorado won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

May 20 Vegas Golden Knights 4–2 Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Dylan Coghlan (1) – 12:29
Pavel Dorofeyev (10) – pp – 15:02		 Second period No scoring
Brett Howden (9) – 01:34
Nic Dowd (3) – en – 19:15		 Third period 05:53 – Valeri Nichushkin (2)
17:39 – pp – Gabriel Landeskog (4)
Carter Hart 36 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Scott Wedgewood 24 saves / 27 shots
May 22 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena ESPN, CBC, SN
May 24 Colorado Avalanche 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena ESPN, CBC, SN
May 26 Colorado Avalanche 9:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena ESPN, CBC, SN
May 28 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena ESPN, CBC, SN
May 30 Colorado Avalanche 8:00 p.m. Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena ABC, CBC, SN
June 1 Vegas Golden Knights 8:00 p.m. Colorado Avalanche Ball Arena ESPN, CBC, SN
Vegas leads series 1–0

Player statistics

Skaters

These were the top ten skaters based on points, following the conclusion of games played on May 21, 2026. Players in bold are currently active in the playoffs.[73]

More information Player, Team ...
Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Mitch MarnerVegas Golden Knights1371219+134
Nick SuzukiMontreal Canadiens1541216–34
Jack EichelVegas Golden Knights1311516+610
Tage ThompsonBuffalo Sabres1351015022
Quinn HughesMinnesota Wild1141115+104
Kirill KaprizovMinnesota Wild1141115+102
Nathan MacKinnonColorado Avalanche107714+66
Rasmus DahlinBuffalo Sabres1341014+420
Lane HutsonMontreal Canadiens1521214+210
Matt BoldyMinnesota Wild117613+54
Close

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, following the conclusion of games played on May 21, 2026. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded. Players in bold are currently active in the playoffs.[74]

More information Player, Team ...
Player Team GP W L SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
Frederik AndersenCarolina Hurricanes981222151.52.9322594:41
Daniel VladarPhiladelphia Flyers1046294232.18.9222633:20
Andrei VasilevskiyTampa Bay Lightning734156162.18.8971439:45
Scott WedgewoodColorado Avalanche972214192.32.9110492:20
Carter HartVegas Golden Knights1394389322.35.9200818:31
Jakub DobesMontreal Canadiens1596416382.48.9090918:13
Close

Media

Canada

This is the 12th and final postseason of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deal with Rogers Sports & Media before a new 12-season contract begins next season (2026–27).[75][76] Games will air across the Sportsnet networks and CBC under the Hockey Night in Canada brand. For first and second-round U.S.–U.S. games not on CBC, Sportsnet generally simulcasts the U.S. feed instead of producing their own telecast. The 2026 Stanley Cup Final will be simulcast on both CBC and Sportsnet.[77]

Sportsnet+ will stream all games.[77]

United States

This is the fifth season of the league's seven-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with the ESPN family of networks and TNT Sports.[78]

First- and second-round games are split between ESPN-produced telecasts (either on ESPN, ABC, or ESPN2) and TNT Sports-produced telecasts (either on TNT or TBS, with selected simulcasts on TruTV). Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster will also televise local coverage of first-round games.[79][80]

During the first and second round, TNT and ESPN (including ABC) split games on Saturdays. For the rest of the first week, ESPN networks aired games on Sunday through Tuesday nights, while TNT aired games Wednesday to Friday and on Sunday afternoons. During the second week of the first round, Tuesday and Wednesday games were instead split between TNT and ESPN2, ESPN networks had all the Friday games, and TNT had all the Sunday games.[81][82] ABC also aired a Saturday second round game on May 2, with two other games on May 16 initially designated as "ABC or ESPN" (however only one game was needed which aired on ABC).[82]

ESPN/ABC had the first choice of which conference final series to air,[78] choosing the Western Conference finals this season. As a result, TNT Sports will broadcast the Eastern Conference finals.[83] As per the alternating rotation, ABC has coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.[78]

All ESPN games will stream on the ESPN app's unlimited tier, while TNT games stream on HBO Max.[79][80]

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