NHL Playoff Rules

The Stanley Cup playoffs is a four-round tournament that features eight teams each from Western and Eastern Conference. Notably, it's held after the regular season to decide the NHL Champion.

Looking back at its history, the trophy was initially awarded in 1893, with the champions retaining the possession until they were either defeated by another club for their league title or challenged by a champion from another league and subsequently beaten in a final game till 1914. Professional teams were granted eligibility to vie for the Stanley Cup in 1906. Beginning in 1915, the Cup was officially contested between the National Hockey Association (NHA) champion and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion.

Following a series of league consolidations and transitions, including the NHL's establishment in 1917 as a successor to the NHA, the Stanley Cup ultimately became the NHL's championship trophy before the 1926–27 season.

NHL Playoff Rules 2024

The 2024 NHL playoffs features 16 teams competing in a thrilling best-of-seven elimination tournament to determine the season's champion, also known as the Stanley Cup winner.

This intense competition features the top three teams from each division (Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, Pacific) and four wild card teams, decided by the next two best teams in each conference (Eastern, Western). This format ensures that eight teams from each conference participate in the playoffs. Seeding is based on regular season point totals, with tiebreakers including various criteria such as regulation wins, overall wins, and goal differentials.

Once the playoff teams are determined, they follow a structured bracket format, largely division-based with wildcards. In the first round, division winners with the best records face wild-card teams, while the wild card with the better record plays the other division winner. Additionally, second and third-placed teams within each division compete in the same bracket. The winners of the first-round matchups move on to face each other in the second round to determine the four participants in the Conference Finals.

The home-ice advantage is crucial in the playoffs, with higher-seeded teams enjoying this privilege through the first two rounds. The series format for each round is a best-of-seven, meaning the first team to win four games advances to the next stage. In the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team with the better regular-season record, regardless of their final standings in their respective divisions. There is no reseeding in the Stanley Cup Final, ensuring that the team with the higher seed at the start of the playoffs retains home-ice advantage throughout the tournament.

NHL Playoff Tiebreaker Rules

1. Regulation Wins (RW): The team with the greater number of regulation wins is ranked higher. This tiebreaker has been in use since the 2019-20 NHL season.

2. Regulation and Overtime Wins (ROW): If teams are still tied, the one with more regulation and overtime wins (excluding shootouts) is favored. This rule has been in place since the 2010-11 NHL season.

3. Total Wins: If the tie persists, the total number of wins, including shootout victories, is considered.

4. Head-to-Head Performance: Points earned in games between tied clubs are compared. If two teams have unequal home games against each other, points from the first game in the city with more home games are excluded.

5. Percentage of Available Points: In cases with more than two tied teams, the percentage of available points earned in games among those teams is examined, excluding any "odd" games.

6. Goal Differential: The team with the greater differential between goals scored and goals against during the regular season gains an advantage.

7. Goals For (GF): If all previous tiebreakers fail to resolve the deadlock, the team with the most goals scored during the regular season is ranked higher. This rule came into effect from the 2019-20 NHL season.

8. One-Game Playoff: If teams remain tied on all criteria, a one-game playoff is held under Stanley Cup playoff rules to determine the final standings.

NHL Playoff Overtime Rules 2024

The NHL overtime rules differ between the regular season and playoffs. Here's how they work:

Regular Season Overtime Rules:

• Teams play a five-minute overtime period of 3-on-3 hockey

• The overtime period is sudden-death style, meaning the first team to score wins

• If no team scores during the five-minute overtime period, the game proceeds to a shootout

• Each team selects three shooters for the shootout and takes turns shooting until all three rounds are completed

• The team with the most goals scored after the three shootout rounds wins the game

• If the shootout ends in a tie after three rounds, it continues in a sudden-death format until one team scores and the other does not

Playoff Overtime Rules:

• If a playoff game is tied after regulation, teams play another full 20-minute period of overtime at 5-on-5 hockey.

• Similar to the regular season, playoff overtime is sudden-death style, with the first team to score winning the game.

• If no team scores during the first 20-minute overtime period, the game continues into a second overtime period, and subsequent periods until a team scores to win the game.