2018 Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff tournament of the NHL From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Playoff tournament of the NHL From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2017–18 season. The playoffs began on April 11, 2018, after the regular season, and they concluded on June 7, 2018, with the Washington Capitals winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights four games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals.
| |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 11–June 7, 2018 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Defending champions | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Washington Capitals |
| Runner-up | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Scoring leader(s) | Evgeny Kuznetsov (Capitals) (32 points) |
| MVP | Alexander Ovechkin (Capitals) |
The Nashville Predators 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 post-season appearance streak to twelve seasons, the current longest streak.[1]
The Vegas Golden Knights became the first team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league since the 1979–80 Hartford Whalers and the Edmonton Oilers.[2][3] They also became the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season since the 1967 NHL expansion.[2][4] From there, they eventually became the first team since the 1967–68 St. Louis Blues to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season. The only difference is that the 1967–68 season through to the 1969–70 season ensured that an expansion team would be able to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. For the fourth time in league history (2000, 2001, 2007), only two Original Six teams, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, clinched a berth for the playoffs. For the first time since 1966, no playoff games were played in the state of New York. For the fifth time in eight years, all three California-based teams made the playoffs.[5] For the first time in league history, the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs in the same year.[6] For the first time since 1969, both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs in the same season. For the first time since 2009 and the only time in the 2010's decade, no California-based team reached the conference finals.
The playoffs featured ten overtime games, the fewest since 2000. This was also the first time since 1997 that no games played in either the Conference finals or Stanley Cup Finals went to overtime.
This was the fifth year in which the top three teams in each division made 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:[7]
Atlantic Division 
Metropolitan Division 
Central Division 
Pacific Division
In each round, teams competed 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 played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team was 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 played against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card played against the other division winner, and both wild cards were de facto #4 seeds. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
| First round | Second round | Conference finals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Tampa Bay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| WC | New Jersey | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Tampa Bay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Boston | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| A3 | Toronto | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Tampa Bay | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| M1 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| M1 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| WC | Columbus | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| M1 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| M2 | Pittsburgh | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| M2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| M3 | Philadelphia | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| M1 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Vegas | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Nashville | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| WC | Colorado | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Nashville | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Winnipeg | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Winnipeg | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Minnesota | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Winnipeg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Vegas | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Vegas | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| WC | Los Angeles | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Vegas | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P3 | San Jose | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| P2 | Anaheim | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| P3 | San Jose | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
The Tampa Bay Lightning finished first in the Atlantic Division earning 113 points. New Jersey finished as the Eastern Conference's second wild card, earning 97 points. This was the third playoff meeting between these teams with New Jersey winning both previous series. They last met in the 2007 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which New Jersey won in six games. New Jersey won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Devils in five games. Although Taylor Hall scored his first playoff goal in game one, the Devils were beaten 5–2 as Ondrej Palat recorded three points for Tampa Bay.[8] In game two, a four-goal barrage by the Lightning during the second period forced Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid to be pulled. Tampa won the game 5–3.[9] The Devils recovered in game three as Taylor Hall scored a goal and two assists in a 5–2 victory.[10] J. T. Miller and Nikita Kucherov both had three points in a 3–1 victory for the Lightning in game four.[11] In game five, Kucherov's goal was the series-winner as the Lightning held off a late attack by the Devils to win 3–1.[12]
| April 12 | New Jersey Devils | 2–5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 15:00 – Ondrej Palat (1) 19:31 – Tyler Johnson (1) | ||||||
| Taylor Hall (1) – 13:55 | Second period | 01:54 – pp – Yanni Gourde (1) | ||||||
| Travis Zajac (1) – pp – 09:35 | Third period | 12:14 – Alex Killorn (1) 18:48 – en – Nikita Kucherov (1) | ||||||
| Keith Kinkaid 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | New Jersey Devils | 3–5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| Nico Hischier (1) – 13:38 | First period | 12:15 – Brayden Point (1) | ||||||
| Sami Vatanen (1) – 19:34 | Second period | 03:14 – pp – Alex Killorn (2) 04:36 – Tyler Johnson (2) 06:01 – Nikita Kucherov (2) 13:12 – pp – Alex Killorn (3) | ||||||
| Blake Coleman (1) – 11:57 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Keith Kinkaid 10 saves / 15 shots Cory Schneider 10 saves / 10 shots |
Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 41 saves / 44 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2–5 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alex Killorn (4) – pp – 00:42 | Second period | 12:24 – Taylor Hall (2) | ||||||
| Steven Stamkos (1) – pp – 00:38 | Third period | 04:03 – pp – Will Butcher (1) 12:55 – Stefan Noesen (1) 19:02 – sh-en – Blake Coleman (2) 19:22 – en – Ben Lovejoy (1) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 36 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Cory Schneider 34 saves / 36 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–1 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| J. T. Miller (1) – 11:30 Nikita Kucherov (3) – 15:02 |
First period | 08:23 – pp – Kyle Palmieri (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nikita Kucherov (4) – en – 18:52 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Cory Schneider 34 saves / 36 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | New Jersey Devils | 1–3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 08:07 – Mikhail Sergachev (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrick Maroon (1) – 17:00 | Third period | 12:27 – Nikita Kucherov (5) 19:58 – en – Ryan Callahan (1) | ||||||
| Cory Schneider 35 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| Tampa Bay won series 4–1 | |
The Boston Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division earning 112 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 105 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division. This was the fifteenth playoff meeting between these two teams with Toronto winning eight of the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Boston won in seven games. Toronto won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the Bruins in game one, winning the game 5–1.[13] During the game, Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was given a five-minute major for a charging penalty for his hit on Tommy Wingels; he would later be suspended for three games.[14] David Pastrnak had a hat trick and three assists in a 7–3 victory for the Bruins in game two, becoming the first player since Claude Giroux in 2012 to score a hat trick and three assists.[15] In game three, Patrick Marleau scored twice for the Maple Leafs in a 4–2 victory.[16] Pastrnak assisted twice on two goals in a 3–1 triumph for the Bruins, taking a 3–1 series lead in the process.[17] In game five, Toronto prevented a come-back by Boston, fending off the Bruins 4–3 as Frederik Andersen made 42 saves for the Maple Leafs.[18] Nikita Zaitsev assisted twice in a 3–1 Maple Leafs victory, forcing a seventh game in the series.[19] In game seven, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored a goal and recorded two assists in a 7–4 victory to advance his team to the second round.[20]
| April 12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–5 | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | |||
| Zach Hyman (1) – 16:52 | First period | 05:28 – pp – Brad Marchand (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 15:43 – pp – David Backes (1) 19:22 – David Pastrnak (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:41 – Sean Kuraly (1) 11:29 – pp – David Krejci (1) | ||||||
| Frederik Andersen 35 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–7 | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 05:26 – David Pastrnak (2) 09:46 – pp – Jake DeBrusk (1) 12:13 – Kevan Miller (1) 15:00 – pp – Rick Nash (1) | ||||||
| Mitch Marner (1) – 01:22 Tyler Bozak (1) – 09:02 |
Second period | 03:46 – David Krejci (2) | ||||||
| James van Riemsdyk (1) – pp – 14:53 | Third period | 12:34 – David Pastrnak (3) 18:24 – David Pastrnak (4) | ||||||
| Frederik Andersen 2 saves / 5 shots Curtis McElhinney 19 saves / 23 shots |
Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 30 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | Boston Bruins | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Air Canada Centre | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 17:05 – pp – James van Riemsdyk (2) | ||||||
| Adam McQuaid (1) – 03:06 Zdeno Chara (1) – 06:19 |
Second period | 03:49 – Patrick Marleau (1) 14:47 – Auston Matthews (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:25 – Patrick Marleau (2) | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 26 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 40 saves / 42 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Boston Bruins | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Air Canada Centre | Recap | |||
| Torey Krug (1) – 00:28 | First period | 07:43 – Tomas Plekanec (1) | ||||||
| Brad Marchand (2) – 16:55 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake DeBrusk (2) – 04:17 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 18 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–3 | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | |||
| Connor Brown (1) – 06:36 Andreas Johnsson (1) – 10:12 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tyler Bozak (2) – 10:36 James van Riemsdyk (3) – pp – 11:55 |
Second period | 09:45 – pp – David Backes (2) 17:18 – Sean Kuraly (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:56 – Noel Acciari (1) | ||||||
| Frederik Andersen 42 saves / 45 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 9 saves / 13 shots Anton Khudobin 8 saves / 8 shots | ||||||
| April 23 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Air Canada Centre | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake DeBrusk (3) – 01:02 | Second period | 01:37 – William Nylander (1) 13:25 – Mitch Marner (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 18:46 – en – Tomas Plekanec (2) | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 27 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 32 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| April 25 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–7 | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | |||
| Patrick Marleau (3) – pp – 02:01 Patrick Marleau (4) – 06:12 |
First period | 04:47 – pp – Jake DeBrusk (4) 09:10 – Danton Heinen (1) 19:23 – Patrice Bergeron (1) | ||||||
| Travis Dermott (1) – 02:07 Kasperi Kapanen (1) – sh – 06:05 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:10 – Torey Krug (2) 05:25 – Jake DeBrusk (5) 11:39 – David Pastrnak (5) 19:09 – en – Brad Marchand (3) | ||||||
| Frederik Andersen 29 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 20 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Boston won series 4–3 | |
The Washington Capitals finished first in the Metropolitan Division earning 105 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild card earning 97 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Capitals came back from a 2–0 series deficit to defeat the Blue Jackets in six games. Columbus came back from a two-goal deficit in game one to force overtime, during which Artemi Panarin scored 6:02 into the extra session to give the Blue Jackets their first lead in a playoff series.[21] The Blue Jackets overcame another two-goal deficit in game two, taking the game into overtime yet again. Matt Calvert scored the game-winning goal for Columbus as they took a 2–0 series lead.[22] The Capitals took game three 3–2 in double-overtime as Lars Eller scored the game winner.[23] The Capitals tied the series after game four as Washington's Alexander Ovechkin had a goal and an assist in a 4–1 victory.[24] Nicklas Backstrom's tip-in was the overtime-winner for the Capitals in game five as they prevented a two-goal comeback by the Blue Jackets.[25] In game six, Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin scored twice to seal the series for Washington, winning the affair 6–3.[26] With playoff series victories by Winnipeg and Vegas this season, Columbus became the last active NHL franchise without a playoff series win until they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019.[27]
| April 12 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 4–3 | OT | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 17:52 – pp – Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) 18:21 – pp – Evgeny Kuznetsov (2) | ||||||
| Alexander Wennberg (1) – 04:48 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Thomas Vanek (1) – pp – 01:31 Seth Jones (1) – pp – 15:34 |
Third period | 05:12 – Devante Smith-Pelly (1) | ||||||
| Artemi Panarin (1) – 06:02 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sergei Bobrovsky 27 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 23 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 5–4 | OT | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | ||
| Cam Atkinson (1) – 18:25 | First period | 02:12 – Jay Beagle (1) 13:26 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (1) | ||||||
| Josh Anderson (1) – 08:49 Cam Atkinson (2) – pp – 11:13 Zach Werenski (1) – pp – 18:52 |
Second period | 04:09 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:25 – pp – T. J. Oshie (1) | ||||||
| Matt Calvert (1) – 12:22 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sergei Bobrovsky 54 saves / 58 shots | Goalie stats | Philipp Grubauer 18 saves / 22 shots Braden Holtby 7 saves / 8 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Washington Capitals | 3–2 | 2OT | Columbus Blue Jackets | Nationwide Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tom Wilson (1) – 05:52 John Carlson (1) – pp – 14:43 |
Second period | 11:18 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:12 – Artemi Panarin (2) | ||||||
| Lars Eller (1) – 09:00 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 33 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Sergei Bobrovsky 42 saves / 45 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Washington Capitals | 4–1 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Nationwide Arena | Recap | |||
| Tom Wilson (2) – 06:16 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| T. J. Oshie (2) – pp – 09:19 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (3) – 02:49 Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) – en – 17:41 |
Third period | 06:22 – Boone Jenner (1) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Sergei Bobrovsky 29 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 3–4 | OT | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | ||
| Matt Calvert (2) – sh – 10:08 | First period | 13:22 – Nicklas Backstrom (1) | ||||||
| Matt Calvert (3) – 04:45 | Second period | 03:21 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (4) 16:42 – pp – T. J. Oshie (3) | ||||||
| Oliver Bjorkstrand (1) – 02:30 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 11:53 – Nicklas Backstrom (2) | ||||||
| Sergei Bobrovsky 25 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 39 saves / 42 shots | ||||||
| April 23 | Washington Capitals | 6–3 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Nationwide Arena | Recap | |||
| Dmitry Orlov (1) – 12:12 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (4) – 12:50 Alexander Ovechkin (5) – pp – 18:23 |
Second period | 08:40 – Nick Foligno (1) | ||||||
| Devante Smith-Pelly (2) – 03:56 Chandler Stephenson (1) – sh – 05:30 Lars Eller (2) – en – 19:46 |
Third period | 02:25 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (2) 08:22 – Nick Foligno (2) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 35 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Sergei Bobrovsky 22 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| Washington won series 4–2 | |
The Pittsburgh Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division earning 100 points. The Philadelphia Flyers earned 98 points to finish third in the Metropolitan. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two rivals with Philadelphia winning four of the six previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Philadelphia won in six games. Pittsburgh won all four games in this year's regular season series.
The Penguins defeated the Flyers in six games. In game one, Sidney Crosby capped off a hat trick to end a 7–0 rout over the Flyers.[28] The Flyers defeated the Penguins in game two, riding on Sean Couturier's goal and two assists in a 5–1 victory.[29] Pittsburgh took game three 5–1 as Crosby recorded a goal and three assists.[30] Matt Murray recorded his second shutout of the series in game four, stopping all 26 shots he faced in a 5–0 victory for Pittsburgh.[31] Prior to game five, Flyers captain Claude Giroux guaranteed his team a victory.[32] Giroux scored the first goal of the game, and Couturier scored game-winning goal with 1:15 left in regulation time to force a sixth game in a 4–2 victory for Philadelphia.[33] In game six, Sean Couturier recorded a hat trick for the Flyers whilst on a torn MCL. However, Jake Guentzel's natural hat trick, with four goals in total, including two within ten seconds of each other, sealed the series for the Penguins in an 8–5 victory.[34]
| April 11 | Philadelphia Flyers | 0–7 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PPG Paints Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:38 – Bryan Rust (1) 10:07 – Carl Hagelin (1) 14:09 – Evgeni Malkin (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:50 – pp – Jake Guentzel (1) 09:01 – Sidney Crosby (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:41 – Sidney Crosby (2) 10:42 – Sidney Crosby (3) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 14 saves / 19 shots Petr Mrazek 12 saves / 14 shots |
Goalie stats | Matt Murray 24 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| April 13 | Philadelphia Flyers | 5–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PPG Paints Arena | Recap | |||
| Shayne Gostisbehere (1) – pp – 19:23 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sean Couturier (1) – 00:47 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Travis Konecny (1) – 01:29 Nolan Patrick (1) – pp – 05:10 Andrew MacDonald (1) – en – 19:44 |
Third period | 05:27 – Patric Hornqvist (1) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 34 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 15 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 5–1 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| Sidney Crosby (4) – 10:25 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Derick Brassard (1) – pp – 02:48 Evgeni Malkin (2) – pp – 06:48 Brian Dumoulin (1) – 06:53 |
Second period | 13:42 – Travis Sanheim (1) | ||||||
| Justin Schultz (1) – pp – 07:08 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Matt Murray 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 21 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 5–0 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| Evgeni Malkin (3) – pp – 04:33 Phil Kessel (1) – 14:37 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kris Letang (1) – 08:04 Sidney Crosby (5) – 10:56 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Riley Sheahan (1) – 15:46 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Matt Murray 26 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 14 saves / 17 shots Michal Neuvirth 11 saves / 13 shots | ||||||
| April 20 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PPG Paints Arena | Recap | |||
| Claude Giroux (1) – 17:29 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Valtteri Filppula (1) – sh – 18:15 | Second period | 12:00 – Bryan Rust (2) 16:45 – Jake Guentzel (2) | ||||||
| Sean Couturier (2) – 18:45 Matt Read (1) – en – 19:42 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Michal Neuvirth 30 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 21 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| April 22 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 8–5 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| Sidney Crosby (6) – 06:30 Carl Hagelin (2) – 07:17 |
First period | 02:15 – Sean Couturier (3) 15:48 – Andrew MacDonald (2) | ||||||
| Patric Hornqvist (2) – 13:35 Jake Guentzel (3) – 19:06 |
Second period | 00:40 – Sean Couturier (4) 12:14 – Scott Laughton (1) | ||||||
| Jake Guentzel (4) – 00:30 Jake Guentzel (5) – 12:48 Jake Guentzel (6) – 12:58 Bryan Rust (3) – en – 19:29 |
Third period | 17:07 – Sean Couturier (5) | ||||||
| Matt Murray 21 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Michal Neuvirth 20 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| Pittsburgh won series 4–2 | |
The Nashville Predators earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with 117 points. The Colorado Avalanche finished as the Western Conference's second wild card earning 95 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won all four games in this year's regular season series.
The Predators defeated the Avalanche in six games. Filip Forsberg scored twice in Nashville's 5–2 game one victory, one of which was considered a highlight-reel goal.[35][36] Nashville had five different players score in their 5–4 victory over Colorado in game two to take a 2–0 series lead.[37] Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists to take game three for the Avalanche 5–3.[38] In game four, Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for the Predators who took a 3–1 series lead with a 3–2 win.[39] Andrew Hammond made 44 saves and Sven Andrighetto scored with 1:28 left in the third period to force a sixth game for the Avalanche in a 2–1 triumph.[40] The Predators shut out the Avalanche in game six, with Rinne stopping all 22 shots he faced in a 5–0 victory.[41]
| April 12 | Colorado Avalanche | 2–5 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| Nikita Zadorov (1) – 06:36 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Blake Comeau (1) – 04:51 | Second period | 03:16 – Austin Watson (1) 08:50 – pp – Craig Smith (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 06:08 – Filip Forsberg (1) 12:10 – Filip Forsberg (2) 18:03 – en – Colton Sissons (1) | ||||||
| Jonathan Bernier 26 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 25 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | Colorado Avalanche | 4–5 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| Gabriel Bourque (1) – 02:34 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nathan MacKinnon (1) – 17:08 | Second period | 01:01 – pp – Kevin Fiala (1) 12:36 – Viktor Arvidsson (1) 16:32 – Ryan Johansen (1) | ||||||
| Gabriel Landeskog (1) – pp – 09:14 Alexander Kerfoot (1) – 19:24 |
Third period | 07:16 – Austin Watson (2) 18:51 – en – Ryan Hartman (1) | ||||||
| Jonathan Bernier 28 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 26 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | Nashville Predators | 3–5 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:50 – Blake Comeau (2) 13:24 – Gabriel Bourque (2) 18:07 – Nathan MacKinnon (2) | ||||||
| Ryan Johansen (2) – pp – 10:23 | Second period | 04:25 – Nathan MacKinnon (3) | ||||||
| Colton Sissons (2) – 07:12 Austin Watson (3) – 18:45 |
Third period | 18:24 – en – Gabriel Landeskog (2) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 11 saves / 15 shots Juuse Saros 18 saves / 18 shots |
Goalie stats | Jonathan Bernier 29 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Nashville Predators | 3–2 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| Filip Forsberg (3) – 15:33 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Colton Sissons (3) – 07:18 Craig Smith (2) – 11:49 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:20 – pp – Gabriel Landeskog (3) 11:01 – Alexander Kerfoot (2) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 31 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Bernier 23 saves / 26 shots Andrew Hammond 8 saves / 8 shots | ||||||
| April 20 | Colorado Avalanche | 2–1 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gabriel Landeskog (4) – 15:49 Sven Andrighetto (1) – 18:32 |
Third period | 10:18 – Nick Bonino (1) | ||||||
| Andrew Hammond 44 saves / 45 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 25 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| April 22 | Nashville Predators | 5–0 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| Mattias Ekholm (1) – 07:02 Austin Watson (4) – 10:19 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Filip Forsberg (4) – 00:38 Nick Bonino (2) – 08:26 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Viktor Arvidsson (2) – 02:36 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 22 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Andrew Hammond 32 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| Nashville won series 4–2 | |
The Winnipeg Jets finished second in the Central Division earning 114 points. The Minnesota Wild earned 101 points to finish third in the Central. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Winnipeg won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Jets defeated the Wild in five games and earned their first playoff series victory in franchise history after entering the league in 1999 as the Atlanta Thrashers. The Jets also became the first Winnipeg-based NHL team to advance past the opening round of the playoffs since 1987. After firing 40 shots on Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk, the Jets won game one 3–2, winning their first playoff game in franchise history and the city's first playoff victory since 1996, after which the original Jets relocated to Phoenix.[42] In game two, Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist to provide the Jets a 4–1 victory as well as a 2–0 series lead.[43] In game three, the Wild scored four goals to chase goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in the second period in a 6–2 affair.[44] Hellebuyck came back in game four, stopping all 30 shots he faced in a 2–0 Jets victory.[45] Hellebuyck continued his shutout streak in game five, stopping another 30 shots after a first period blitz by the Jets to win the series-clinching game 5–0.[46]
| April 11 | Minnesota Wild | 2–3 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 17:37 – pp – Mark Scheifele (1) | ||||||
| Matt Cullen (1) – 01:46 Zach Parise (1) – 03:58 |
Third period | 04:51 – Patrik Laine (1) 12:47 – Joe Morrow (1) | ||||||
| Devan Dubnyk 37 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 18 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| April 13 | Minnesota Wild | 1–4 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 08:41 – Tyler Myers (1) | ||||||
| Zach Parise (2) – pp – 19:15 | Third period | 07:42 – Paul Stastny (1) 09:24 – Andrew Copp (1) 17:58 – Patrik Laine (2) | ||||||
| Devan Dubnyk 40 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 16 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–6 | Minnesota Wild | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| Blake Wheeler (1) – pp – 04:50 | First period | 09:47 – pp – Mikael Granlund (1) 17:50 – pp – Zach Parise (3) | ||||||
| Tyler Myers (2) – 06:42 | Second period | 03:32 – Matt Dumba (1) 14:40 – Eric Staal (1) 15:00 – Jordan Greenway (1) 18:23 – Marcus Foligno (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 16 saves / 22 shots Steve Mason 7 saves / 7 shots |
Goalie stats | Devan Dubnyk 29 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–0 | Minnesota Wild | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| Mark Scheifele (2) – 19:32 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mark Scheifele (3) – en – 19:49 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Devan Dubnyk 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| April 20 | Minnesota Wild | 0–5 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:31 – Jacob Trouba (1) 05:42 – Bryan Little (1) 11:10 – Brandon Tanev (1) 11:59 – Joel Armia (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:32 – pp – Mark Scheifele (4) | ||||||
| Devan Dubnyk 6 saves / 10 shots Alex Stalock 15 saves / 16 shots |
Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| Winnipeg won series 4–1 | |
The Vegas Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division earning 109 points. The Los Angeles Kings earned 98 points to finish as the Western Conference's first wild card. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams and the first playoff series for the Golden Knights. These teams split their four-game regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Kings in a four-game sweep. In game one, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 30 shots to give the Golden Knights their first playoff victory.[47] Even though Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 54 saves in game two, the Golden Knights topped Los Angeles in double overtime thanks to Erik Haula's goal at 15:23, taking a 2–0 series lead.[48] After the Golden Knights took the lead late in the third period of game three with two goals in 21 seconds Vegas pushed the Kings to the brink of elimination with a 3–2 win; Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves in the victory.[49] In game four, former-King Brayden McNabb scored the only goal of the game for the Golden Knights as they swept Los Angeles for their first playoff series victory.[50] This series tied the record for the fewest goals scored by both teams in a best-of-seven playoff series: the Golden Knights scored seven goals to the Kings' three goals for a total of ten goals, tying the record set in 2003. In addition, the 7 goals scored by Vegas is the lowest amount by a series-winning team in NHL history.
| April 11 | Los Angeles Kings | 0–1 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:23 – Shea Theodore (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 27 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| April 13 | Los Angeles Kings | 1–2 | 2OT | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 14:47 – pp – Alex Tuch (1) | ||||||
| Paul LaDue (1) – pp – 15:55 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 15:23 – Erik Haula (1) | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 54 saves / 56 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 29 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Vegas Golden Knights | 3–2 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 13:14 – Alex Iafallo (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cody Eakin (1) – 06:10 James Neal (1) – 14:23 William Karlsson (1) – 14:44 |
Third period | 17:56 – Anze Kopitar (1) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 37 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Vegas Golden Knights | 1–0 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brayden McNabb (1) – 04:04 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 31 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 20 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| Vegas won series 4–0 | |
The Anaheim Ducks finished second in the Pacific Division earning 101 points. The San Jose Sharks earned 100 points to finish third in the Pacific Division. This was the second playoff meeting between these teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2009 Western Conference quarterfinals, which Anaheim won in six games. San Jose won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Sharks defeated the Ducks in a four-game sweep; the Sharks were the only team without home ice advantage in the first round to advance. Evander Kane scored twice in his first playoff game and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones posted a 25-save shutout blanking the Ducks 3–0 in game one.[51] In game two, Logan Couture scored a goal and recorded an assist in a 3–2 victory.[52] Martin Jones made 45 saves as the Sharks routed the Ducks 8–1 in game three; eight different players scored for San Jose in the victory.[53] Tomas Hertl broke the tie for San Jose, scoring the series-clinching goal midway through the third period of game four as the Sharks defeated Anaheim 2–1.[54]
| April 12 | San Jose Sharks | 3–0 | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Evander Kane (1) – pp – 07:07 Evander Kane (2) – 13:51 Brent Burns (1) – 15:15 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Jones 25 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | John Gibson 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | San Jose Sharks | 3–2 | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | Recap | |||
| Marcus Sorensen (1) – 09:41 Logan Couture (1) – pp – 14:41 |
First period | 00:40 – Jakob Silfverberg (1) | ||||||
| Tomas Hertl (1) – 01:11 | Second period | 07:51 – pp – Hampus Lindholm (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Jones 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | John Gibson 32 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | Anaheim Ducks | 1–8 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
| Rickard Rakell (1) – pp – 13:40 | First period | 03:44 – Logan Couture (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:15 – Joonas Donskoi (1) 03:41 – Marcus Sorensen (2) 13:43 – Eric Fehr (1) 16:49 – pp – Tomas Hertl (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:04 – pp – Joe Pavelski (1) 17:16 – pp – Evander Kane (3) 19:36 – pp – Timo Meier (1) | ||||||
| John Gibson 19 saves / 24 shots Ryan Miller 9 saves / 12 shots |
Goalie stats | Martin Jones 45 saves / 46 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Anaheim Ducks | 1–2 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 05:43 – Marcus Sorensen (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrew Cogliano (1) – 07:53 | Third period | 09:09 – Tomas Hertl (3) | ||||||
| John Gibson 22 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 30 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| San Jose won series 4–0 | |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series occurred in the 2011 Eastern Conference final, which Boston won in seven games. Boston won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Bruins in five games. In game one, the line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak combined for eleven points in a 6–2 triumph.[55] Brayden Point scored a goal and recorded three assists in the Lightning's 4–2 victory in game two, evening the series.[56] Ondrej Palat scored twice in the Lightning's 4–1 win in game three taking a 2–1 series lead.[57] Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos forced overtime on a controversial goal.[58] While circling behind the net Bruin defender Charlie McAvoy was hauled down by Nikita Kucherov leading to a turnover deep in the Bruins defensive zone. Daniel Girardi scored the game-winning goal to give the Lightning a 4–3 victory.[59] During game four, Brad Marchand licked the face of Tampa Bay forward Ryan Callahan during a scrum. Marchand received no penalty or further punishment from the League.[60] The Lightning scored twice in the second period of game five to take the lead and Anton Stralman scored an empty-net goal to give Tampa Bay a 3–1 victory and a 4–1 series win.[61]
| April 28 | Boston Bruins | 6–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| Rick Nash (2) – pp – 17:11 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrice Bergeron (2) – 00:42 Rick Nash (3) – 12:33 |
Second period | 02:31 – Daniel Girardi (1) 13:22 – pp – Mikhail Sergachev (2) | ||||||
| Brad Marchand (4) – 03:32 Patrice Bergeron (3) – 10:11 Jake DeBrusk (6) – en – 13:41 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 34 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 18 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| April 30 | Boston Bruins | 2–4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| Charlie McAvoy (1) – 18:30 | First period | 11:47 – pp – Yanni Gourde (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:14 – Tyler Johnson (3) | ||||||
| Torey Krug (3) – 15:58 | Third period | 14:08 – Ondrej Palat (2) 19:34 – en – Brayden Point (2) | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 27 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 18 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| May 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 4–1 | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | |||
| Ondrej Palat (3) – 01:47 Ondrej Palat (4) – 03:19 Anthony Cirelli (1) – 16:43 |
First period | 14:12 – pp – Patrice Bergeron (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Steven Stamkos (2) – en – 19:18 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 33 saves / 36 shots | ||||||
| May 4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 4–3 | OT | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | ||
| Brayden Point (3) – 04:36 Nikita Kucherov (6) – pp – 09:53 |
First period | 15:28 – pp – David Pastrnak (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:04 – pp – Patrice Bergeron (5) | ||||||
| Steven Stamkos (3) – 12:56 | Third period | 06:36 – sh – Patrice Bergeron (6) | ||||||
| Daniel Girardi (2) – 03:18 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Tuukka Rask 24 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 6 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| David Krejci (3) – pp – 19:12 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:43 – Brayden Point (4) 14:00 – pp – J. T. Miller (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 18:31 – en – Anton Stralman (1) | ||||||
| Tuukka Rask 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| Tampa Bay won series 4–1 | |
This was the third consecutive year that these two rivals have met in the second round and was the eleventh overall playoff meeting with Pittsburgh winning nine of the ten previous series. They last met in the previous year's Eastern Conference second round which Pittsburgh won in seven games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.
The Capitals defeated the Penguins in six games, defeating Pittsburgh for the second time in franchise history and the first time since 1994. Pittsburgh rallied from a two-goal deficit to take game one 3–2 leading on Jake Guentzel's goal and two assists.[62] In game two, Braden Holtby made 32 saves for Washington, defeating the Penguins 4–1.[63] Alexander Ovechkin scored with 1:07 left in the third period of game three to give the Capitals a 4–3 victory.[64] During the game, Tom Wilson made an illegal check to the head of rookie Zach Aston-Reese who suffered a broken jaw along with a concussion. Wilson was suspended three games for his action.[65] In game four, Guentzel scored twice for Pittsburgh in a 3–1 victory, evening the series 2–2.[66] Both Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana had a goal and two assists for the Capitals in game five who took a 3–2 series lead after a 6–3 victory.[67] In game six, the Capitals fired 30 shots and Evgeny Kuznetsov's goal in overtime ended the series in a 2–1 victory, moving Washington to the Conference finals for the first time since 1998.[68]
| April 26 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–2 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:17 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patric Hornqvist (3) – 02:59 Sidney Crosby (7) – 05:20 Jake Guentzel (7) – 07:48 |
Third period | 00:28 – Alexander Ovechkin (6) | ||||||
| Matt Murray 32 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 22 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| April 29 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1–4 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:26 – Alexander Ovechkin (7) 14:54 – pp – Jakub Vrana (1) | ||||||
| Kris Letang (2) – 13:04 | Second period | 02:08 – Brett Connolly (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:53 – en – Nicklas Backstrom (3) | ||||||
| Matt Murray 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 32 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| May 1 | Washington Capitals | 4–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PPG Paints Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Carlson (2) – pp – 00:48 Chandler Stephenson (2) – 11:04 |
Second period | 04:33 – Jake Guentzel (8) 06:49 – pp – Patric Hornqvist (4) 16:27 – Sidney Crosby (8) | ||||||
| Matt Niskanen (1) – 05:06 Alexander Ovechkin (8) – 18:53 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 18 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| May 3 | Washington Capitals | 1–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | PPG Paints Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| T. J. Oshie (4) – pp – 12:55 | Second period | 09:21 – Jake Guentzel (9) 17:31 – pp – Evgeni Malkin (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:02 – pp-en – Jake Guentzel (10) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 21 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 20 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–6 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| Jamie Oleksiak (1) – 02:21 | First period | 18:22 – pp – John Carlson (3) 18:55 – Brett Connolly (2) | ||||||
| Sidney Crosby (9) – pp – 04:43 Patric Hornqvist (5) – pp – 07:45 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:52 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (6) 15:22 – Jakub Vrana (2) 18:29 – en – T. J. Oshie (5) 19:54 – en – Lars Eller (3) | ||||||
| Matt Murray 26 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 36 saves / 39 shots | ||||||
| May 7 | Washington Capitals | 2–1 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | PPG Paints Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alex Chiasson (1) – 02:13 | Second period | 11:52 – Kris Letang (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Evgeny Kuznetsov (7) – 05:27 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 21 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 28 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| Washington won series 4–2 | |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.
The Jets eliminated the Predators in seven games. Mark Scheifele scored twice and Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 47 saves in game one to defeat the Predators 4–1.[69] In game two, Kevin Fiala scored 5:37 into overtime to give the Predators a 5–4 victory to even the series.[70] The Jets overcame a three-goal deficit in game three with both Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien scoring twice in a 7–4 win.[71] Pekka Rinne made 32 saves for the Predators in game four, allowing his team to win 2–1 and even the series 2–2.[72] In game five, Kyle Connor scored twice and captain Blake Wheeler provided three assists in the Jets' 6–2 victory. [73] The Predators forced a seventh game following game six in which both Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scored twice and recorded an assist along with Pekka Rinne stopping all 34 shots in a 4–0 shutout.[74] After recording a shutout the game prior, Pekka Rinne got pulled for the third time in the series after letting in the first two goals of game seven. His counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck, made 36 saves in the victory as the Jets won the game 5–1, advancing Winnipeg to the Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.[75]
| April 27 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–1 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| Brandon Tanev (2) – 14:51 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Paul Stastny (2) – 09:01 Mark Scheifele (5) – 17:51 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mark Scheifele (6) – en – 19:24 | Third period | 01:23 – Kevin Fiala (2) | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 47 saves / 48 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 13 saves / 16 shots Juuse Saros 2 saves / 2 shots | ||||||
| April 29 | Winnipeg Jets | 4–5 | 2OT | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | ||
| Dustin Byfuglien (1) – 12:47 Mark Scheifele (7) – pp – 13:16 |
First period | 00:27 – Ryan Johansen (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:04 – pp – P. K. Subban (1) 18:41 – Viktor Arvidsson (3) | ||||||
| Brandon Tanev (3) – 05:11 Mark Scheifele (8) – 18:55 |
Third period | 05:45 – Ryan Johansen (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 05:37 – Kevin Fiala (3) | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 36 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 46 saves / 50 shots | ||||||
| May 1 | Nashville Predators | 4–7 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| Mike Fisher (1) – 04:53 P. K. Subban (2) – pp – 10:06 Austin Watson (5) – 17:35 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:38 – Paul Stastny (3) 05:11 – Dustin Byfuglien (2) 05:29 – Jacob Trouba (2) 19:15 – Dustin Byfuglien (3) | ||||||
| Filip Forsberg (5) – pp – 07:40 | Third period | 15:01 – pp – Blake Wheeler (2) 19:09 – en – Blake Wheeler (3) 19:29 – en – Brandon Tanev (4) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 38 saves / 43 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 3 | Nashville Predators | 2–1 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| Ryan Hartman (2) – 17:20 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| P. K. Subban (3) – pp – 14:36 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:09 – pp – Patrik Laine (3) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 32 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 27 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| May 5 | Winnipeg Jets | 6–2 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Paul Stastny (4) – 07:44 Kyle Connor (1) – 12:30 Dustin Byfuglien (4) – 14:35 Kyle Connor (2) – 17:01 |
Second period | 11:08 – Yannick Weber (1) 17:59 – sh – Ryan Johansen (5) | ||||||
| Mark Scheifele (9) – 00:28 Mathieu Perreault (1) – pp – 06:23 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 38 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 20 saves / 26 shots Juuse Saros 6 saves / 6 shots | ||||||
| May 7 | Nashville Predators | 4–0 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| Viktor Arvidsson (4) – 01:02 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Filip Forsberg (6) – 08:16 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Filip Forsberg (7) – 05:55 Viktor Arvidsson (5) – en – 15:58 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 34 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 10 | Winnipeg Jets | 5–1 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| Tyler Myers (3) – 08:41 Paul Stastny (5) – 10:47 |
First period | 15:54 – pp – P. K. Subban (4) | ||||||
| Mark Scheifele (10) – 17:50 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Paul Stastny (6) – pp – 11:59 Mark Scheifele (11) – en – 17:27 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 36 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 5 saves / 7 shots Juuse Saros 14 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| Winnipeg won series 4–3 | |
This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Vegas won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Sharks in six games. In game one, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 33 shots he faced and Vegas scored with seven different players to defeat San Jose 7–0.[76] The Sharks used double-overtime to take game two 4–3 as Logan Couture's second goal of the game ended the Golden Knights' playoff winning streak. [77] Game three also went into overtime; however, this time the Golden Knights' William Karlsson got the best of the Sharks, scoring the overtime-winner in a 4–3 victory for Vegas[78] Martin Jones shut out the Golden Knights in game four, stopping all 34 shots he faced, giving the Sharks a 4–0 victory to even the series 2–2.[79] After the Golden Knights put up a 4–0 lead in game five, including two goals from rookie Alex Tuch, the Sharks scored three goals to come within one goal. However, Vegas halted the comeback when Jonathan Marchessault scored an empty-net goal to secure a 5–3 win.[80] In game six, Fleury recorded a 28-save shut out in a 3–0 victory to send the Golden Knights to their first Conference finals.
| April 26 | San Jose Sharks | 0–7 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 04:31 – Cody Eakin (2) 04:57 – Erik Haula (2) 06:02 – Jonathan Marchessault (1) 11:43 – pp – Alex Tuch (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 03:28 – Shea Theodore (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:32 – pp – Colin Miller (1) 08:09 – pp – James Neal (2) | ||||||
| Martin Jones 8 saves / 13 shots Aaron Dell 19 saves / 21 shots |
Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 33 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| April 28 | San Jose Sharks | 4–3 | 2OT | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 17:59 – William Karlsson (2) | ||||||
| Brent Burns (2) – pp – 02:00 Logan Couture (3) – 11:08 Brent Burns (3) – 14:07 |
Second period | 00:26 – William Karlsson (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:28 – Nate Schmidt (1) | ||||||
| Logan Couture (4) – pp – 05:13 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Jones 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 43 saves / 47 shots | ||||||
| April 30 | Vegas Golden Knights | 4–3 | OT | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Colin Miller (2) – pp – 09:40 Jonathan Marchessault (2) – pp – 13:09 Reilly Smith (1) – 14:26 |
Second period | 06:59 – pp – Timo Meier (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:49 – Evander Kane (4) 18:03 – Tomas Hertl (4) | ||||||
| William Karlsson (4) – 08:17 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 39 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 29 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| May 2 | Vegas Golden Knights | 0–4 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 15:37 – Marcus Sorensen (4) 19:54 – Joonas Donskoi (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:35 – Tomas Hertl (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:43 – pp – Joe Pavelski (2) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 34 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| May 4 | San Jose Sharks | 3–5 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 19:57 – James Neal (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:52 – pp – Alex Tuch (3) 08:59 – Erik Haula (3) | ||||||
| Kevin Labanc (1) – pp – 09:35 Tomas Hertl (6) – 11:44 Mikkel Boedker (1) – 15:44 |
Third period | 08:36 – Alex Tuch (4) 18:39 – en – Jonathan Marchessault (3) | ||||||
| Martin Jones 27 saves / 31 shots Aaron Dell 7 saves / 7 shots |
Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 6 | Vegas Golden Knights | 3–0 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Marchessault (4) – 06:33 Nate Schmidt (2) – 15:38 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cody Eakin (3) – en – 18:09 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 28 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| Vegas won series 4–2 | |
This was the third playoff meeting between these teams with Tampa Bay winning both previous series. They last met in the 2011 Eastern Conference semifinals, which Tampa Bay won in a four-game sweep. Also since 2011, this was the first conference final between two division champions. This was the Lightning's fifth appearance in the conference finals, and their third in the last four seasons.[81] Tampa Bay last went to the Conference finals in 2016; they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. This was Washington's third conference finals appearance. They last made the conference finals in 1998; they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in six games. Tampa Bay won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Capitals defeated the Lightning in seven games. In game one, Washington scored four consecutive goals across the first two periods forcing Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper to pull goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy; the Capitals won 4–2.[82] Lars Eller and Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists in Washington's 6–2 triumph in game two.[83] The Lightning struck back in game three as Victor Hedman potted a goal and two assists in Tampa's 4–2 victory.[84] Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves in game four as the Lightning won the game 4–2 and thus tied the series.[85] In game five, Ryan Callahan had a goal and an assist for the Lightning as they hung on for 3–2 victory.[86] In game six, Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby made 24 saves in a 3–0 shutout victory to force a seventh game.[87] Braden Holtby stopped all 29 shots and Andre Burakovsky scored twice in game seven for Washington, advancing the Capitals to the Finals for the first time since 1998 in a 4–0 victory.
| May 11 | Washington Capitals | 4–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| Michal Kempny (1) – 07:28 Alexander Ovechkin (9) – pp – 19:54 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jay Beagle (2) – 02:40 Lars Eller (4) – pp – 06:42 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:45 – pp – Steven Stamkos (4) 13:03 – Ondrej Palat (5) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 21 saves / 25 shots Louis Domingue 7 saves / 7 shots | ||||||
| May 13 | Washington Capitals | 6–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| Tom Wilson (3) – 00:28 | First period | 07:08 – pp – Brayden Point (5) 10:22 – pp – Steven Stamkos (5) | ||||||
| Devante Smith-Pelly (3) – 02:50 Lars Eller (5) – 18:58 Evgeny Kuznetsov (8) – pp – 19:57 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (10) – 03:34 Brett Connolly (3) – 12:57 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 33 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| May 15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 4–2 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| Steven Stamkos (6) – pp – 13:53 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nikita Kucherov (7) – pp – 01:50 Victor Hedman (1) – 03:37 Brayden Point (6) – 16:03 |
Second period | 10:31 – Brett Connolly (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:58 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (9) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 36 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 19 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| May 17 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 4–2 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| Brayden Point (7) – 05:38 Steven Stamkos (7) – pp – 08:32 |
First period | 04:28 – Dmitry Orlov (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:18 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (10) | ||||||
| Alex Killorn (5) – 11:57 Anthony Cirelli (2) – en – 19:58 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 36 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 16 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| May 19 | Washington Capitals | 2–3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:19 – Cedric Paquette (1) 09:04 – Ondrej Palat (6) | ||||||
| Evgeny Kuznetsov (11) – 04:21 | Second period | 00:33 – Ryan Callahan (2) | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (11) – 18:24 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 0–3 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 15:12 – pp – T. J. Oshie (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:02 – Devante Smith-Pelly (4) 19:10 – en – T. J. Oshie (7) | ||||||
| Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 24 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| May 23 | Washington Capitals | 4–0 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
| Alexander Ovechkin (12) – 01:02 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andre Burakovsky (1) – 08:59 Andre Burakovsky (2) – 16:31 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nicklas Backstrom (4) – en – 16:17 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 29 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| Washington won series 4–3 | |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first time since 2003 where two teams were making their conference finals debut. The Jets advanced to the conference finals for the first time in their 19th year (seventh in Winnipeg) after entering the league in 1999 as the Atlanta Thrashers; they also became the first Winnipeg-based team in league history to make it past the second round. Vegas made the conference finals in their inaugural season becoming the first expansion team since the St. Louis Blues in 1968 to advance past the second round of the playoffs. Vegas won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Jets in five games. In game one, Mark Scheifele scored a goal and recorded an assist in a 4–2 triumph over the Golden Knights.[88] Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in Vegas' bounce-back win in game two, evening the series after a 3–1 victory.[89] Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for Vegas, including 15 in the third period of game three, to take a 4–2 victory.[90] Fleury made an additional 35 saves in game four with Vegas forward Reilly Smith scoring the game-winning goal 13:02 into the third period.[91] In game five, the Golden Knights held onto a 2–1 lead, after Ryan Reaves scored in the second period to break the tie, to win the game and became the first expansion team to move onto the Stanley Cup Finals since the St. Louis Blues in 1968.[92]
| May 12 | Vegas Golden Knights | 2–4 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| Brayden McNabb (2) – 08:10 | First period | 01:05 – Dustin Byfuglien (5) 06:49 – pp – Patrik Laine (4) 07:35 – Joel Armia (2) | ||||||
| William Karlsson (5) – pp – 15:55 | Second period | 09:54 – pp – Mark Scheifele (12) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 19 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 14 | Vegas Golden Knights | 3–1 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| Tomas Tatar (1) – 13:23 Jonathan Marchessault (5) – 17:22 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Marchessault (6) – 08:45 | Third period | 07:17 – pp – Kyle Connor (3) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 16 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–4 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:35 – Jonathan Marchessault (7) | ||||||
| Mark Scheifele (13) – 05:28 | Second period | 05:40 – James Neal (4) 08:13 – Alex Tuch (5) | ||||||
| Mark Scheifele (14) – 00:18 | Third period | 19:57 – en – Jonathan Marchessault (8) | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 33 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| May 18 | Winnipeg Jets | 2–3 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:25 – pp – William Karlsson (6) | ||||||
| Patrik Laine (5) – pp – 09:29 | Second period | 10:12 – Tomas Nosek (1) | ||||||
| Tyler Myers (4) – 05:34 | Third period | 13:02 – Reilly Smith (2) | ||||||
| Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 35 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| May 20 | Vegas Golden Knights | 2–1 | Winnipeg Jets | Bell MTS Place | Recap | |||
| Alex Tuch (6) – 05:11 | First period | 17:14 – Josh Morrissey (1) | ||||||
| Ryan Reaves (1) – 13:21 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| Vegas won series 4–1 | |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Vegas made their Finals debut in their inaugural season, becoming the first team since the aforementioned St. Louis Blues to make the Finals in their first season. Washington made their second Finals appearance. Their only previous appearance in the Finals ended in a four-game sweep by the Detroit Red Wings in 1998. This was the first Finals since 2007 to feature two teams that had not previously won a Stanley Cup. Vegas won both games in this year's regular season series.
| May 28 | Washington Capitals | 4–6 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| Brett Connolly (5) – 14:41 Nicklas Backstrom (5) – 15:23 |
First period | 07:15 – pp – Colin Miller (3) 18:19 – William Karlsson (7) | ||||||
| John Carlson (4) – 08:29 | Second period | 03:21 – Reilly Smith (3) | ||||||
| Tom Wilson (4) – 01:10 | Third period | 02:41 – Ryan Reaves (2) 09:44 – Tomas Nosek (2) 19:57 – en – Tomas Nosek (3) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 28 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 30 | Washington Capitals | 3–2 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| Lars Eller (6) – 17:27 | First period | 07:58 – James Neal (5) | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (13) – pp – 05:38 Brooks Orpik (1) – 09:41 |
Second period | 17:47 – pp – Shea Theodore (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 37 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| June 2 | Vegas Golden Knights | 1–3 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:10 – Alexander Ovechkin (14) 12:50 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (12) | ||||||
| Tomas Nosek (4) – 03:29 | Third period | 13:53 – Devante Smith-Pelly (5) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 21 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| June 4 | Vegas Golden Knights | 2–6 | Washington Capitals | Capital One Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 09:54 – pp – T. J. Oshie (8) 16:26 – Tom Wilson (5) 19:39 – Devante Smith-Pelly (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 15:23 – pp – John Carlson (5) | ||||||
| James Neal (6) – 05:43 Reilly Smith (4) – 12:26 |
Third period | 13:39 – Michal Kempny (2) 18:51 – pp – Brett Connolly (6) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 17 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 28 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| June 7 | Washington Capitals | 4–3 | Vegas Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jakub Vrana (3) – 06:24 Alexander Ovechkin (15) – pp – 10:14 |
Second period | 09:40 – Nate Schmidt (3) 12:56 – David Perron (1) 19:31 – pp – Reilly Smith (5) | ||||||
| Devante Smith-Pelly (7) – 09:52 Lars Eller (7) – 12:23 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 29 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| Washington won series 4–1 | |
These are the top ten skaters based on points.[93]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evgeny Kuznetsov | Washington Capitals | 24 | 12 | 20 | 32 | +12 | 16 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | 24 | 15 | 12 | 27 | +8 | 8 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | Washington Capitals | 20 | 5 | 18 | 23 | –1 | 6 |
| Reilly Smith | Vegas Golden Knights | 20 | 5 | 17 | 22 | +5 | 10 |
| Jake Guentzel | Pittsburgh Penguins | 12 | 10 | 11 | 21 | +10 | 8 |
| Sidney Crosby | Pittsburgh Penguins | 12 | 9 | 12 | 21 | +7 | 6 |
| Jonathan Marchessault | Vegas Golden Knights | 20 | 8 | 13 | 21 | +8 | 10 |
| T. J. Oshie | Washington Capitals | 24 | 8 | 13 | 21 | +5 | 31 |
| Blake Wheeler | Winnipeg Jets | 17 | 3 | 18 | 21 | +2 | 10 |
| Mark Scheifele | Winnipeg Jets | 17 | 14 | 6 | 20 | +6 | 10 |
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. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[94]
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braden Holtby | Washington Capitals | 23 | 16 | 7 | 639 | 50 | 2.16 | .922 | 2 | 1385:45 |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | Vegas Golden Knights | 20 | 13 | 7 | 641 | 47 | 2.24 | .927 | 4 | 1258:35 |
| Martin Jones | San Jose Sharks | 10 | 6 | 4 | 304 | 22 | 2.26 | .928 | 2 | 584:40 |
| Connor Hellebuyck | Winnipeg Jets | 17 | 9 | 8 | 511 | 40 | 2.36 | .922 | 2 | 1015:07 |
| Matt Murray | Pittsburgh Penguins | 12 | 6 | 6 | 314 | 29 | 2.43 | .908 | 2 | 715:35 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | Tampa Bay Lightning | 17 | 11 | 6 | 524 | 43 | 2.58 | .918 | 0 | 999:09 |
This was the seventh postseason under NBC Sports' current 10-year contract for American television rights to the NHL. All national coverage of games was aired on either NBCSN, the NBC broadcast network, NHL Network, USA Network, or CNBC. Due to original programming commitments involving CNBC and USA Network, two first round games on April 18 were aired by Golf Channel.[95][96][97] During the first round, excluding games exclusively broadcast on NBC, the regional rights holders of each participating U.S. team produced local telecasts of their respective games. For the second year, the first round national broadcasts were not blacked out on television in the markets of participating teams, and could co-exist with the local broadcasts (however, NBC-provided coverage was restricted in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas, where AT&T SportsNet holds the regional rights to the Penguins and the Golden Knights respectively).[98]
In Canada, for the fourth postseason under Rogers Media's current 12-year contract, coverage was 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.[99] The Winnipeg Jets' first round series against the Minnesota Wild was assigned to Sportsnet, due to the Maple Leafs' series being prioritized to CBC, and to encourage subscription to the network since it is not carried on basic cable in Winnipeg.[100][101]
In a surprise move, Sportsnet did not give any on-air assignments to Bob Cole during the playoffs—an exclusion that caught the veteran commentator off-guard. Instead, Sportsnet replaced Cole with Calgary Flames announcer Rick Ball, joining Jim Hughson, Paul Romanuk and Dave Randorf on play-by-play during the first two rounds of the playoffs.[102] It was subsequently announced that Cole would retire from broadcasting the following season.[103]
Fuelled by viewer interest in the Golden Knights' inaugural season and playoff run, and in Canada, the deep playoff run of the Winnipeg Jets, viewership of these playoffs saw noticeable increases. NBC reported that viewership of the conference finals collectively saw a 15% increase over 2017, with an average cross-platform viewership[104] of 1.841 million (23% increase year-over-year) for the Western Conference finals featuring the Golden Knights, game one of said series (televised on NBC) seen by 2.374 viewers total, and game seven of the Lightning/Capitals Eastern Conference final pulling a 2.14 overnight rating—the highest viewership for a non-overtime game seven since 2015, and the highest cable viewership of the 2018 playoffs to-date.[105] The Jets also contributed to strong viewership numbers in Canada, with Sportsnet reporting an average of 2.2 million across their second-round series.[106][107][108]
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