Playoff seeds The top three teams in each division made the playoffs. All 12 clubs then were
seeded 1–12 based on regular season points, regardless of conference or division.
Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here. •
Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 127 points •
Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 118 points •
Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 113 points •
Buffalo Sabres – 105 points •
New York Islanders – 101 points •
Los Angeles Kings – 85 points •
Toronto Maple Leafs – 83 points •
Pittsburgh Penguins – 82 points (35 wins, 5 points head-to-head vs. Atlanta) •
Atlanta Flames – 82 points (35 wins, 3 points head-to-head vs. Pittsburgh) •
Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 82 points (32 wins) •
Vancouver Canucks – 81 points •
St. Louis Blues – 72 points
Playoff bracket The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. Regardless of playoff seed, all four division winners received a
bye to the Quarterfinals, including this season's 10th overall seeded Smythe Division champion Chicago Black Hawks. Each series in the Preliminary Round was played in a
best-of-three format while each series in the other three rounds were played in a
best-of-seven format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).
Preliminary round (1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (8) St. Louis Blues The Buffalo Sabres were the first seed of the preliminary round and fourth overall with 105 points. The St. Louis Blues were the eighth seed of the preliminary round and twelfth overall with 72 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The Buffalo Sabres won this year's regular season series earning 5 of 8 points.
(2) New York Islanders vs. (7) Vancouver Canucks The New York Islanders were the second seed in the preliminary round and fifth overall with 101 points. The Vancouver Canucks were the seventh seed in the preliminary round and eleventh overall with 81 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Vancouver won this year's regular season series earning 8 of 10 points.
(3) Los Angeles Kings vs. (6) Atlanta Flames The Los Angeles Kings were the third seed of the preliminary round and sixth overall 85 points. The Atlanta Flames were the sixth seed of the preliminary round and ninth overall with 82 points, losing the tie-breaker to Pittsburgh in head-to-head points (5 to 3). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Los Angeles won this year's regular season series earning 6 of 8 points.
(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins The Toronto Maple Leafs were the fourth seed in the preliminary round and seventh overall with 83 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins were the fifth seed in the preliminary round and eighth overall with 82 points, winning the tiebreaker over Atlanta in head-to-head points (5 to 3). This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Pittsburgh won this year's regular season series earning 8 of 10 points.
Quarterfinals (1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (8) Chicago Black Hawks The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 127 points. The Chicago Black Hawks finished as the Smythe Division Champions as the eighth and lowest-remaining seed in the playoffs with 82 points. This was the 17th playoff series between these two teams. Montreal leads 11–5 in previous meetings. Their most recent meeting came in the
1973 Stanley Cup Finals, which Montreal won in six games. Montreal won this year's regular season series earning 5 of 8 points.
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Toronto Maple Leafs The Philadelphia Flyers finished as Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions and second seed overall with 118 points. This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. This was a rematch of
last year's Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, which Philadelphia won in a four-game sweep. Philadelphia won this year's regular season series earning 7 of 8 points.
(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Los Angeles Kings The Boston Bruins finished as the Adams Division regular season champions and third seed overall with 113 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Boston won this year's regular season series earning 8 of 10 points.
(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) New York Islanders This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series. In game five, the Islanders scored two goals in the final five minutes, including the game-winner by Bert Marshall with 19 seconds left to take a 3–2 series lead. Clark Gilles scored the game-winner with just over 14 minutes left in the third period of game six to send the Isles to the semifinals against the Canadiens.
Semifinals (1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) New York Islanders This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won the only previous meeting in a major upset in the
1974 Stanley Cup Finals in six games.
Stanley Cup Finals This was the second playoff series (and only Finals) meeting between these two teams. Montreal won the only previous meeting in the
1973 Stanley Cup Semifinals in five games. The two-time defending
Stanley Cup Champions, the
Philadelphia Flyers, once again made it to the finals, but were swept in four games by the
Montreal Canadiens. ==Awards==