Eastern Conference quarterfinals (1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (8) New York Islanders The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season champions, earning 72 points. The New York Islanders earned 55 points during the regular season to finish eighth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, with the Islanders having won all three of the previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the
1993 Patrick Division finals, where New York upset first place Pittsburgh in seven games. The Penguins won four of the five games in the regular season series. The Penguins defeated the Islanders in six games. Pittsburgh goalie
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 26 New York shots in a 5–0 shutout in game one. The Islanders then took game two, 4–3, as New York's
Colin McDonald,
Matt Martin, and
Kyle Okposo scored three unanswered goals in the second and third periods. In game three,
Chris Kunitz scored the winning goal on a power play at 08:44 of overtime to give Pittsburgh a 5–4 victory. New York evened the series with a 6–4 win in game four, with
Mark Streit,
John Tavares, and
Casey Cizikas scoring three unanswered goals in the third period. Penguins head coach
Dan Bylsma then replaced Fleury with
Tomas Vokoun as starting goalie for game five, who stopped all 31 shots to lead Pittsburgh to a 4–0 win. In the sixth game, the Islanders put up three leads only to have the Penguins tie it up three consecutive times.
Brooks Orpik scored at 07:49 of overtime to give Pittsburgh a 4–3 victory and their fourth and final win of the series.
(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (7) Ottawa Senators The Montreal Canadiens entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Northeast Division with 63 points. The Ottawa Senators earned 56 points during the regular season, losing the tiebreaker to the New York Rangers in regulation + overtime wins (22 to 21) to finish seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the first playoff series between these two teams, and the first playoff series between teams from Montreal and Ottawa since
1928, when the
Montreal Maroons defeated the
original Ottawa Senators in the Canadian Division Quarterfinals. The two teams split their four-game regular season series. The Senators defeated the Canadiens in five games. Midway through the second period of game one, Senators defenceman
Eric Gryba was given a five-minute major penalty, a game misconduct, and later a two-game suspension after delivering a hit on Montreal's
Lars Eller that sent the Canadiens' centre to the hospital. Despite Gryba's ejection, the Senators won the game, 4–2, with goalie
Craig Anderson stopping 48 out of 50 Montreal shots on goal. The Canadiens took game two, 3–1, led by goalie
Carey Price's 29 saves. Emotions between the two division rivals boiled over in game three as the teams combined for 236 penalty minutes, but Ottawa centre
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored a hat trick, leading the Senators to a 6–1 victory. The Canadiens then jumped to a 2–0 lead in the second period of game four, but Ottawa scored twice in the final ten minutes of the game.
Mika Zibanejad scored a goal off his skate at 11:55 of the third period, cutting the lead to 2–1, with the goal allowed to stand after a video review determined that he did not kick the puck into the net.
Cory Conacher got the tying goal with 22.6 seconds left in regulation, and at intermission Montreal replaced an injured Price with
Peter Budaj in goal.
Kyle Turris scored the winner at 02:32 of overtime to give Ottawa the 3–2 win. The Senators then eliminated the Canadiens with a 6–1 victory in game five; Montreal was without several players due to injury including Price and captain
Brian Gionta. One of the quirkier story lines of the series was the large number of teeth lost by players, highlighted by Anderson losing one in game one, Price losing one in game two, and Pageau after taking a stick to the mouth from Montreal defenceman
P. K. Subban while scoring his first ever NHL playoff goal, and first of three in game three.
(3) Washington Capitals vs. (6) New York Rangers The Washington Capitals entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Southeast Division with 57 points. The New York Rangers earned 56 points during the regular season, winning the tiebreaker over Ottawa in regulation + overtime wins (22 to 21) to finish sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the eighth playoff meeting for these two teams, and the fourth in the last five years, with the Capitals having won four of the seven previous series. This was a rematch of
the previous year's Eastern Conference semifinals, which the Rangers won in seven games. New York won two of the three games in the regular season series. The Rangers advanced to the second round after soundly defeating the Capitals in game seven, 5–0. The home team won the first six games before the visiting team won game seven, and it was the first road win in a seventh game in franchise history for the Rangers. Washington scored three unanswered goals in the second period of game one to win, 3–1. In game two, Capitals defenceman
Mike Green scored the only goal in the game at 08:00 of overtime. The Rangers then evened the series after recording back-to-back 4–3 victories in games three and four, aided by
Derick Brassard's one goal and two assists in the former, and
Carl Hagelin's one goal and two assists in the latter. Washington won game five, 2–1 on
Mike Ribeiro's goal at 09:24 of overtime, while Brassard's second period goal proved to be the difference in New York's 1–0 win in game six. The Rangers then controlled game seven, winning 5–0, with five different players scoring for New York, and goalie
Henrik Lundqvist stopping all 35 Washington shots in his second consecutive shutout.
(4) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Toronto Maple Leafs The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 62 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 57 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the fourteenth playoff series between these two teams, with the Maple Leafs having won eight of the previous thirteen series. Their most recent meeting was the
1974 Stanley Cup quarterfinals, where the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in four games. Boston won three of the four games in the regular season series. The Bruins rallied from a 4–1 third period deficit in game seven to defeat the Maple Leafs in overtime, 5–4, and advance to the second round. Boston jumped to a 3–1 lead in the series before Toronto won two straight games to force game seven.
David Krejci led Boston to a 4–1 victory in game one with a goal and two assists.
Joffrey Lupul then scored two goals to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4–2 victory in game two. The Bruins then took game three, 5–2, aided by goalie
Tuukka Rask's 45 saves out of 47 shots. Krejci's goal at 13:06 of overtime then gave Boston the win in game four, 4–3. But the Leafs bounced back in game five with a 2–1 victory, behind
James Reimer's 43 saves. Reimer then stopped 29 of 30 shots in Toronto's 2–1 win in game six. In game seven, the Maple Leafs jumped to a 4–1 lead in the third period, aided by two goals by
Cody Franson. But the Bruins began their comeback with
Nathan Horton's goal at 09:18. Then, after pulling goalie Rask to add an extra attacker, Boston scored twice within the last two minutes of regulation to tie the game, first with
Milan Lucic's score at 18:38, and then
Patrice Bergeron's goal at 19:09. Bergeron then scored at 06:05 in overtime to give the Bruins the 5–4 win and the series. It was the first game seven in NHL playoff history in which a team trailing by three goals in the third period went on to win the game and, therefore, the series. These circumstances were matched during the first round of the
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, when the
San Jose Sharks overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period of game seven over the
Vegas Golden Knights to win the series.
Western Conference quarterfinals (1) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (8) Minnesota Wild The Chicago Blackhawks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions and Presidents' Trophy winners, earning 77 points. The Minnesota Wild earned 55 points during the regular season to finish eighth overall in the Western Conference. This was the first playoff meeting for these two teams. Chicago won two of the three games in the regular season series. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild in five games.
Bryan Bickell's goal at 16:35 of overtime gave Chicago a 2–1 victory in game one. Then,
Michael Frolik and
Patrick Sharp each scored two goals in the Blackhawks' 5–2 win in game two.
Jason Zucker scored at 02:15 of overtime to give the Wild a 3–2 victory in game three. But the Blackhawks controlled games four and five, with Chicago goalie
Corey Crawford making 25 saves in a 3–0 shutout in the former, and winger
Marian Hossa leading the Blackhawks with two goals and one assist in a 5–1 win in the latter.
(2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (7) Detroit Red Wings The Anaheim Ducks entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference by winning the Pacific Division with 66 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned 56 points during the regular season to finish seventh overall in the Western Conference, extending their streak of consecutive playoff appearances to 22. This was the sixth playoff meeting for these two teams, with the Red Wings having won three of the five previous series. The most recent meeting of these teams was in the
2009 Western Conference semifinals, which Detroit won in seven games. Detroit won two of the three games in the regular season series. The Red Wings defeated the Ducks in game seven of the series, 3–2, to advance to the next round. Four games in the series were decided in overtime. In game one,
Teemu Selanne scored a power play goal in the third period, and
Francois Beauchemin added an empty netter in the final minute, to give Anaheim a 3–1 win. In game two, the Ducks scored three unanswered goals in the third period to tie the game, 4–4, but Red Wings winger
Gustav Nyquist scored at 01:21 of overtime to give Detroit the victory. game three was scoreless in the second period until Detroit forward
Justin Abdelkader was given a five-minute major penalty, a game misconduct, and later a two-game suspension after illegally charging Anaheim defenceman
Toni Lydman. Although they scored only once in the ensuing five-minute power play, goalie
Jonas Hiller stopped all 23 Detroit shots to lead the Ducks to a 4–0 win. The next three games went into overtime, as
Damien Brunner scored at 15:10 of the extra session to give the Red Wings a 3–2 victory in game four,
Nick Bonino at 01:54 to give the Ducks a 3–2 victory in game five, and
Henrik Zetterberg at 01:04 in Detroit's 4–3 win in game six. Zetterberg then led the Red Wings with a goal and an assist, and goalie
Jimmy Howard made 31 saves in their 3–2 victory in game seven. This remains the last time the Red Wings won a playoff series, and with the
Buffalo Sabres winning their first round matchup against the
Boston Bruins in
2026, the Red Wings currently hold the longest active playoff series win drought.
(3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) San Jose Sharks The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference by winning the Northwest Division with 59 points. The San Jose Sharks earned 57 points during the regular season to finish sixth overall in the Western Conference and third in the Pacific Division. This was the second playoff series between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the
2011 Western Conference Final, where Vancouver defeated San Jose in five games. San Jose won all three games in the regular season series. The Sharks recorded their first playoff sweep in team history. Led by
Logan Couture's second period goal and a third period assist, San Jose scored three unanswered goals in game one to win, 3–1. The Canucks held a 2–1 lead late in the third period of game two off of
Ryan Kesler's two goals, but then
Patrick Marleau tied the game with 55 seconds left in regulation and
Raffi Torres scored at 05:31 into overtime to give the Sharks a 3–2 victory. In game three of the series leading 2–1 to start the third period San Jose's
Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau then each scored in a span of nine seconds giving the Sharks a 4–1 lead. The Sharks earned a 5–2 victory. In game four of the series
Brent Burns scored to give the Sharks the lead, later
Mason Raymond scored on the power play. San Jose took the lead again in the dying minutes of the first with a power play tally from
Joe Pavelski to make it 2–1. In the third period the Vancouver Canucks rallied back to tie the game and gain the lead from the strengths of
Alex Burrows and
Alexander Edler goals to make it 3–2. In the last minutes of the third Joe Pavelski tallied the game tying goal as regulation ended 3–3.
Patrick Marleau then scored the series winning goal at 13:18 of overtime in San Jose's 4–3 victory in game four. The Blues also won game two by the same score of 2–1, as defenceman
Barret Jackman scored the winning goal with 50.4 seconds remaining in the third period. The Kings then began their four-game winning streak in the series, first with a 1–0 victory in game three, as Quick stopped all 30 Blues shots on goal, and
Slava Voynov providing Los Angeles' lone score. Williams and
Anze Kopitar then scored 76 seconds apart in the third period of game four to help give Los Angeles a 4–3 victory. In game five, Blues defenceman
Alex Pietrangelo tied the game with 44.1 seconds remaining in regulation, but Voynov scored at 08:00 of overtime and the Kings won, 3–2. Los Angeles then closed out the series with a 2–1 victory in game six, as forward
Dustin Penner scored the winning goal with 0.2 seconds left in the second period. == Conference semifinals ==