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Sixteen teams. Four rounds. Every series best-of-seven. Here is how the NHL narrows the field from 32 teams down to one Stanley Cup champion.
TL;DR
The top three teams from each division plus two wild cards per conference make the playoffs (16 total). Every round is best-of-seven with a fixed bracket (no reseeding). Home ice follows a 2-2-1-1-1 format, and overtime is continuous 5-on-5 sudden death with no shootout.
Each conference sends eight teams. The qualification breakdown is straightforward:
The top team in each of the four divisions clinches, but the top three in each division all earn automatic playoff spots. That accounts for 12 of the 16 berths.
In each conference, the two remaining teams with the best records fill the wild card slots. A wild card can come from either division within the conference.
If two teams finish with the same point total, the tie is broken by regulation and overtime wins (ROW), then total wins, then head-to-head record, then goal differential.
The NHL uses a fixed bracket. Once the matchups are set, they stay locked for the entire conference portion of the playoffs. There is no reseeding.
In each division, the #1 seed plays the lower wild card and the #2 seed plays the #3 seed. The other wild card goes to the other division's #1 seed. This gives you four series per conference, eight total.
Winners from each division bracket play each other. Because the bracket is fixed, first-round winners within the same bracket always meet here, regardless of seed.
The two remaining teams in each conference face off. This is the first time teams from different divisions within the same conference can meet.
The Eastern Conference champion plays the Western Conference champion. The team with the better regular-season record gets home ice.
The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. The lower seed hosts Games 3, 4, and 6. Home-ice advantage is determined by regular-season points, with the same tiebreakers used for playoff qualification.
This format replaced the old 2-3-2 format before the 2014 playoffs. The change ensured the higher seed always has the chance to close out a series at home.
Playoff overtime
PuckCast's standings page shows the current playoff picture in real time, including wild card positioning and division races. You can see which teams are in, which are on the bubble, and which are fading.
The prediction model factors in schedule strength, recent form, and underlying metrics to project which teams are likely to hold their spots down the stretch. When the playoffs start, those same metrics drive game-by-game series predictions.
Playoff tools on PuckCast
16 teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs each year. From each conference, the top three teams in each division earn automatic berths (12 total), and the next two best records in each conference fill the wild card spots (4 total).
No. The NHL uses a fixed bracket, meaning matchups are set at the start of the playoffs and do not reseed after each round. Division rivals can only meet in the conference finals if they were placed in separate first-round brackets.
Playoff overtime is sudden-death, 5-on-5 hockey played in full 20-minute periods until someone scores. There is no shootout. Games can stretch into multiple overtimes. The longest modern playoff game went five overtimes.
The team with the better regular-season record gets home ice. Games follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format: the higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while the lower seed hosts Games 3, 4, and 6.