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 Final.
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.
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. They also became the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season since the 1967 NHL expansion. From there, they eventually became the first team since the 1967–68 St. Louis Blues to reach the Stanley Cup Final 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 Final. 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. For the first time in league history, the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs in the same year. 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 2010s, 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 Final went to overtime.
Playoff seeds
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:
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 113 points Boston Bruins – 112 points Toronto Maple Leafs – 105 points
Metropolitan Division Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division champions – 105 points Pittsburgh Penguins – 100 points Philadelphia Flyers – 98 points
Wild cards Columbus Blue Jackets – 97 points (39 , 6 points head-to-head vs. New Jersey) New Jersey Devils – 97 points (39 , 2 points head-to-head vs. Columbus)
Western Conference
Central Division Nashville Predators, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 117 points Winnipeg Jets – 114 points Minnesota Wild – 101 points
Pacific Division Vegas Golden Knights, Pacific Division champions – 109 points Anaheim Ducks – 101 points San Jose Sharks – 100 points
Wild cards Los Angeles Kings – 98 points Colorado Avalanche – 95 points
Playoff bracket 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.
Legend A1, A2, A3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Atlantic Division, respectively M1, M2, M3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Metropolitan Division, respectively C1, C2, C3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Central Division, respectively P1, P2, P3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Pacific Division, respectively WC1, WC2 – The first and second place teams in the Wild Card, respectively
First round
Eastern Conference first round
(A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (WC2) New Jersey Devils 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. 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. The Devils recovered in game three as Taylor Hall scored a goal and two assists in a 5–2 victory. J. T. Miller and Nikita Kucherov both had three points in a 3–1 victory for the Lightning in game four. 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.
(A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs 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. 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. 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. In game three, Patrick Marleau scored twice for the Maple Leafs in a 4–2 victory. Pastrnak assisted twice on two goals in a 3–1 triumph for the Bruins, taking a 3–1 series lead in the process. 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. Nikita Zaitsev assisted twice in a 3–1 Maple Leafs victory, forcing a seventh game in the series. 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.
(M1) Washington Capitals vs. (WC1) Columbus Blue Jackets 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. 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. The Capitals took game three 3–2 in double-overtime as Lars Eller scored the game winner. The Capitals tied the series after game four as Washington's Alexander Ovechkin had a goal and an assist in a 4–1 victory. 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. In game six, Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin scored twice to seal the series for Washington, winning the affair 6–3. 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.
(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (M3) Philadelphia Flyers 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. The Flyers defeated the Penguins in game two, riding on Sean Couturier's goal and two assists in a 5–1 victory. Pittsburgh took game three 5–1 as Crosby recorded a goal and three assists. 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. Prior to game five, Flyers captain Claude Giroux guaranteed his team a victory. 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. 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.
Western Conference first round
(C1) Nashville Predators vs. (WC2) Colorado Avalanche 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. Nashville had five different players score in their 5–4 victory over Colorado in game two to take a 2–0 series lead. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists to take game three for the Avalanche 5–3. In game four, Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for the Predators who took a 3–1 series lead with a 3–2 win. 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. The Predators shut out the Avalanche in game six, with Rinne stopping all 22 shots he faced in a 5–0 victory.
(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild