2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Sixteen teams qualify — the top three in each of the four divisions plus two wild cards in each conference. Round 1 is intra-division (1 vs WC, 2 vs 3). Every series is best-of-seven, with home ice alternating 2-2-1-1-1. Winners advance through Round 2, the Conference Finals, and finally the Stanley Cup Final. There are no reseeding rules between rounds — the bracket is fixed at the start.

Each row is a team, paired into series. The team color stripe marks active rivalries; a fully colored row means that team has clinched the series. The number on the right of each slot is current series wins. Empty rows are TBD — they fill in as earlier rounds complete.

The data source refreshes after every NHL game day. The series score line ("BUF leads 3-1", "CAR wins 4-0", "Tied 1-1") reflects the latest completed games. The "Last" line shows the most recent result with date; the "Next" line shows the next scheduled game. Past playoff history comes from the full all-time matchup file for each pair.

NHL seasons span two calendar years (2025-26 = season X). The playoffs are referred to by the year they finish, hence "2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs". Dates in this hub reflect when games are actually played: Round 1 starts mid-April, the Final concludes in early June.

Click any series card. You will land on the full H2H matchup page for that pair, which includes regular-season + playoff splits, biggest wins, longest streaks, last meeting, and decade-by-decade breakdowns. NHL data covers all the way back to 1917 (with pre-2005 ties shown explicitly).

A series is marked "Final" once one team reaches four wins. In-progress series show the current score with a live badge. Scheduled future games carry placeholder dates that may shift if a series ends earlier than expected (e.g. a sweep).