====(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Colorado Avalanche====
====(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Colorado Avalanche====
The Winnipeg Jets finished second in the Central Division earning 110 points. The Colorado Avalanche earned 107 points to finish third in the Central. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Winnipeg won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Winnipeg Jets finished second in the Central Division earning 110 points. The Colorado Avalanche earned 107 points to finish third in the Central. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Winnipeg won all three games in this year's regular season series. Colorado lead the league in goals scored (304) while Winnipeg lead the league in fewest goals against (199).
The New York Rangers will make the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. Both the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs extended their playoff streaks to eight consecutive seasons, the longest active streaks in the NHL.
This is the ninth year in which the top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference).
The following teams have qualified for the playoffs:[3]
In each round, teams compete 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 plays at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team plays 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 plays against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card plays against the other division winner, and both wild cards are de facto #4 seeds. The other series match the second and third-place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home-ice advantage is awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it is awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
(A1) Florida Panthers vs. (WC1) Tampa Bay Lightning
The Florida Panthers finished first in the Atlantic Division earning 110 points. The Tampa Bay Lightning finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild card earning 98 points. This will be the third playoff meeting between these two rivals with Tampa Bay winning both previous series. They last met in the 2022 Eastern Conference second round, which Tampa Bay won in a four-game sweep. Florida won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Boston Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division earning 109 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 102 points to finished third in the Atlantic. This will be the seventeenth playoff meeting between these two rivals with both teams splitting the sixteen previous series. They last met in the 2019 Eastern Conference first round, which Boston won in seven games. Boston won all four games in this year's regular season series.
(M1) New York Rangers vs. (WC2) Washington Capitals
The New York Rangers earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with 114 points. Washington finished as the Eastern Conference's second wild card earning 91 points, winning the tiebreaker against Detroit with 32 RWs. This will be the tenth playoff meeting between these two rivals with New York winning five of the nine previous series. They last met in the 2015 Eastern Conference second round, which New York came back from a 3–1 series deficit to win in seven games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.
(M2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (M3) New York Islanders
The Carolina Hurricanes finished second in the Metropolitan Division earning 111 points. The New York Islanders earned 94 points to finish third in the Metropolitan. This will be the second consecutive and third overall playoff meeting between these two teams with Carolina winning both previous series. Carolina won the previous year's Eastern Conference first round in six games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.
The Dallas Stars finished first in the Central Division and Western Conference earning 113 points. The Vegas Golden Knights earned 98 points to finish as the Western Conference's second wild card. This will be the second consecutive and third overall playoff series between these two teams with both teams splitting the previous two series. Vegas won the previous year's Western Conference final in six games. Vegas won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Winnipeg Jets finished second in the Central Division earning 110 points. The Colorado Avalanche earned 107 points to finish third in the Central. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Winnipeg won all three games in this year's regular season series. Colorado lead the league in goals scored (304) while Winnipeg lead the league in fewest goals against (199).
(P1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
The Vancouver Canucks finished first in the Pacific Division earning 109 points. The Nashville Predators earned 99 points to finish as the first wild card in the Western Conference. This will be the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals, which Vancouver won in six games. Vancouver won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Edmonton Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division earning 104 points. The Los Angeles Kings finished third in the Pacific with 99 points. This will be the third consecutive and tenth overall playoff meeting between these two rivals with Edmonton winning seven of the nine previous series. Edmonton won the previous year's Western Conference first round series in six games. Edmonton won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
In Canada, this marks the tenth postseason under Rogers Media's 12-year contract. Games air across the Sportsnet networks and CBC under the Hockey Night in Canada brand. For first and second-round U.S.–U.S. games not on CBC, Sportsnet generally simulcasts the U.S. feed instead of producing their own telecast. The 2024 Stanley Cup Finals will simulcast on both CBC and Sportsnet. Sportsnet+ steams all games, and CBC Gem will also stream games televised on CBC.[4]
United States
In the U.S., this marks the third year of a seven-year agreement with the ESPN family of Networks and TNT Sports. Games in the first two rounds air across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC; and TNT, TBS. TruTV is also simulcasting selected TNT Sports-produced games. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster will also televise local coverage of first round games, except for games on ABC.[5][6] First and second-round games are roughly evenly split between ESPN-produced telecasts and TNT Sports-produced telecasts, while working around their broadcast commitments to the 2024 NBA playoffs. With the Stanley Cup playoffs starting on the same day as the NBA playoffs this year, TBS and TruTV have the first pair of first-round games on that Saturday, April 20. ESPN and ESPN2 then airs games on Sunday, April 21 through Tuesday, April 23. Games are then split between ESPN-produced telecasts and TNT Sports telecasts on Wednesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 25; before TNT/TBS/TruTV have the games from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28.[7]
ESPN/ABC will then have the first choice of which conference finals series to broadcast, and TNT will air the other series. As per the alternating rotation, ABC will have coverage of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals.[8]
This will be the first playoffs that the streaming service Max will have live access to all TNT Sports-produced games on its Bleacher Report Sports Add-on tier.[9]ESPN+ will stream all ABC games and selected ESPN games.
This will be the third of a four-year deal that Sports USA Radio Network will syndicate select Stanley Cup playoff games via NHL Radio across the U.S., including the entire conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals.[10]
