The 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2020–21 season. The playoffs began on May 15, 2021, and concluded on July 7, 2021, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning their second consecutive and third overall Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Montreal Canadiens four games to one in the Stanley Cup Final. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin a few days after the regular season concluded, but they began four days prior to the end of the shortened regular season after the Vancouver Canucks had eleven games postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak.
The league returned to the traditional 16-team playoff format with all series being best-of-seven, after using a 24-team format in 2020 due to the regular season being cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the league temporarily realigned this season into four divisions with no conferences. Consequently, the first two rounds of the playoffs featured intra-divisional matchups, with the higher seeded teams receiving home-ice advantage in those rounds. In the Stanley Cup semifinals, the four remaining teams (one from each division) were reseeded based on their regular season records. Both semifinal winners advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. After initially stating that the Campbell and Wales trophies would not be awarded this season, the league decided in June 2021 that the Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights would play for the Campbell Bowl and the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning would play for the Wales Trophy.
Although it was initially unknown whether the Canadian teams that qualified for the playoffs would be able to play in their home arenas after the second round, on June 6, it was announced that those teams would be allowed to play in their home arenas for the remainder of the playoffs. In order to complete the playoffs in Canada, the League applied for a cross-border travel exemption with the Public Health Agency of Canada. Prior to the announcement, there were some ideas of the Canadian team playing in a neutral NHL city in the US after the second round.
The Colorado Avalanche 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 postseason appearance streak to 15 seasons. This became the longest active streak in the four major North American professional sports after the NBA's San Antonio Spurs missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. For the second year in a row and third time overall since 1996, all California-based teams, the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks, missed the playoffs. For the first time since 1966, every team that qualified for the playoffs was also in the previous year's postseason. With all of the Canadian-based NHL teams in one division, the format for this season ensured that there would be a second round series between two Canadian-based teams for the first time since 2002.
For the first time since 1992, three of the previous year's semifinalists, the New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights, returned to the round for a second consecutive season.
Playoff seeds
The top four teams in each of the four realigned divisions made the playoffs; this was the first time since 1993 that this format had been used.
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:
Central Division Carolina Hurricanes, Central Division champions – 80 points Florida Panthers – 79 points Tampa Bay Lightning – 75 points Nashville Predators – 64 points
East Division Pittsburgh Penguins, East Division champions – 77 points (29 , 34 ) Washington Capitals – 77 points (29 , 33 ) Boston Bruins – 73 points New York Islanders – 71 points
North Division Toronto Maple Leafs, North Division champions – 77 points Edmonton Oilers – 72 points Winnipeg Jets – 63 points Montreal Canadiens – 59 points
West Division Colorado Avalanche, West Division champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 82 points (35 ) Vegas Golden Knights – 82 points (30 ) Minnesota Wild – 75 points St. Louis Blues – 63 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 four teams in each division made the playoffs.
In the first round, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. In each round, home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record. Teams advancing to the Stanley Cup semifinals were re-seeded one through four based on regular season record.
Legend C1, C2, C3, C4 – The teams from the Central Division E1, E2, E3, E4 – The teams from the East Division N1, N2, N3, N4 – The teams from the North Division W1, W2, W3, W4 – The teams from the West Division
First round
Central Division first round
(C1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (C4) Nashville Predators The Carolina Hurricanes finished first in the Central Division earning 80 points. Nashville finished as the fourth seed in the Central Division, earning 64 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina won six of eight games in this year's regular season series.
The Hurricanes defeated the Predators in six games. Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal scored twice in game one to give Carolina a 5–2 victory. In game two, Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves for the Hurricanes in a 3–0 shutout victory. Back in Nashville for game three, Juuse Saros stopped 52 shots and Matt Duchene scored at 14:54 of double-overtime for the Predators to emerge victorious 5–4. In game four, Juuse Saros made 58 saves for the Predators, defeating the Hurricanes 3–2 in double-overtime on Luke Kunin's snap shot goal. The Hurricanes forced overtime in game five, and in the extra period, Jordan Staal scored during a 4-on-4 to defeat the Predators 3–2 and take a 3–2 series lead. In game six, the Hurricanes overcame a two-goal deficit to force overtime, where Sebastian Aho scored on a deflected shot to send Carolina to the second round.
(C2) Florida Panthers vs. (C3) Tampa Bay Lightning The Florida Panthers finished second in the Central Division with 79 points. The Tampa Bay Lightning earned 75 points to finish third in the Central Division. This was the first playoff meeting between these two rivals. Florida won five of eight games in this year's regular season series. This was also the first postseason match-up between two Florida-based professional sports teams since the National Football League's 1999 AFC Divisional playoffs where the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Miami Dolphins.
The Lightning defeated the Panthers in six games. Upon his return from hip surgery in game one, Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov scored twice and Brayden Point, on a breakaway attempt, scored with 1:14 left in the game to give the Lightning a 5–4 victory. In game two, Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for Tampa Bay as they defeated Florida 3–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. In game three, the Panthers gave up five goals in the second period; however, after a goalie change, Florida forced overtime where Ryan Lomberg scored to end the game 6–5 for the Panthers. The goaltending woes of the Panthers continued in game four when Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on fourteen shots giving the Lightning a 3–1 series lead after a 6–2 rout. In game five, Florida opted to start rookie goaltender Spencer Knight whose 36 saves paid dividends for the Panthers in a 4–1 victory and extending a sixth game. Vasilevskiy held the fort for the Lightning in game six, posting a 29–save shutout in a 4–0 victory, advancing his team to the Second Round.
East Division first round
(E1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (E4) New York Islanders The Pittsburgh Penguins finished first in the East Division earning 77 points, winning the tiebreaker against Washington with 34 . The New York Islanders earned 71 points to finish fourth in the East Division. This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with New York winning four of the five previous series. They last met in the 2019 Eastern Conference first round, which New York won in a four-game sweep. Pittsburgh won six of eight games in this year's regular season series.
The Islanders defeated the Penguins in six games. In game one, with Semyon Varlamov out as goaltender for New York, Ilya Sorokin stepped in and made 39 saves for the Islanders, defeating Pittsburgh in overtime on Kyle Palmieri's goal. Tristan Jarry made 37 saves for the Penguins in game two who emerged victorious by the score of 2–1. The Islanders attempted a rally in the third period of game three after being down by two goals. The comeback was spoiled at 16:24 when Penguins forward Brandon Tanev scored to make it 5–4. The Islanders played defensively in game four with Sorokin stopping 29 shots in a 4–1 victory, tying the series 2–2. In game five, heading into double-overtime, Josh Bailey scored 51 seconds into the period for the Islanders to give his team a 3–2 series lead in a 3–2 victory. Brock Nelson scored twice and provided an assist in New York's game six victory, advancing to the Second Round with a 5–3 triumph.
(E2) Washington Capitals vs. (E3) Boston Bruins The Washington Capitals finished second in the East Division with 77 points, losing the tiebreaker against Pittsburgh with 33 . The Boston Bruins earned 73 points to finish third in the East Division. This was the fourth playoff series between these two teams, with Washington winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Washington won in seven games. Washington won their round-robin game in the previous year's Stanley Cup Qualifiers 2–1. These teams split their eight-game regular season series.
The Bruins defeated the Capitals in five games. In game one, with the teams tied at two a-piece after the third period, Capitals forward Nic Dowd scored at 4:41 of overtime to give Washington their first victory of the series. With game two tied 3–3 and heading into overtime again, the Bruins' Brad Marchand scored 39 seconds into the first overtime period to tie the series 1–1. In game three, the two teams extended into overtime for the third consecutive game where Capitals's goalie Ilya Samsonov misplayed the puck behind the net and Bruins forward Craig Smith scored in double overtime to give Boston a 3–2 victory. David Pastrnak scored a goal and provided an assist in Boston's 4–1 victory of game four, taking a 3–1 series and a chance to advance in game five. In game five, captain Patrice Bergeron scored twice for the Bruins, ending the series with a 3–1 victory.
North Division first round
(N1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (N4) Montreal Canadiens The Toronto Maple Leafs finished first in the North Division earning 77 points. The Montreal Canadiens earned 59 points to finish fourth in the North Division. This was the sixteenth playoff meeting between these two rivals, with Montreal winning eight of the fifteen previous series. They last met in the 1979 Stanley Cup quarterfinals, which Montreal won in a four-game sweep. Toronto won seven of ten games in this year's regular season series.