The 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 8, after the conclusion of the 1980–81 NHL season. The playoffs concluded on May 21 with the champion New York Islanders defeating the Minnesota North Stars 5–1 to win the final series four games to one and win the Stanley Cup.
In game one of the Edmonton-Montreal series, Wayne Gretzky recorded five assists, at the time this was a single game playoff record.
These were the last Stanley Cup playoffs conducted under a format that paired teams in each round without regard to division or conference standing; the 2021 playoffs, however, mostly disregarded the conference setups, while mostly keeping the usual divisional format in place.
Playoff seeds The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, and were seeded 1–16 based on regular season points, regardless of conference or division, as follows:
New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions, NHL regular season champions – 110 points St. Louis Blues, Smythe Division champions – 107 points Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 103 points Los Angeles Kings – 99 points (43 wins) Buffalo Sabres, Adams Division champions – 99 points (39 wins) Philadelphia Flyers – 97 points Calgary Flames – 92 points Boston Bruins – 87 points (37 wins) Minnesota North Stars – 87 points (35 wins) Chicago Black Hawks – 78 points (31 wins) Quebec Nordiques – 78 points (30 wins) Vancouver Canucks – 76 points New York Rangers – 74 points (30 wins) Edmonton Oilers – 74 points (29 wins) Pittsburgh Penguins – 73 points Toronto Maple Leafs – 71 points
Playoff bracket The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.
Each series in the Preliminary Round was played in a best-of-five format while each series in the other three rounds were played in a best-of-seven format.
Preliminary round
(1) New York Islanders vs. (16) Toronto Maple Leafs
The New York Islanders, the defending 1980 Stanley Cup champions, entered the playoffs as the regular season, Campbell Conference, and Patrick Division champions, earning 110 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 71 points during the regular season to finish sixteenth overall in the league. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the 1978 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, where Toronto defeated the Islanders in seven games. The Islanders won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
Toronto was swept in the opening round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. New York's series-clinching win in game three was the first (and to date only until the bubble in the 2020 playoffs) time that the Islanders have won a playoff game in Toronto, and this was the second (and to date, last) victory that a road team has ever earned in the three series between these two franchises. As of 2019, this series marks the only time that the Islanders have defeated Toronto in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In game one, the Islanders scored three times on the power play, and Bryan Trottier scored twice and added three assists in a decisive 9–2 victory. The Islanders dominance of the Maple Leafs continued in game two, as Trottier recorded a hat trick in a 5-1 Islanders win. The Islanders jumped all over the Maple Leafs quickly in game three, by jumping out to a 5–0 lead after the first period. The Maple Leafs and Islanders traded goals in the second period 19 seconds apart. Game three ended in a series-clinching 6-1 Islanders victory.
(2) St. Louis Blues vs. (15) Pittsburgh Penguins
The St. Louis Blues entered the playoffs as the Smythe Division champions, earning 107 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins earned 73 points during the regular season to finish fifteenth overall in the league. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams; the teams split their two previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1975 Preliminary round, where Pittsburgh defeated St. Louis in two-game sweep. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.
In game one of the series, Pittsburgh struck quickly thanks to a Greg Malone goal at 0:15 of the first period. However, the Blues recovered by the end of the second period and took a 3–2 lead into the final period, which they held on to, winning the game 4–2. Game two proved to be a different story, as the Penguins exploded offensively and scored four times in the second period to erase a 1-0 first period deficit. The Blues and Penguins traded goals in the third period, giving Pittsburgh a 6–4 victory that tied the series at a game apiece. Game three went back and forth, with both teams trading goals all game long until Bernie Federko scored his second goal of the game with 4:06 left to play in the third period. The Blues won the game 5-4 and retook home ice advantage in the best-of-five series. The Penguins avoided elimination in game four, as Randy Carlyle and Mike Bullard each scored three points in the game, helping the Penguins to a 6–3 win. Game five was another tight contest and for the first time in the series overtime was required, with the score tied at 3 after regulation time. The game and series ended on Mike Crombeen's second goal of the series, scored at 5:16 of the second overtime period, giving St. Louis a 4–3 win and a 3–2 series victory.
(3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (14) Edmonton Oilers
The Montreal Canadiens entered the playoffs as the Wales Conference and Norris Division champions, earning 103 points. The Edmonton Oilers earned 74 points during the regular season and finished fourteenth overall, losing the tiebreaker with the New York Rangers in wins (30 to 29). This was the first and only playoff meeting between these two teams. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.
The Oilers recorded the first playoff series victory by any of the four teams that joined the NHL in the 1979. It was also the first-ever sweep by the Oilers, including their history as a World Hockey Association franchise. The Oilers gained a 6–3 victory in game one, in large part due to Wayne Gretzky's five-assist night. At the time this was a new playoff record for assists by a single player in one game. Edmonton went on to win game two, with Risto Siltanen's power play goal at 4:43 of the second period giving the Oilers a 2–1 lead, Edmonton eventually winning the game by a score of 3–1. Edmonton completed the sweep of the heavily favoured Canadiens in game three, defeating Montreal 6–2. Gretzky led all scorers in the three-game series, finishing with 11 points (3G, 8A).
(4) Los Angeles Kings vs. (13) New York Rangers
The Los Angeles Kings entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the league with 99 points, winning the tiebreaker with the Buffalo Sabres in wins (43 to 39). The New York Rangers earned 74 points during the regular season and finished thirteenth overall, winning the tiebreaker with the Edmonton Oilers in wins (30 to 29). This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the 1979 Preliminary round, where New York defeated Los Angeles in two-game sweep. The Kings won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Rangers won game one in large part due to the impressive goaltending performance of Steve Baker, as he turned away 31 of the Kings' 32 shots. Game two was marked by a brawl at the end of the first period; six players were ejected from the game as result of this. The Kings won game two 5–4 on the strength of a Dean Hopkins goal at 17:16 of the third period. Game three was dominated by the Rangers, as eight different players would score in the game for New York, and the Rangers won 10–3 on home ice. Game four was tied 3–3 in the third period, until Tom Laidlaw's goal at 6:44 gave the Rangers a 4–3 lead. The Rangers added two more goals in the third, earning a series-clinching 6–3 victory. Ranger forwards Ron Duguay and Ulf Nilsson each scored a goal in every game of this series.
(5) Buffalo Sabres vs. (12) Vancouver Canucks
The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the Adams Division champions, earning 99 points, losing the tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Kings in wins (43 to 39). The Vancouver Canucks earned 76 points during the regular season and finished twelfth overall in the league. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, and was a rematch of last year's Preliminary Round, where Buffalo defeated Vancouver in four games. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.
The Sabres swept Vancouver in three games, eliminating the Canucks in the preliminary round for the second consecutive season. Buffalo forced game one to overtime as Andre Savard scored the tying goal with just 8 seconds left in the third period. Rookie centre Alan Haworth scored the game-winning goal for Buffalo five minutes into overtime. The Sabres scored three times on the power play in game two, winning the game 5–2. Vancouver attempted to mount a comeback from a 4–1 deficit in the third period of game three before Buffalo's Tony McKegney scored his second goal of the game, giving the Sabres a 5–3 lead. Buffalo hung on to their 5–3 lead and clinched the series with a game three victory.
(6) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (11) Quebec Nordiques
The Philadelphia Flyers entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the league with 97 points. The Quebec Nordiques earned 78 points during the regular season and finished eleventh overall, losing the tiebreaker with the Chicago Black Hawks in wins (31 to 30). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Quebec won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points. This series also marked the first appearance of a team representing Quebec City in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 68 years. The most recent team to represent Quebec City prior to this was the Quebec Bulldogs who won the Stanley Cup in 1913, in the Bulldogs' final playoff appearance.
The home team won all games of this series. Bill Barber and Ken Linseman scored five points each in the first two games of the series. The Flyers won both games in Philadelphia, taking a 2–0 series lead. Game three was a battle of goaltenders, as the game remained scoreless until 9:48 of the third period, when Michel Goulet scored the eventual game-winning goal; Quebec won game three 2–0. Philadelphia took a 3–1 lead into the third period in game four, however the Nordiques made a comeback, tying the game in the third period with two goals in the last five minutes. Quebec completed the comeback 37 seconds into overtime as Dale Hunter scored the game-winning goal. Ken Linseman's three points in the third period of Game 5 helped ensure a Philadelphia series-clinching win, 5–2.
(7) Calgary Flames vs. (10) Chicago Black Hawks
The Calgary Flames entered the playoffs as the seventh seed in the league with 92 points. The Chicago Black Hawks earned 78 points during the regular season and finished tenth overall, winning the tiebreaker with the Quebec Nordiques in wins (31 to 30). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Chicago won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points. This series also marked the first appearance of a team representing Calgary in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 56 years. The most recent team to represent Calgary prior to this was the Calgary Tigers who lost the WCHL Final in 1925.