The 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2014–15 season. They began on April 15, 2015, and ended on June 15, 2015, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning four games to two in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The New York Rangers made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. They also came back from a 3–1 series deficit for the second consecutive year. The Detroit Red Wings increased their consecutive post-season appearance streak to 24 seasons, the longest current streak at the time and tied for the fourth-longest streak in NHL history. The Winnipeg Jets qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011; the only time that the Thrashers franchise made the post-season was in 2007, and the last time that the Winnipeg Jets hosted a playoff game was in 1996, the season before it was deactivated and the assets of the original Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, to become the Coyotes. The Ottawa Senators became the first team in the NHL's modern era (since 1942–43) to overcome a 14-point deficit in the standings to clinch a playoff spot. The Calgary Flames returned to the playoffs after a six-year absence. In total, five Canadian NHL teams qualified for the post-season, the most since 2004.
The Los Angeles Kings became the first defending Stanley Cup champions since the Carolina Hurricanes in 2007 to fail to make the playoffs. The Boston Bruins failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and became the first reigning Presidents' Trophy winners to miss the post-season since the Buffalo Sabres in 2008 (and the third overall). It was the first time in NHL history where both the defending Stanley Cup champions and the defending Presidents' Trophy winners missed the playoffs in the same post-season. In addition, the San Jose Sharks failed to make the post-season for the first time since 2003, ending the NHL's second-longest active playoff streak.
For the first time since 2000, both the Eastern and Western Conference finals went the full seven games. For the sixth consecutive season and tenth out of twelve seasons, a team from California was in the Western Conference final.
The Tampa Bay Lightning became the first team in league history to face an Original Six team in all four rounds of the playoffs in the same year, as they played against the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively. They also became the fourth team to defeat three consecutive Original Six teams.
The Lightning also tied the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers, 2004 Calgary Flames and 2014 Los Angeles Kings for playing the most playoff games (26) in a postseason (later matched by the 2019 St. Louis Blues), all four currently hold the record under a four-round playoff format. The record was subsequently broken by the Dallas Stars during the expanded 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Playoff seeds
This was the second 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 Montreal Canadiens, Atlantic Division champions – 110 points Tampa Bay Lightning – 108 points Detroit Red Wings – 100 points
Metropolitan Division New York Rangers, Metropolitan Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 113 points Washington Capitals – 101 points (40 , 6 points head-to-head vs. New York Islanders) New York Islanders – 101 points (40 , 5 points head-to-head vs. Washington)
Wild cards Ottawa Senators – 99 points Pittsburgh Penguins – 98 points
Western Conference
Central Division St. Louis Blues, Central Division champions – 109 points (42 ) Nashville Predators – 104 points Chicago Blackhawks – 102 points
Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 109 points (43 ) Vancouver Canucks – 101 points Calgary Flames – 97 points
Wild cards Minnesota Wild – 100 points Winnipeg Jets – 99 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 two teams from the divisions played against each other, with the second-placed team having home-ice advantage. In the first two rounds, home-ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed; in the last two rounds, 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) Montreal Canadiens vs. (WC1) Ottawa Senators The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the Atlantic division, earning 110 points. The Ottawa Senators finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild-card, earning 99 points. This was the second playoff meeting between these teams; their only previous meeting was in the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Ottawa won in five games. Ottawa won three of the four games in the regular season series.
The Canadiens won the first three games of the series en route to defeating the Senators in six games. In game one, Brian Flynn scored the game-winning goal at 17:17 of the second period, and recorded two assists as the Canadiens won 4–3. Montreal's P. K. Subban was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for slashing Ottawa's Mark Stone during the second period, resulting in a microfracture of Stone's right wrist, but did not face any further League discipline. Alex Galchenyuk's goal at 3:40 into overtime gave the Canadiens a 3–2 win in game two. Cameron replaced Andrew Hammond with Craig Anderson as his starting goalie for game three, but Dale Weise tied the game with 5:47 left in the third period, then scored at 3:40 into overtime to give Montreal a 2–1 win. Anderson rebounded in game four, stopping all 28 Montreal shots while Mike Hoffman scored the Senators' only goal to win 1–0. Ottawa then took game five by a score of 5–1 as Anderson stopped 45 of 46 shots, and Bobby Ryan scored two goals. The Canadiens then eliminated the Senators in Game 6 2–0 as goaltender Carey Price stopped all 43 of Ottawa's shots.
(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A3) Detroit Red Wings The Tampa Bay Lightning finished second in the Atlantic Division, earning 108 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned 100 points in the regular season to finish third in the Atlantic. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Tampa Bay won three of the four games in the regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Red Wings in seven games. Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek made 44 saves and Pavel Datsyuk recorded a goal and assist in a 3–2 win in game one. Tampa Bay took game two, 5–1, scoring four goals on 18 shots against Mrazek, including two from Tyler Johnson. Mrazek rebounded in game three, stopping all 22 shots in a 3–0 victory. In game four, the Lightning came back from a 2–0 third-period deficit to tie the game after Johnson and Ondrej Palat scored 1:17 apart. Johnson then scored at 2:25 of overtime for a 3–2 Tampa Bay win. Mrazek then recorded another shutout in game five, stopping 28 shots in a 4–0 win. In game six, Johnson scored two goals as the Lightning built a 3–0 second-period lead en route to a 5–2 victory. Although he was not penalized during game six, Detroit's Niklas Kronwall was later suspended one game by the NHL for charging Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov late in the second period. In game seven, Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop stopped all of Detroit's 31 shots, Braydon Coburn scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 3:58 into the third period and Anton Stralman scored the empty netter with 1:18 remaining in the game to give Tampa Bay a 2–0 victory.
(M1) New York Rangers vs. (WC2) Pittsburgh Penguins The New York Rangers earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team, earning 113 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins finished as the Eastern Conference's second wild-card, earning 98 points. This was the sixth playoff meeting between these teams, with Pittsburgh having won four of the five previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the previous year's Eastern Conference Second Round, which New York won in seven games. New York won three of the four games in the regular season series.
The Rangers defeated the Penguins in five games. In game one, Derick Brassard and Ryan McDonagh each had goals, while goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 out of 25 shots, to help give the Rangers a 2–1 victory. In game two, Sidney Crosby scored two goals in a span of 4:39 to help give Pittsburgh a 3–1 second-period lead, en route to a 4–3 win. The Rangers took game three, 2–1, as they held the Penguins to just 11 shots on goal through the first and second periods, and Lundqvist made 12 out of 13 saves in the third. Rookie centre Kevin Hayes then scored the game-winning goal 3:14 into overtime of game four to give the Rangers another 2–1 victory. The Rangers then recorded a third consecutive 2–1 victory in game five, with Carl Hagelin scoring 10:52 into overtime, to take the series. Hagelin became the first Ranger to accomplish this feat since Stephane Matteau scored a goal in game seven against the New Jersey Devils in 1994. The Penguins were eliminated in the first round for the first time since 2012.
(M2) Washington Capitals vs. (M3) New York Islanders Both the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders finished tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with 101 points, but Washington was awarded home-ice advantage by winning the head-to-head points tie-breaker (6–5). This was the seventh playoff meeting between these teams, with New York having won five of the six previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1993 Patrick Division semifinals, which New York won in six games. The teams split the four-game regular season series, with each team winning twice at home.