The 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2018–19 season. The playoffs began on April 10, 2019, after the regular season, and they concluded on June 12, 2019, with the St. Louis Blues winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history defeating the Boston Bruins four games to three in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Tampa Bay Lightning 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 thirteen seasons, the current longest streak. The Carolina Hurricanes made the playoffs for the first time since 2009, ending a nine-year playoff drought. For the second season in a row, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs were the only Original Six teams to make the playoffs, marking the fifth time in league history (after 2000, 2001, 2007 and 2018) that only two Original Six teams clinched a playoff berth. For the first time since 2004, both Southern California teams, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, missed the playoffs. For the second time in League history (and the second season in a row), both the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs.
For the first time since 1992 and the first time since the modern playoff format was introduced for the 2013–14 NHL season, all division winners were eliminated in one round: the first round as all the wild-cards advanced to the second round. The Columbus Blue Jackets won a playoff series for the first time, defeating the first-place Lightning in four games, and marking the first time in Stanley Cup playoff history that the Presidents' Trophy winners were swept in the opening round, and the first time since 2012 that the Presidents' Trophy winners were defeated in the opening round. They were soon followed by the Calgary Flames, who with their five-game loss to the Colorado Avalanche, ensured that for the first time in NHL history, neither of the conference number one seeds advanced to the second round. After that, the two remaining division winners, the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals, were each eliminated in an overtime game, the Predators in six to the Dallas Stars and the defending champion Capitals in seven to the Carolina Hurricanes. Also for the first time since 2012, none of the previous year's Conference finalists (the Capitals, the Lightning, the Golden Knights, and the Jets) made it to the second round. For the first time in League history, three series were decided in game seven overtime. It was also the first year since 2007 that neither the Washington Capitals nor the Pittsburgh Penguins made the second round. This was the last time until 2026 that no Florida–based team reached the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Blues tied the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers, 2004 Calgary Flames, 2014 Los Angeles Kings, and 2015 Tampa Bay Lightning for playing the most playoff games (26) in a four-round playoff format. The record for most playoff games was subsequently broken by the 2020 Dallas Stars, who played 27 games during the expanded 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Kings were the only other Stanley Cup champions to play 26 games.
Playoff seeds
This was the sixth 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 qualified for the playoffs:
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 128 points Boston Bruins – 107 points Toronto Maple Leafs – 100 points
Metropolitan Division Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division champions – 104 points New York Islanders – 103 points Pittsburgh Penguins – 100 points
Wild cards Carolina Hurricanes – 99 points Columbus Blue Jackets – 98 points
Western Conference
Central Division Nashville Predators, Central Division champions – 100 points Winnipeg Jets – 99 points (45 ) St. Louis Blues – 99 points (42 )
Pacific Division Calgary Flames, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 107 points San Jose Sharks – 101 points Vegas Golden Knights – 93 points
Wild cards Dallas Stars – 93 points Colorado Avalanche – 90 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 series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record followed by any necessary tie breakers.
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 – Wild Card teams
First round
Eastern Conference first round
(A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (WC2) Columbus Blue Jackets
The Tampa Bay Lightning earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with 128 points. Columbus finished as the Eastern Conference's second wild card, earning 98 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Tampa Bay won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Blue Jackets defeated the Lightning in a four-game sweep, in one of the greatest upsets in NHL history. In game one, the Blue Jackets scored four unanswered goals to overcome a three-goal deficit, winning 4–3. Matt Duchene scored a goal and two assists for Columbus in game two, granting the Blue Jackets a 5–1 victory and a 2–0 series lead. During the game Nikita Kucherov hit Markus Nutivaara in the head, prompting NHL Player Safety to suspend the Lightning forward for game three. During said game, Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves, giving the Blue Jackets a 3–1 victory and their first 3–0 series lead in franchise history. In game four, the Lightning, desperate for a victory, could not overcome the early two-goal deficit they faced in the first period, allowing Columbus to score three empty-net goals late in the third period and win 7–3, sweeping Tampa Bay 4–0 and earning their first playoff series victory in franchise history. The Lightning became the first Presidents' Trophy winners to be swept in the opening round, and the first Presidents' Trophy winners to be defeated in the opening round since 2012.
(A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs The Boston Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division, earning 107 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 100 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division. This was the sixteenth playoff meeting overall, and second consecutive, between these two teams, with Toronto winning eight of the fifteen previous series. They last met in the previous year's Eastern Conference first round, which Boston won in seven games. Boston won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. Mitch Marner scored twice in Toronto's game one victory, the final score of which was 4–1. Game two saw controversy in officiating, with Bruins players becoming more physical, to the point where Boston forward Jake DeBrusk collided with Toronto forward Nazem Kadri, who was skating hard out of the penalty box, resulting in a knee-on-knee collision, injuring the Maple Leafs forward. No penalty was called on the play. Kadri would return to the game, but retaliated against DeBrusk, cross-checking the forward in the head, resulting in a major penalty for the Toronto forward. Kadri was suspended for the remainder of the series. The Bruins ended the game 4–1. In game three, Auston Matthews and Andreas Johnsson scored a goal and notched an assist, leading the Maple Leafs to a 3–2 victory. In game four, the Bruins held on for a 6–4 victory, keeping the Maple Leafs from tying in the closing minutes after leading by three goals in the third period. The Maple Leafs scored twice in the third period of game five and held onto a one-goal lead late in the game to give Toronto a 2–1 victory and a 3–2 series lead. In game six, Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist in a 4–2 Bruins victory to push the series to a seventh game. In the seventh game, Boston goalie Tuukka Rask made 32 saves to defeat the Maple Leafs 5–1 and advance to the second round.
(M1) Washington Capitals vs. (WC1) Carolina Hurricanes The Washington Capitals finished first in the Metropolitan Division earning 104 points. Carolina finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild card earning 99 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington won all four games in this year's regular season series.
The Hurricanes defeated the Capitals in seven games. In game one, Nicklas Backstrom scored twice and teammate John Carlson had three assists in Washington's 4–2 victory. During a tight back-and-forth game two, Brooks Orpik scored the overtime winner for the Capitals, giving Washington a 4–3 victory. In game three, Carolina forward Warren Foegele scored twice and assisted once as the Hurricanes limited the Capitals to 18 shots in a 5–0 blowout victory. During the game rookie Andrei Svechnikov was challenged by Alexander Ovechkin to a fight during which the young Hurricane forward was knocked out and removed from the game due to concussion protocol. The Capitals increased their shot count in game four, but Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 30 of those 31 shots, evening the series in a 2–1 victory. In game five, the Capitals blew out the Hurricanes 6–0 with Backstrom scoring two goals and adding two assists, as goaltender Braden Holtby stopped all 30 shots he faced. Carolina broke the tie in game six as they scored three goals in the third period to force a seventh game. The Hurricanes rallied from two separate two goal deficits to tie game seven forcing overtime. In double overtime, Carolina forward Brock McGinn ended the fourth longest game seven in NHL history at 11:05 by tipping in Justin Williams' shot to send the Hurricanes to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2009; with the victory Carolina has won five consecutive game sevens dating back to 2006.
(M2) New York Islanders vs. (M3) Pittsburgh Penguins The New York Islanders finished second in the Metropolitan Division with 103 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins earned 100 points to finish third in the Metropolitan Division. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with New York winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Pittsburgh won in six games. These teams split their four-game regular season series. This was the first time since the 1988 Patrick Division semifinals that the Islanders had home-ice advantage in a playoff series.