The 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League began on April 7, 2004, following the 2003–04 regular season. The playoffs ended with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup with a seven-game series win over the Calgary Flames on June 7. It was Tampa Bay's first Stanley Cup championship. It was the Flames' third final appearance, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in and beating the Canadiens in the rematch. These playoffs ended up being the last playoff tournament until 2006 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the following season. The 16 qualified teams, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven games for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The winner of each conference proceeded to the Stanley Cup Final. The format was identical to the one introduced for the 1999 playoffs.
These playoffs marked the first time the Nashville Predators qualified, being in their sixth season in the NHL. This would be the last time that all three Eastern Canadian teams would make the playoffs together until 2013 and five Canadian teams total until 2015. This was the last time until 2019 that both Southern California teams, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, missed the playoffs.
The Flames tied the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers for the most games played (26) in one playoff year (later matched by the 2014 Los Angeles Kings, 2015 Tampa Bay Lightning, and 2019 St. Louis Blues), all under a four-round playoff format. The record was subsequently broken by the Dallas Stars during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, albeit due to the expanded playoff format.
Playoff seeds The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top three seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the five remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:
Eastern Conference Tampa Bay Lightning, Southeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 106 points Boston Bruins, Northeast Division champions – 104 points Philadelphia Flyers, Atlantic Division champions – 101 points Toronto Maple Leafs – 103 points Ottawa Senators – 102 points New Jersey Devils – 100 points Montreal Canadiens – 93 points New York Islanders – 91 points
Western Conference Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 109 points San Jose Sharks, Pacific Division champions – 104 points Vancouver Canucks, Northwest Division champions – 101 points Colorado Avalanche – 100 points Dallas Stars – 97 points Calgary Flames – 94 points St. Louis Blues – 91 points (39 wins) Nashville Predators – 91 points (38 wins)
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 played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.
The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
Conference quarterfinals
Eastern Conference quarterfinals
(1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (8) New York Islanders The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season and Southeast Division champions with 106 points. New York qualified as the eighth seed earning 91 points during the regular season. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The Islanders won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
Tampa Bay defeated the Islanders in five games. Games one and two saw goaltenders Nikolai Khabibulin of the Lightning and Rick DiPietro of the Islanders trade 3–0 shutouts, with Tampa Bay winning game one and New York winning game two. In games three and four, Khabibulin shut-out the Islanders winning both games by a score of 3–0. In game five, Martin St. Louis scored the game-winner four minutes into overtime.
(2) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens
The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the Northeast Division champions, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference with 104 points. Montreal qualified as the seventh seed, earning 93 points during the regular season. This was the thirtieth playoff series between these two rivals, with Montreal winning twenty-two of the twenty-nine previous series. They last met in the 2002 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, where Montreal won in six games. Boston won the season series earning seven of ten points during this year's five game regular season series.
The Canadiens overcame a 3–1 series deficit to eliminate the Bruins in seven games. In game one, the Bruins won a low scoring game 3–0, behind a 31-save shutout from goaltender Andrew Raycroft. In game two, Raycroft allowed one goal and Boston won the game 2–1. Montreal won game three, 3–2 on the back of two goals from Alexei Kovalev. The Canadiens were pushed to the brink of elimination with a 4–3 double-overtime loss in game four. Montreal won game five by a score of 5–1, scoring three third period goals to break open a close game. Montreal forced a seventh game with a 5–2 victory in game six. Montreal completed the comeback with a 2–0 victory in game seven, Richard Zednik scored both goals. Goaltender Jose Theodore shut-out the Bruins making 32 saves.
(3) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (6) New Jersey Devils
The Philadelphia Flyers entered the playoffs as the Atlantic Division champions, earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference with 101 points. New Jersey qualified as the sixth seed earning 100 points during the regular season. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with New Jersey winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 2000 Eastern Conference Final where New Jersey won in seven games. Philadelphia won the season series earning seven of twelve points during this year's six game regular season series.
Philadelphia defeated New Jersey in five games. Keith Primeau scored the game-winning goal in game one as the Flyers hung on to win by a score of 3–2. In game two Mark Recchi gave the Flyers the lead on a power-play goal in the first period, the teams traded goals in the final two periods as Philadelphia won again 3–2. New Jersey scored three times on the power-play in game three as they won the game 4–2. Goaltender Robert Esche stopped 35 shots in game four to earn a 3–0 shutout victory for the Flyers. Danny Markov scored the series winning goal at 14:37 of the third period in game five as the Flyers defeated the Devils with a 3–1 victory.
(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Ottawa Senators The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 103 points. Ottawa qualified as the fifth seed earning 102 points during the regular season. This was the fourth playoff series in five years between these two teams, and the fourth series overall, Toronto won all three previous meetings. They last met in the 2002 Eastern Conference semifinals where Toronto won in seven games. Toronto won this year's six game regular season series earning nine of twelve points during the season.
The Maple Leafs eliminated the Senators in seven games. Ed Belfour had three shutouts in the series against the Senators. In game one Ottawa scored two power-play goals 38 seconds apart in the second period to pull out a 4–2 victory. The Maple Leafs came through with 2–0 win on the strength of a 31-save shutout by Belfour in game two. Toronto won game three 2–0 as Ed Belfour shutout Ottawa again. Ottawa finally scored late in the first period of game four and they would add three more goals to win the game 4–1. Tie Domi scored the game-winning goal in game five and Ed Belfour posted his third shutout of the series in yet another 2–0 Toronto victory. Ottawa won game six 2–1 in double-overtime as Mike Fisher scored at 1:47. In game seven, Ottawa goaltender Patrick Lalime gave up two goals to Joe Nieuwendyk before being pulled after the first period and replaced by backup Martin Prusek, as Toronto earned a series-clinching 4–1 win. This was the Maple Leafs' last postseason series win until 2023, and remains the last time they won the seventh game of a playoff series.
Western Conference quarterfinals
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Nashville Predators
This was the first playoff meeting between the Red Wings and Predators. The Red Wings entered the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners, the Western Conference regular season and Central Division champions, with 109 points. The Predators qualified as the eighth seed earning 91 points (losing the tiebreaker to St. Louis by having fewer wins) during the regular season. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The Predators qualified for the playoffs for the first time since entering the league in the 1998–99 season. Nashville won the season series earning seven of twelve points during this year's six game regular season series.
Detroit defeated Nashville in six games. In Game 1, the Red Wings scored three times in the third period and posted a 3–1 victory. Mathieu Schneider scored the game-winning goal late in third period on the power-play in game two. Nashville struck twice in the first period of game three and Tomas Vokoun made 41 saves in the Predators first playoff victory in franchise history. Detroit heavily out-shot Nashville in game four as Predators' goaltender Tomas Vokoun posted a 41 save shutout in a 3–0 Nashville win. In game five, Curtis Joseph started in goal for the Red Wings, and Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal and an assist in the first six minutes of the game as the Red Wings dominated the Predators, winning 4–1. Detroit scored two goals 30 seconds apart in game six and Curtis Joseph posted a shutout as the Red Wings closed out the series with a 2–0 win.
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) St. Louis Blues San Jose entered the playoffs as the Pacific Division champions, earning the second seed in the Western Conference with 104 points. St. Louis qualified as the seventh seed earning 91 points (winning the tiebreaker over Nashville by having more wins) during the regular season. This was the third playoff series between these two teams; they split the two previous meetings. They last met in the 2001 Western Conference quarterfinals where St. Louis won in six games. San Jose won this year's four game regular season series earning five of eight points during the season.
San Jose defeated the Blues in five games. Game one saw a defensive battle with San Jose winning the game 1–0, on the strength of a 26-save shutout from Evgeni Nabokov. Chris Osgood was equally strong in net for the Blues, but allowed a goal to Niko Dimitrakos in the first overtime. Nabokov gave up only one goal in game two, a 3–1 Sharks victory highlighted by Patrick Marleau's hat-trick. In game three the Blues used home-ice advantage to post a 4–1 victory getting a hat-trick from Mike Sillinger. The next night, in game four, saw a back-and-forth game that ultimately went to San Jose 4–3. With a chance to knock out the Blues at home in game five the Sharks did just that, winning 3–1.