The NHL Playoffs also called the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a hockey tournament played in the National Hockey League between the best teams during regular season matches.

The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the NHL playoffs. Division leaders are seeded #1, #2, and #3. The next five best teams were seeded fourth through eighth. Seeding is determined by: point total, wins, points obtained in games against tied teams and goal differential.

There are three rounds of playoffs in each conference (first round, conference semi finals and conference finals). The winner in these three rounds will be declared the Eastern or Western Conference Champion. In the final round, these two face off against each other for the Stanley Cup.

In the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals, teams are re-seeded according to the same criteria as the First Rounds, the highest remaining seeds play against the lowest remaining seeds.

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