2009 Stanley Cup playoffs

2009 Stanley Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 15–June 12, 2009
Teams	16
Defending champions	Detroit Red Wings
Final positions
Champions	Pittsburgh Penguins
Runner-up	Detroit Red Wings
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)	Evgeni Malkin (Penguins) (36 points)
MVP	Evgeni Malkin (Penguins)
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The 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 15, 2009, after the 2008–09 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference (the winner of each of the three divisions plus the five teams with highest point totals from the teams remaining), played a best-of-seven series for the conference quarterfinals, semifinals, and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup. The Columbus Blue Jackets made their first appearance in the playoffs in their nine-year history. Previously they had been the only franchise never to have made the playoffs. Also, home teams set a record by going 13–2 in the openers of all the series combined.

There were no playoff games played in the Province of Ontario as this was the first time that the modern Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs both missed the playoffs in the same year. This was the most recent time that the Carolina Hurricanes were in the playoffs until 2019.

The Stanley Cup Finals ended on June 12, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Penguins defeating the Detroit Red Wings four games to three to win their third Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. They became just the second team, after the 1970–71 Montreal Canadiens, to win the championship after losing the first two games of the series on the road.^[1]