2019 Stanley Cup playoffs

2019 Stanley Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 10 – June 12, 2019
Teams	16
Defending champions	Washington Capitals
Final positions
Champions	St. Louis Blues
Runner-up	Boston Bruins
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)	Brad Marchand (Bruins) and Ryan O’Reilly (Blues) (23 points)
MVP	Ryan O'Reilly (Blues)
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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 Finals.

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 post-season 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 in NHL history, all division winners were eliminated in the first round as all the wild-cards advanced to the second round.^[1] 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,^[2] 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.

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.