2014 Stanley Cup playoffs


The 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League for the 2013–14 season. They began on April 16, 2014, and ended June 13, 2014, when the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Rangers four games to one in the Stanley Cup Final. Prior to the season, the league realigned its teams into four divisions, and adopted a new modified divisional-based playoff structure: the top three teams in each division qualified for the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference.
The Boston Bruins made the playoffs as Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points during the regular season. The Detroit Red Wings increased their consecutive playoff appearance streak to 23 seasons, the longest streak at the time and the fifth-longest streak in NHL history. The Dallas Stars ended the league's third longest active playoff appearance drought, qualifying for the postseason for the first time in six years. For the first time since 1973, only one Canadian team qualified for the playoffs: the Montreal Canadiens. This was also the first time since the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs that no playoff games were played in Western Canada. For the third time in four years, all three California-based teams again made the playoffs. The Columbus Blue Jackets won their first franchise playoff game on April 19, 2014, and their first-ever franchise playoff home game at Nationwide Arena on April 23, 2014, both against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Three Original Six teams reached the conference finals, the first time this had occurred since 1979.
The first round featured leads changing hands more so than any previous year. After the Anaheim Ducks rallied from a 4–2 deficit to defeat the Dallas Stars in game six of their first-round series on April 27, 2014, an NHL record was broken for most multi-goal comebacks by all teams in the opening round, with ten. In all four rounds combined in the previous year's playoffs, there were only eight such victories. The San Jose Sharks became the fourth team in Stanley Cup playoff history to lose a series after holding a 3–0 lead; as the Los Angeles Kings came back to win the series in game seven of the first round on April 30, 2014.
On May 29, 2014, the Rangers became the first team ever to advance past the conference finals after playing two seven-game series in the opening two rounds. The Rangers also became the first captainless team to reach the finals since the Chicago Black Hawks in 1973. That same seven-game mark was eclipsed on June 1, 2014, as the Kings became the first team ever to reach the Stanley Cup Final after having played three consecutive seven-game series. Los Angeles played all three of their game sevens on the road. Game five of the Stanley Cup Final marked the 93rd game of the 2014 playoffs, eclipsing the previous single-year record 92 established in 1991; this remains the record for the most games played using a sixteen team playoff format. The record for most games played in a single year was broken during the expanded 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Kings tied the 1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2003–04 Calgary Flames, for most games played in one playoff year under a sixteen team playoff format. The record was subsequently broken by the 2019–20 Dallas Stars during the expanded 2020 playoffs.

Playoff seeds

The NHL adopted a new league alignment for the 2013–14 season, as the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets were moved to the Eastern Conference and the Winnipeg Jets to the Western Conference. The 16-team Eastern Conference was then divided into two 8-team divisions, while the 14-team Western Conference was divided into two 7-team divisions. As part of the realignment, the NHL also switched its former conference-based playoff structure to a divisional-based playoff structure. The top three teams from each division qualified for that conference's playoffs. The remaining two playoff spots in each conference were wild card teams, which were the top two clubs from each conference that failed to win a divisional playoff spot.
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

  1. Boston Bruins, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 117 points
  2. Tampa Bay Lightning – 101 points
  3. Montreal Canadiens – 100 points

    Metropolitan Division

  4. Pittsburgh Penguins, Metropolitan Division champions – 109 points
  5. New York Rangers – 96 points
  6. Philadelphia Flyers – 94 points

    Wild cards

  7. Columbus Blue Jackets – 93 points
  8. Detroit Red Wings – 93 points

    Western Conference

Central Division

  1. Colorado Avalanche, Central Division champions – 112 points
  2. St. Louis Blues – 111 points
  3. Chicago Blackhawks – 107 points

    Pacific Division

  4. Anaheim Ducks, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 116 points
  5. San Jose Sharks – 111 points
  6. Los Angeles Kings – 100 points

    Wild cards

  7. Minnesota Wild – 98 points
  8. Dallas Stars – 91 points

    Playoff bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format. The team with home-ice advantage played at home for games one and two, and the other team was at home for games three and four. 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 two teams from each division played each other in the other series, with the second-placed team having home-ice advantage. In the first two rounds, home-ice advantage was awarded to the team with the higher seed; in the last two rounds, it was awarded to the team with the better regular season record. Beginning in 2013–14, the NHL officially changed the names of the first two rounds of the playoffs from Conference quarterfinals/semifinals to First/Second round.

;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 – The first and second place teams in the Wild Card, respectively

    First round

Eastern Conference first round

(A1) Boston Bruins vs. (WC2) Detroit Red Wings

The Boston Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy earning the league's best record, with 117 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned 93 points during the regular season, losing the tiebreaker to Columbus in regulation + overtime wins, and entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's second wild card. This was the eighth playoff meeting for these Original Six teams, with Boston having won four of the seven previous series. They last met in the 1957 Stanley Cup semifinals, which Boston won in five games. The Red Wings won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Bruins eliminated the Red Wings in five games. In game one, Pavel Datsyuk scored the only goal with 3:01 left in Detroit's 1–0 victory, but Boston went on to win four straight contests to capture the series. Four different Bruins players scored goals in Boston's 4–1 win in game two. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask then stopped all 23 Detroit shots in a 3–0 victory in game three. In game four, Boston overcame a two-goal, second-period deficit, scoring three unanswered goals - including Jarome Iginla's game-winner at 13:32 of overtime to win 3–2. The Bruins clinched the series with a 4–2 win in game five, as Torey Krug recorded two assists, and Rask made 31 saves on 33 shots.

(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A3) Montreal Canadiens

The Tampa Bay Lightning finished second overall in the Atlantic Division, earning 101 points. The Montreal Canadiens earned 100 points during the regular season, to finish third overall in the Atlantic Division. This was the second playoff meeting for these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals, in which Tampa Bay swept Montreal out of the playoffs en route to their Stanley Cup victory. The Lightning won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Canadiens swept the Lightning, who were without their starting goalie Ben Bishop after he suffered an injury during the last few weeks of the regular season. With Anders Lindback in the Tampa Bay net, Steven Stamkos of the Lightning scored at 13:27 of the third period to tie game one, 4–4, before Montreal's Dale Weise won it at 18:08 of overtime. Rene Bourque scored two goals, and Carey Price stopped 26 out of 27 shots, in the Canadiens' 4–1 win in game two. At 15:38 of the second period of game three, Tampa Bay's Ryan Callahan appeared to give his team a 2–1 lead, but his goal was waved off as the officials ruled that there was contact between Alex Killorn and Price; Montreal's Brendan Gallagher then scored minutes later, and the Canadiens went on to win 3–2. Max Pacioretty then scored a power-play goal at 19:17 of the third period of game four to give Montreal the 4–3 win and the series.

(M1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (WC1) Columbus Blue Jackets

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished first in the Metropolitan Division, earning 109 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets earned 93 points during the regular season, and entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's first wild card, winning the tiebreaker over Detroit in regulation + overtime wins, making the post-season for the first time since 2009, and only the second time in the franchise's history. This was the first playoff meeting for these two teams. The Penguins won all five games in this year's regular season series.
The Blue Jackets recorded their first-ever playoff victories in team history, but the Penguins still managed to win the series in six games. The first five games in the series featured comebacks, including 3–1 leads evaporating into 4–3 losses in the first four games. In game one, Pittsburgh scored three unanswered goals, including Brandon Sutter's game winner 8:18 in the third period, to overcome a two-goal deficit to win, 4–3. Columbus then overcame a two-goal deficit in game two after Pittsburgh built their lead with Brian Gibbons scoring his first two playoff goals, including a short-handed one. Matt Calvert then scored both a short-handed goal and then the game-winner 1:10 into double overtime to give the Blue Jackets their first playoff victory in franchise history. Game three saw Brooks Orpik score his second ever playoff goal with less than two seconds remaining in the second period. The Blue Jackets would jump back up to a two-goal lead at the start of the third period, thanks to Cam Atkinson's first-ever playoff goal. But the Penguins scored three goals in a span of 2:13 in the third period, including Jussi Jokinen's game-winner at 8:06, for another 4–3 win. The Blue Jackets then overcame a three-goal deficit in game four to record a fourth 4–3 contest in this series, with Brandon Dubinsky tying the game with 24 seconds left in regulation after Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury mishandled the puck from behind his own net, allowing Ryan Johansen to fling the puck to a wide open Dubinsky. Nick Foligno then scored the game-winner at 2:49 into overtime, which gave the Blue Jackets their first home playoff victory in team history. But Fleury rebounded in game five, making 23 saves out of 24 shots in Pittsburgh's 3–1 win. Columbus lost despite spectacular play by Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 48 of 50 shots but did not receive the goal support needed to win. In game six, Evgeni Malkin's second career playoff hat trick helped the Penguins build a 4–0 lead, but they had to withstand a late comeback attempt by the Blue Jackets, who scored three unanswered goals in a span of five minutes late in the third period, to hold on to the 4–3 victory.