![]() For the first time, the Conference Finals consisted exclusively of teams located in the Sun Belt, with the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, and the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. įor the fourth consecutive year, a Florida-based team reached the Stanley Cup Finals. Among these opening round road victories, the Florida Panthers overcame a 3–1 series deficit to upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in seven games, the Seattle Kraken defeated the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games to win their first playoff series, and the Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road in Game 6 to win their first series since the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. In addition, visiting teams in the First Round went 31–19 overall to set a new league record for the most road wins in a single round. This postseason marked the second consecutive and fourth time overall that the league played 50 or more games in the opening round of the playoffs since this round was changed to a best-of-seven format in 1987. For the first time since 1990 and second time since entering the NHL as expansion teams in the 1967–68 NHL season, both Pennsylvania-based teams (the Flyers and Penguins) missed the playoffs in the same season. All three New York metropolitan area teams (the Devils, Islanders and Rangers) made the playoffs in the same year for the first time since 2007. The Kraken also became the first NHL exclusive expansion team to make their first playoff appearance in their second season since the Atlanta Flames in 1974. The Seattle Kraken became the second fastest NHL expansion team since 1991 to qualify for the playoffs, after the Vegas Golden Knights, and the first to clinch their inaugural playoff appearance in their second season in the league since the Quebec Nordiques in 1981. As a result, this is the first time since 1976 that the longest active playoff streak was less than ten consecutive seasons. The longest active streak moved to the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs at seven consecutive seasons after the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals also had their eight-season playoff streaks end. The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005–06 NHL season, ending the NHL's longest active playoff streak at sixteen consecutive seasons. The Boston Bruins made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners after setting the league record for the most wins and points in a single regular season. The playoffs began on April 17, 2023, three days after the end of the regular season, and will end in June 2023 with the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals, to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup. The 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs is the ongoing playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2022–23 season. ![]()
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