Logo for 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 11, 2012, after the conclusion of the 2011–12 NHL regular season. The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals started on May 30 and ended on June 11, with the Los Angeles Kings winning their first title. This marked only the second time since the 1996 playoffs in which all teams based in Canadian cities were eliminated in the first round.
Playoff seeds[]
After the regular season, the standard 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The Vancouver Canucks were the Western Conference regular season champions and Presidents' Trophy winners with 111 points. The New York Rangers were the Eastern Conference regular season champions, finishing the season with 109 points. The Florida Panthers made the playoffs for the first time since 2000, ending the NHL's longest postseason drought streak. The Los Angeles Kings became only the second eighth-seeded team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, after the 2005–06 Edmonton Oilers, who lost the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.
Eastern Conference[]
- New York Rangers – Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference regular season champions – 109 points
- Boston Bruins – Northeast Division champions – 102 points
- Florida Panthers – Southeast Division champions – 94 points
- Pittsburgh Penguins – 108 points
- Philadelphia Flyers – 103 points
- New Jersey Devils – 102 points
- Washington Capitals – 92 points (38 regulation + overtime wins)
- Ottawa Senators – 92 points (35 regulation + overtime wins)
Western Conference[]
- Vancouver Canucks – Northwest Division and Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 111 points
- St. Louis Blues – Central Division champions – 109 points
- Phoenix Coyotes – Pacific Division champions – 97 points
- Nashville Predators – 104 points
- Detroit Red Wings – 102 points
- Chicago Blackhawks – 101 points
- San Jose Sharks – 96 points
- Los Angeles Kings – 95 points
Playoff bracket[]
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage. In the Stanley Cup Final series, home ice is determined based on regular season points. Each best-of-seven series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team plays at home for games one and two (plus five and seven if necessary), and the lower-seeded team is at home for games three and four (and if necessary, game six).
| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Stanley Cup Final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York Rangers | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Ottawa Senators | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York Rangers | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Washington Capitals | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Washington Capitals | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York Rangers | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | New Jersey Devils | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Florida Panthers | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | New Jersey Devils | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | New Jersey Devils | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E6 | New Jersey Devils | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| W8 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vancouver Canucks | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | St. Louis Blues | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | St. Louis Blues | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | San Jose Sharks | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Phoenix Coyotes | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Phoenix Coyotes | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Chicago Blackhawks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Phoenix Coyotes | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Nashville Predators | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Nashville Predators | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Conference Quarterfinals[]
The conference quarterfinals featured an NHL-record 16 overtime games.[1]
One of the other major headlines during the conference quarterfinals were the number of suspensions and fines handed by the league.[2] However, several players, coaches and writers complained about the lack of consistency that Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations, was handing out these fines and suspensions. (for each specific fine or suspension, see each series summary below)
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals[]
(1) New York Rangers vs. (8) Ottawa Senators[]
The New York Rangers entered the playoffs as the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 109 points. The Ottawa Senators earned 92 points during the regular season to finish eighth overall in the Eastern Conference. This is the first playoff series between these two teams. Ottawa won three of the games in this year's four-game regular season series.
The first few games of the series was overshadowed by penalties drawn between the two teams. Senators' head coach Paul MacLean responded to Rangers' checking center Brian Boyle roughing with defenseman Erik Karlsson in Game 1 by adding enforcers Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner for Game 2.[3] Konopka harried Boyle as he conducted a live TV interview during the pre-game warm-ups, earning himself and his club fines.[4] In addition, Carkner immediately attacked Boyle at the beginning of the game resulting in a five-minute major and game misconduct. The Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky was also ejected as the third man in on the altercation; he threw a Gatorade cooler as he exited.[3] Carkner received a one-game suspension for fighting an unwilling player. An unrelated incident in that same game resulted in New York's rookie skater Carl Hagelin receiving a three-game suspension for elbowing Ottawa's captain Daniel Alfredsson, prompting a question of ruling consistency by the New York Rangers.[5]
New York scored 4 goals in their 4–2 victory in Game 1, but Ottawa's Chris Neil scored 1:17 into overtime of Game 2. In Game 3, Boyle scored the lone goal in the Rangers' 1–0 win. The Senators then overcame a two-goal deficit in Game 4 to even the series with Kyle Turris's score 2:42 into overtime. Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson stopped all 41 shots in a 2–0 victory on the road in Game 5. But New York scored three goals in the second period in their 3–2 victory in Game 6, and then held on to a 2–1 win in Game 7.
The series featured the NHL debuts of three players – Chris Kreider for the Rangers in Game 3, Mark Stone for the Senators in Game 5, and Jakob Silfverberg for the Senators in Game 6.[6][7][8]
| April 12 | Ottawa Senators | 2–4 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 12:01 - Ryan Callahan (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 16:24 - Marian Gaborik (1) 19:06 - Brian Boyle (1) | ||||||
| Daniel Alfredsson (1) - 10:05 Erik Condra (1) - 17:41 |
Third period | 02:15 - Brad Richards (1) | ||||||
| Craig Anderson 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | Ottawa Senators | 3–2 | OT | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 10:11 - pp - Anton Stralman (1) | ||||||
| Erik Karlsson (1) - pp - 13:50 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nick Foligno (1) - 15:23 | Third period | 02:41 - Brian Boyle (2) | ||||||
| Chris Neil (1) - 01:17 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Craig Anderson 27 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 29 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | New York Rangers | 1–0 | Ottawa Senators | Scotiabank Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brian Boyle (3) - 07:35 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 39 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Craig Anderson 22 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | New York Rangers | 2–3 | OT | Ottawa Senators | Scotiabank Place | Recap | ||
| Anton Stralman (2) - pp - 00:49 Ryan Callahan (2) - pp - 06:10 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:04 - Milan Michalek (1) 17:50 - pp - Sergei Gonchar (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 02:42 - Kyle Turris (1) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Craig Anderson 31 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | Ottawa Senators | 2–0 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Jason Spezza (1) - 09:18 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jason Spezza (2) - en - 19:04 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Craig Anderson 41 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 28 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 23 | New York Rangers | 3–2 | Ottawa Senators | Scotiabank Place | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 07:05 - pp - Chris Neil (2) | ||||||
| Derek Stepan (1) - pp - 08:55 Brad Richards (2) - pp - 17:08 Chris Kreider (1) - 19:19 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:21 - Jason Spezza (3) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 25 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Craig Anderson 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| April 26 | Ottawa Senators | 1–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Daniel Alfredsson (2) - pp - 11:34 | Second period | 04:46 - Marc Staal (1) 09:04 - Daniel Girardi (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Craig Anderson 27 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| New York won series 4–3 | |
(2) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Washington Capitals[]
The Boston Bruins, the defending 2011 Stanley Cup champions, entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Northeast Division with 102 points. The Washington Capitals earned 92 points during the regular season to finish seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. This is the third playoff series between these two teams, with each team having won one of the previous playoff series. The most recent series between these teams was the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which was won by Washington in six games. Washington won three of the games in this year's four-game regular season series.
This was the first ever playoff series in NHL history in which all seven games were decided by only one goal.[9] In addition, four of these games were decided in overtime. Rookie Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, who started in place of injured regulars Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, allowed only two goals in the first two games, matching his Bruins counterpart Tim Thomas.[10] Thomas recorded a shutout in Boston's 1–0 overtime victory in Game 1. In Game 2, the Capitals battled back with a double overtime thriller when forward Nicklas Backstrom scored early in the second overtime period. The Bruins' 4–3 win in Game 3 was followed by Backstrom getting suspended for one game after his post-game cross-check on Bruins forward Rich Peverley.[11] Even without Backstrom, the Capitals evened the series with a 2–1 victory in Game 4. Washington's Troy Brouwer then scored the winning goal on a power play with 1:27 left in regulation of Game 5.[12] Boston, facing elimination, went to Washington and managed to extend the series with Tyler Seguin's score in overtime of Game 6.[12] Game 7 started with Washington forward Matt Hendricks deflecting the puck past Thomas. The Bruins answered with a shot that snuck behind Holtby and Tyler Seguin finding the puck and putting it in, but Washington's Joel Ward scored in overtime to give Washington a 2–1 victory in Game 7 and eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins. With Washington's victory in the series, Holtby became just the third rookie goaltender in NHL history to defeat the reigning Stanley Cup champions.[13]
| April 12 | Washington Capitals | 0–1 | OT | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 01:18 - Chris Kelly (1) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 29 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Tim Thomas 17 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | Washington Capitals | 2–1 | 2OT | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Troy Brouwer (1) - 17:57 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 12:13 - Benoit Pouliot (1) | ||||||
| Nicklas Backstrom (1) - 02:56 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 43 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Tim Thomas 37 saves / 39 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | Boston Bruins | 4–3 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 16:00 - pp - Alexander Semin (1) | ||||||
| Rich Peverley (1) - 00:35 Daniel Paille (1) - 09:38 |
Second period | 00:48 - Alexander Ovechkin (1) | ||||||
| Brian Rolston (1) - 01:02 Zdeno Chara (1) - 18:07 |
Third period | 14:00 - Brooks Laich (1) | ||||||
| Tim Thomas 29 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 25 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Boston Bruins | 1–2 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
| Rich Peverley (2) - 13:12 | First period | 01:22 - Marcus Johansson (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 18:43 - pp - Alexander Semin (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tim Thomas 19 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 44 saves / 45 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | Washington Capitals | 4–3 | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Semin (3) - 11:16 Jay Beagle (1) - 14:27 |
Second period | 17:21 - Dennis Seidenberg (1) 17:49 - Brad Marchand (1) | ||||||
| Mike Knuble (1) - 03:21 Troy Brouwer (2) - pp - 18:33 |
Third period | 08:47 - pp - Johnny Boychuk (1) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 34 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Tim Thomas 28 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| April 22 | Boston Bruins | 4–3 | OT | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | ||
| Rich Peverley (3) - 05:56 David Krejci (1) - pp - 16:48 |
First period | 09:47 - Mike Green (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 19:18 - Jason Chimera (1) | ||||||
| Andrew Ference (1) - 11:57 | Third period | 15:08 - Alexander Ovechkin (2) | ||||||
| Tyler Seguin (1) - 03:17 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tim Thomas 36 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 27 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| April 25 | Washington Capitals | 2–1 | OT | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | Recap | ||
| Matt Hendricks (1) - 11:23 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 14:27 - Tyler Seguin (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joel Ward (1) - 02:57 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Tim Thomas 25 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| Washington won series 4–3 | |
(3) Florida Panthers vs. (6) New Jersey Devils[]
The Florida Panthers entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Southeast Division with 94 points. The New Jersey Devils earned 102 points during the regular season to finish sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. This is the second playoff series between these two teams, with New Jersey having swept the 2000 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the last time the Panthers qualified for the playoffs. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.
In the first two games of the series, the winner scored the first three goals. In Game 1, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur won his 100th career playoff game, only the second netminder after Patrick Roy to do so, as New Jersey won 3–2.[14] The Panthers' 4–2 win in Game 2 was their first playoff win since April 17, 1997, and ended a streak of nine straight defeats in a 15-year span.[15] Game 3 saw both starting goaltenders pulled from the game. Florida's Jose Theodore surrendered three goals in the first period before being replaced by Scott Clemmensen, appearing in only his second playoff game. Brodeur was then pulled after the Panthers rallied to tie the game in the second period en route to 4–3 win. This was the first time since Game 1 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Carolina Hurricanes that Brodeur was pulled in a postseason game, which coincidentally marked Clemmensen's playoff debut.[16] Brodeur bounced back in Game 4 and broke another one of Roy's records with his 24th career playoff shutout, as the Devils beat the Panthers, 4–0. But Theodore responded with his second career postseason shutout, as the Panthers took a 3–2 series lead with a 3–0 victory in Game 5.[17] The Devils then tied the series with Travis Zajac's winning goal 5:39 into the overtime of Game 6.[18] New Jersey's Adam Henrique then scored two goals in Game 7, including the series-winning goal with 3:47 left in double overtime, to defeat Florida, 3–2.[19]
| April 13 | New Jersey Devils | 3–2 | Florida Panthers | BankAtlantic Center | Recap | |||
| Patrik Elias (1) - 06:31 Dainius Zubrus (1) - pp - 14:11 Ryan Carter (1) - 14:56 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:44 - Sean Bergenheim (1) 15:42 - pp - Kris Versteeg (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 35 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | New Jersey Devils | 2–4 | Florida Panthers | BankAtlantic Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:23 - pp - Stephen Weiss (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:12 - pp - Stephen Weiss (2) 14:39 - Marcel Goc (1) | ||||||
| Travis Zajac (1) - 00:48 Ilya Kovalchuk (1) - 02:02 |
Third period | 19:59 - en - Tomas Fleischmann (1) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 20 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 23 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Florida Panthers | 4–3 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| Sean Bergenheim (2) - pp - 16:11 Jason Garrison (1) - pp - 19:52 |
First period | 00:33 - Zach Parise (1) 03:27 - Stephen Gionta (1) 06:16 - pp - Patrik Elias (2) | ||||||
| Mike Weaver (1) - 02:18 Brian Campbell (1) - pp - 06:34 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jose Theodore 3 saves / 6 shots Scott Clemmensen 19 saves / 19 shots |
Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 9 saves / 12 shots Johan Hedberg 13 saves / 14 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Florida Panthers | 0–4 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 06:08 - pp - Zach Parise (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 02:02 - Steve Bernier (1) 03:35 - Travis Zajac (2) 08:32 - pp - Ilya Kovalchuk (2) | ||||||
| Scott Clemmensen 23 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 26 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | New Jersey Devils | 0–3 | Florida Panthers | BankAtlantic Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:00 - pp - Kris Versteeg (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:17 - Scottie Upshall (1) 19:26 - en - Tomas Kopecky (1) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 30 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| April 24 | Florida Panthers | 2–3 | OT | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 16:37 - Steve Bernier (2) | ||||||
| Kris Versteeg (3) - 07:05 Sean Bergenheim (3) - 12:49 |
Second period | 04:21 - pp - Ilya Kovalchuk (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 05:39 - Travis Zajac (3) | ||||||
| Scott Clemmensen 39 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 14 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| April 26 | New Jersey Devils | 3–2 | 2OT | Florida Panthers | BankAtlantic Center | Recap | ||
| Adam Henrique (1) - 01:29 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Stephen Gionta (2) - 09:15 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:02 - pp - Stephen Weiss (3) 16:32 - pp - Marcel Goc (2) | ||||||
| Adam Henrique (2) - 03:47 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 43 saves / 45 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 33 saves / 36 shots | ||||||
| New Jersey won series 4–3 | |
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers[]
The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 108 points. The Philadelphia Flyers earned 103 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. This is the sixth playoff series between these two teams, with Philadelphia having won three of the five previous playoff series. In the most recent matchup in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Penguins defeated the Flyers in six games. Philadelphia won four of the games in this year's six-game regular season series. The Penguins entered the series as the favourites, with many hockey commentators predicting them to be the Stanley Cup champions.[20]
However, the Flyers won the first three games of the series en route to eliminating the Penguins in six games. Pittsburgh struggled defensively, giving up eight goals in each of Games 2 and 3.[21] The Penguins did however score 10 goals in their Game 4 win, becoming the first team to do so in a playoff game since the Wayne Gretzky-led Los Angeles Kings scored 12 in the 1990 Smythe Division Semifinals against the Calgary Flames. The Flyers' goaltending flaws resurfaced in that game, with neither Ilya Bryzgalov nor Sergei Bobrovsky able to stop the Penguins' torrid shooting.[22] Again facing elimination, Pittsburgh went on to win Game 5, 3–2, in the lowest scoring game of the series.[23] But Philadelphia rebounded to eliminate Pittsburgh in Game 6 by the score of 5–1.[24]
Game 3 was overshadowed by a flurry of penalties drawn between the two teams, reminiscent of their penultimate regular season meeting on April 1. Three Penguins players drew suspensions. Arron Asham was suspended four games for a cross-check on Brayden Schenn,[25] Craig Adams was suspended one game for instigating a fight,[26] and James Neal was suspended one game for charging Claude Giroux.[27] Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma was fined $10,000 because of Adams' instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the game.
The 45 goals scored through the first four games set an NHL record for goals in the first four games of a seven-game series. A total of 56 goals were scored over the course of the entire series.[28]
| April 11 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4–3 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 03:43 - Sidney Crosby (1) 07:49 - Tyler Kennedy (1) 19:23 - Pascal Dupuis (1) | ||||||
| Daniel Briere (1) - 06:22 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Daniel Briere (2) - 09:17 Brayden Schenn (1) - pp - 12:23 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jakub Voracek (1) - 02:23 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ilya Bryzgalov 25 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 13 | Philadelphia Flyers | 8–5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
| Maxime Talbot (1) - sh - 12:44 | First period | 00:15 - Sidney Crosby (2) 09:27 - pp - Chris Kunitz (1) 19:42 - Paul Martin (1) | ||||||
| Claude Giroux (1) - pp - 05:11 Claude Giroux (2) - sh - 11:04 Sean Couturier (1) - 19:57 |
Second period | 11:10 - pp - Chris Kunitz (2) | ||||||
| Sean Couturier (2) - 01:21 Jaromir Jagr (1) - 09:13 Sean Couturier (3) - 18:11 Claude Giroux (3) - en - 19:53 |
Third period | 01:04 - Tyler Kennedy (2) | ||||||
| Ilya Bryzgalov 23 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 4–8 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| Jordan Staal (1) - 03:52 James Neal (1) - 15:17 |
First period | 06:44 - sh - Maxime Talbot (2) 08:19 - pp - Daniel Briere (3) 11:45 - Daniel Briere (4) 15:40 - Matt Read (1) | ||||||
| James Neal (2) - pp - 10:31 Jordan Staal (2) - 15:40 |
Second period | 14:18 - pp - Matt Read (2) 19:14 - pp - Wayne Simmonds (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:27 - Claude Giroux (4) 17:14 - pp - Maxime Talbot (3) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 28 shots Brent Johnson 4 saves / 6 shots |
Goalie stats | Ilya Bryzgalov 31 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 10–3 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| Evgeni Malkin (1) - 03:37 Matt Niskanen (1) - pp - 08:05 Sidney Crosby (3) - 16:19 Jordan Staal (3) - 17:29 |
First period | 01:16 - pp - Claude Giroux (5) 15:06 - pp - Kimmo Timonen (1) 15:52 - pp - Jakub Voracek (2) | ||||||
| Kristopher Letang (1) - pp - 03:07 Jordan Staal (4) - pp - 07:21 Steve Sullivan (1) - pp - 10:55 Pascal Dupuis (2) - 14:59 Jordan Staal (5) - 16:03 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Evgeni Malkin (2) - 04:04 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Ilya Bryzgalov 13 saves / 18 shots Sergei Bobrovsky 13 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| April 20 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
| Matt Carle (1) - pp - 11:45 Scott Hartnell (1) - pp - 17:35 |
First period | 14:51 - pp - Steve Sullivan (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 06:15 - Jordan Staal (6) 09:53 - Tyler Kennedy (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ilya Bryzgalov 20 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 22 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1–5 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:32 - Claude Giroux (6) 13:01 - pp - Scott Hartnell (2) | ||||||
| Evgeni Malkin (3) - pp - 08:34 | Second period | 05:25 - Erik Gustafsson (1) 09:10 - Daniel Briere (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:52 - en - Brayden Schenn (2) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 18 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Ilya Bryzgalov 30 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| Philadelphia won series 4–2 | |
Western Conference Quarterfinals[]
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (8) Los Angeles Kings[]
The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions and Presidents' Trophy winners, earning 111 points. The Los Angeles Kings qualified for the postseason as the eighth seed with 95 points. This is the fifth playoff series between these two teams, the two teams each having won two of the previous playoff series. The most recent matchup occurred in the 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where the Canucks defeated the Kings in six games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series. The Canucks entered the series as the favourites, with many hockey commentators predicting them to be the Western Conference champions.[20]
However, the Kings won the first three games of the series en route to eliminating the Canucks in five games. Vancouver struggled offensively, while Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick only allowed eight goals in the series, including a shutout in Game 3.[29] The Canucks' Byron Bitz was suspended for two games after boarding the Kings' Kyle Clifford in Game 1.[30] Cory Schneider then replaced Roberto Luongo as Vancouver's starting goaltender for Game 3, prompting speculation that Luongo might be traded after the season.[31] Game 4 saw the return of Vancouver's Daniel Sedin, in his first appearance since suffering a concussion on March 21. He had an assist in the Canucks' 3–1 victory in Game 4, and the team avoided becoming the first Presidents' Trophy winner to be swept in a conference quarterfinal series.[32] However, Vancouver became the sixth Presidents' Trophy winner to lose in the first round after their 2–1 overtime loss in Game 5, the only overtime game of the series.[33] Los Angeles moved on to the second round for the first time since 2001.
| April 11 | Los Angeles Kings | 4–2 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Arena | Recap | |||
| Mike Richards (1) - pp - 13:31 | First period | 04:17 - Alexandre Burrows (1) | ||||||
| Willie Mitchell (1) - pp - 16:33 | Second period | 19:52 - Alexander Edler (1) | ||||||
| Dustin Penner (1) - 16:46 Dustin Brown (1) - en -19:42 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Roberto Luongo 35 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
| April 13 | Los Angeles Kings | 4–2 | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Arena | Recap | |||
| Dustin Brown (2) - sh - 19:51 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dustin Brown (3) - sh - 05:17 | Second period | 00:17 - Jannik Hansen (1) | ||||||
| Jarret Stoll (1) - pp - 08:30 Trevor Lewis (1) - 14:51 |
Third period | 16:22 - Samuel Pahlsson (1) | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 46 saves / 48 shots | Goalie stats | Roberto Luongo 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Vancouver Canucks | 0–1 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 06:30 - Dustin Brown (4) | ||||||
| Cory Schneider 19 saves / 20 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 41 saves / 41 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Vancouver Canucks | 3–1 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 13:00 - Anze Kopitar (1) | ||||||
| Alexander Edler (2) - pp - 04:07 Kevin Bieksa (1) - 08:36 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Henrik Sedin (1) - pp - 05:45 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cory Schneider 43 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| April 22 | Los Angeles Kings | 2–1 | OT | Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 14:04 - pp - Henrik Sedin (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brad Richardson (1) - 03:21 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jarret Stoll (2) - 04:27 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Cory Schneider 35 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| Los Angeles won series 4–1 | |
(2) St. Louis Blues vs. (7) San Jose Sharks[]
The St. Louis Blues entered the playoffs as the Central division champions, earning 109 points. The San Jose Sharks qualified for the postseason as the seventh seed with 96 points. This is the fourth playoff series between these two teams, with San Jose having won two of the three previous playoff series. The most recent matchup occurred in the 2004 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where the Sharks defeated the Blues in five games. St. Louis swept this year's four-game regular season series, outscoring San Jose by a combined score of 11–3. A large part of the Blues' success was the play of their goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, who both allowed a league low of 165 combined team goals, earning them the William M. Jennings Trophy.
The Blues began the playoffs with Halak on goal, partly based on his playoff experience playing for the Montreal Canadiens.[34] The Sharks took Game 1 off of Martin Havlat's goal in double overtime. Halak then suffered a lower-body injury early into Game 2,[35] but Elliott picked up where Halak left off in a Blues' 3–0 shutout, and subsequently allowed only 5 total San Jose goals in St. Louis' victories in Games 3, 4, and 5 to capture the series.
| April 12 | San Jose Sharks | 3–2 | 2OT | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Havlat (1) - pp - 06:02 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrew Desjardins (1) - 14:44 | Third period | 00:54 - Patrik Berglund (1) 07:28 - pp - Patrik Berglund (2) | ||||||
| Martin Havlat (2) - 03:34 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Antti Niemi 40 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Jaroslav Halak 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | San Jose Sharks | 0–3 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:31 - Vladimir Sobotka (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:49 - David Backes (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:35 - pp - Andy McDonald (1) | ||||||
| Antti Niemi 29 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Jaroslav Halak 12 saves / 12 shots Brian Elliott 17 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | St. Louis Blues | 4–3 | San Jose Sharks | HP Pavilion | Recap | |||
| Patrik Berglund (3) - pp - 14:31 | First period | 16:45 - pp - Brent Burns (1) | ||||||
| Andy McDonald (2) - 01:01 Jason Arnott (1) - pp - 10:06 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Steen (1) - pp - 00:59 | Third period | 16:58 - Colin White (1) 19:43 - Logan Couture (1) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Antti Niemi 23 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | St. Louis Blues | 2–1 | San Jose Sharks | HP Pavilion | Recap | |||
| B.J. Crombeen (1) - 07:12 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andy McDonald (3) - pp - 12:00 | Third period | 18:53 - Joe Thornton (1) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 24 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Antti Niemi 22 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | San Jose Sharks | 1–3 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Thornton (2) - 19:19 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:16 - Jamie Langenbrunner (1) 12:01 - David Perron (1) 19:21 - en - Andy McDonald (4) | ||||||
| Antti Niemi 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 26 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| St. Louis won series 4–1 | |
(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs. (6) Chicago Blackhawks[]
The Phoenix Coyotes entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference by winning the Pacific Division with 97 points. The Chicago Blackhawks earned 101 points during the regular season to finish sixth overall in the Western Conference. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Phoenix won three of the games in this year's four-game regular season series.
This became only the second playoff series in NHL history in which the first five games went into overtime, the first being the 1951 Stanley Cup Finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens.[36] Games 1 and 2 both saw the Blackhawks score the tying goal with less than 30 second left in regulation.
In Game 2, Chicago's Andrew Shaw was ejected, and later suspended for three games, after hitting Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith in the head. Smith laid on the ice for five minutes but remained in that game. Then in Game 3, the Coyotes' Raffi Torres hit the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa in the open ice. Hossa was carted out on a stretcher. Torres left his feet, Hossa did not have the puck when Torres hit him, and Torres did not receive a penalty during the game, Torres was later suspended for 25 games and next season's preseason games.[37] The hit violated three rules: interference, charging, and hit to the head.
Game 6 ended up being one-sided as Smith shutout the Blackhawks, 4–0, and the Coyotes won their first playoff series since moving from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996, and the first one in franchise history since 1987.
| April 12 | Chicago Blackhawks | 2–3 | OT | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | ||
| Jonathan Toews (1) - 04:04 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:38 - Taylor Pyatt (1) 17:27 - Antoine Vermette (1) | ||||||
| Brent Seabrook (1) - 19:45 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 09:29 - Martin Hanzal (1) | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 31 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 43 saves / 45 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | Chicago Blackhawks | 4–3 | OT | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | ||
| Bryan Bickell (1) - pp - 03:05 | First period | 08:52 - Raffi Torres (1) 13:44 - pp - Antoine Vermette (2) | ||||||
| Brandon Bollig (1) - 06:57 | Second period | 08:41 - pp - Antoine Vermette (3) | ||||||
| Patrick Sharp (1) - 19:54 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bryan Bickell (2) - 10:36 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 30 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 46 saves / 50 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Phoenix Coyotes | 3–2 | OT | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 19:31 - Andrew Brunette (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Rostislav Klesla (1) - 08:16 Ray Whitney (1) - 09:21 |
Third period | 08:49 - Michael Frolik (1) | ||||||
| Mikkel Boedker (1) - 13:15 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Smith 35 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| April 19 | Phoenix Coyotes | 3–2 | OT | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Shane Doan (1) - 07:03 Taylor Pyatt (2) - 07:47 |
Third period | 10:25 - Brendan Morrison (1) 18:34 - Michael Frolik (2) | ||||||
| Mikkel Boedker (2) - 02:15 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Smith 30 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 16 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| April 21 | Chicago Blackhawks | 2–1 | OT | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:46 - Gilbert Brule (1) | ||||||
| Nick Leddy (1) - 09:15 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Toews (2) - 02:44 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Corey Crawford 18 saves / 19 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 36 saves / 38 shots | ||||||
| April 23 | Phoenix Coyotes | 4–0 | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson (1) - pp - 13:14 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gilbert Brule (2) - 02:24 Antoine Vermette (4) - pp - 13:04 Kyle Chipchura (1) - 14:56 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Smith 39 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 16 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| Phoenix won series 4–2 | |
(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings[]
The Nashville Predators entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Western Conference with 104 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned 102 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Western Conference. This is the third playoff series between these two teams, with Detroit having won both of the previous playoff series in six games, and the most recent matchup occurring in the 2008 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series.
The Predators defeated the Red Wings in five games, with four of them each being decided by only one goal. In the final seconds of Game 1, Nashville captain Shea Weber slammed Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg's head into the glass, cracking Zetterberg's helmet.[38] Weber was later fined $2,500 for the action with no suspension or further disciplinary action.[39][40] Although the Red Wings had one of the best home records in the league during the regular season with a 31–7–3 mark, the Predators won both Games 3 and 4 on the road, Nashville's first ever playoff victories at Joe Louis Arena.
| April 11 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–3 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 06:59 - Paul Gaustad (1) | ||||||
| Henrik Zetterberg (1) - pp - 02:29 | Second period | 12:29 - Gabriel Bourque (1) | ||||||
| Tomas Holmstrom (1) - pp - 17:53 | Third period | 11:35 - Gabriel Bourque (2) | ||||||
| Jimmy Howard 23 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 35 saves / 37 shots | ||||||
| April 13 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–2 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| Ian White (1) - 08:25 Cory Emmerton (1) - 15:33 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Johan Franzen (1) - 09:57 | Second period | 09:01 - Andrei Kostitsyn (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 15:16 - Shea Weber (1) | ||||||
| Jimmy Howard 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 14 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| April 15 | Nashville Predators | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Joe Louis Arena | Recap | |||
| Shea Weber (2) - pp - 02:48 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kevin Klein (1) - 03:50 | Second period | 15:03 - Pavel Datsyuk (1) | ||||||
| Sergei Kostitsyn (1) - 16:30 | Third period | 19:06 - pp - Henrik Zetterberg (2) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 41 saves / 43 shots | Goalie stats | Jimmy Howard 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| April 17 | Nashville Predators | 3–1 | Detroit Red Wings | Joe Louis Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gabriel Bourque (3) - 01:55 Kevin Klein (2) - 06:25 David Legwand (1) - pp - 19:21 |
Third period | 03:14 - pp - Jiri Hudler (1) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 40 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Jimmy Howard 14 saves / 17 shots | ||||||
| April 20 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–2 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 16:10 - Alexander Radulov (1) | ||||||
| Jiri Hudler (2) - 13:45 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:13 - David Legwand (2) | ||||||
| Jimmy Howard 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 21 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| Nashville won series 4–1 | |
Conference Semifinals[]
Eastern Conference Semifinals[]
(1) New York Rangers vs. (7) Washington Capitals[]
This was the seventh playoff series between the Rangers and the Capitals, with Washington having won four of the previous six playoff series. This also was the third series between these two teams in the last four seasons, with the previous two series occurring in the 2009 and 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Washington won 4–3 and 4–1, respectively. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.
New York eliminated Washington in seven games. In Game 1, the Rangers scored two goals within 1:30 in the third period to take a 3–1 victory. The Capitals then took Game 2, 3–2, after Alexander Ovechkin scored the game-winning power play goal with 7:27 left in the third period. Game 3 then ended at 14:41 of the third overtime with Marian Gaborik's goal to give New York a 2–1 win. This game was the 20th longest overtime game in NHL playoff history, the first 3OT game for the Rangers since 1971, and the longest overtime game in Rangers franchise history since 1939.[41][42] New York also snapped a streak of seven consecutive playoff overtime losses, their last playoff overtime win coming in 2007.[43] For Washington, it was the third-longest game in franchise history.[44]
Washington evened the series in Game 4 with Mike Green's power play goal with 5:48 remaining to give the Capitals a 2–1 win. In Game 5, with Washington leading 2–1 with 21.3 seconds remaining, Capitals forward Joel Ward took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Rangers forward Carl Hagelin, and on the ensuing power play New York forward Brad Richards scored the game-tying goal with 7.6 seconds left in regulation, the latest game-tying playoff goal in Rangers franchise history. The Rangers remained on the power play to start the overtime period, with Ward serving the second half of his double-minor, and Rangers defenseman Marc Staal scored the game-winning goal at 1:35 of OT, completing the comeback.[45] Washington rebounded in Game 6, winning 2–1 as goaltender Braden Holtby made 30 saves to force Game 7. Brad Richards scored 1:32 into the first period to give the Rangers an early 1–0 lead Game 7, then Michael Del Zotto scored in the third period to make it 2–0. Washington's Roman Hamrlik cut the score to 2–1 shortly after Del Zotto's goal, but the Capitals were unable to score another goal and lost the series. Through their first 14 games of the playoffs, the Rangers did not allow more than three goals in any of the games, setting an NHL record.
| April 28 | Washington Capitals | 1–3 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jason Chimera (2) - 19:56 | Second period | 12:38 - Artem Anisimov (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:00 - Chris Kreider (2) 08:30 - Brad Richards (3) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 11 saves / 14 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 17 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| April 30 | Washington Capitals | 3–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Mike Knuble (2) - 12:20 Jason Chimera (3) - 17:14 |
First period | 19:17 - Brad Richards (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alexander Ovechkin (3) - pp - 12:33 | Third period | 06:58 - pp - Michael Del Zotto (1) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 22 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| May 2 | New York Rangers | 2–1 | 3OT | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ryan Callahan (3) - pp - 06:41 | Second period | 11:10 - John Carlson (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marian Gaborik (2) - 14:41 | Third overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 45 saves / 46 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 47 saves / 49 shots | ||||||
| May 5 | New York Rangers | 2–3 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 12:43 - Alexander Ovechkin (4) | ||||||
| Artem Anisimov (2) - 01:10 Marian Gaborik (3) - 16:43 |
Second period | 11:54 - Nicklas Backstrom (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 14:12 - pp - Mike Green (2) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 23 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 18 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| May 7 | Washington Capitals | 2–3 | OT | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 10:44 - Anton Stralman (3) | ||||||
| Brooks Laich (2) - 08:15 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Carlson (2) - pp - 04:20 | Third period | 19:53 - pp - Brad Richards (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 01:35 - pp - Marc Staal (2) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 35 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 16 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| May 9 | New York Rangers | 1–2 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:28 - pp - Alexander Ovechkin (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:59 - Jason Chimera (4) | ||||||
| Marian Gaborik (4) - 19:09 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 21 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 30 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| May 12 | Washington Capitals | 1–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 01:32 - Brad Richards (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Roman Hamrlik (1) - 10:43 | Third period | 10:05 - Michael Del Zotto (2) | ||||||
| Braden Holtby 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 22 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| New York won series 4–3 | |
(5) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (6) New Jersey Devils[]
This was the fifth playoff series between these two teams, with each team having won two of the previous four playoff series. The most recent matchup occurred in the 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, where the Flyers defeated the Devils in five games. The Atlantic division rivals split this year's six-game regular season series.
The Devils defeated the Flyers in five games. In each game of the series, the team that scored first ended up losing.[46] Daniel Briere scored 4:36 into overtime of Game 1 to give Philadelphia its lone victory of the series by the score of 4–3. New Jersey then scored four third-period goals in a 4–1 victory in Game 2. Alexei Ponikarovsky's goal 17:21 into overtime defeated the Flyers, 4–3, in Game 3. Then in Game 4, the Devils scored four unanswered goals to overcome a 2–0 deficit to win, 4–2. And finally in Game 5, New Jersey scored two first-period goals 3:18 apart en route to a 3–1 victory to win the series.
| April 29 | New Jersey Devils | 3–4 | OT | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | ||
| Zach Parise (3) - 03:16 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Travis Zajac (4) - pp - 13:53 | Second period | 08:07 - Daniel Briere (6) 08:44 - James van Riemsdyk (1) | ||||||
| Petr Sykora (1) - 11:22 | Third period | 04:19 - pp - Claude Giroux (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 04:36 - Daniel Briere (7) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 32 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Ilya Bryzgalov 23 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| May 1 | New Jersey Devils | 4–1 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:53 - Matt Read (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Adam Larsson (1) - 03:08 David Clarkson (1) - 11:17 Travis Zajac (5) - 14:01 Bryce Salvador (1) - en - 17:09 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 20 shots | Goalie stats | Ilya Bryzgalov 31 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| May 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3–4 | OT | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | ||
| Brayden Schenn (3) - pp - 06:08 | First period | 12:33 - pp - Patrik Elias (3) 12:53 - Ilya Kovalchuk (4) | ||||||
| Matt Carle (2) - 04:44 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Daniel Briere (8) - 11:04 | Third period | 07:29 - Zach Parise (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 17:21 - Alexei Ponikarovsky (1) | ||||||
| Ilya Bryzgalov 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–4 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| Scott Hartnell (3) - pp - 11:50 Claude Giroux (8) - sh - 13:40 |
First period | 15:14 - pp - Petr Sykora (2) 18:09 - Marek Zidlicky (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 17:47 - Dainius Zubrus (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:15 - en - Dainius Zubrus (3) | ||||||
| Ilya Bryzgalov 39 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 20 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| May 8 | New Jersey Devils | 3–1 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
| Bryce Salvador (2) - 09:27 David Clarkson (2) - 12:45 |
First period | 07:18 - Maxime Talbot (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ilya Kovalchuk (5) - pp - 05:00 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 27 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Ilya Bryzgalov 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| New Jersey won series 4–1 | |
Western Conference Semifinals[]
(2) St. Louis Blues vs. (8) Los Angeles Kings[]
This was the third playoff series between these two teams, with St. Louis having swept Los Angeles out of both of the previous playoff series; the most recent matchup was in the 1998 Western Conference Quarterfinals. Los Angeles won three of the games in this year's four-game regular season series.
The Kings swept the Blues to advance to their first conference finals since 1993. Los Angeles scored 15 total goals in the series, while goaltender Jonathan Quick only allowed 6 total St. Louis goals. This series marked the first time in Kings history where they swept another team in a seven-game series, and the first time in NHL history the 8th seed defeated both the 1st and the 2nd seeds.
| April 28 | Los Angeles Kings | 3–1 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
| Vyacheslav Voynov (1) - 16:58 | First period | 09:16 - David Backes (2) | ||||||
| Matt Greene (1) - sh - 18:57 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dustin Penner (2) - en - 19:45 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 28 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 26 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| April 30 | Los Angeles Kings | 5–2 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
| Mike Richards (2) - 00:31 Anze Kopitar (2) - sh - 14:16 Jeff Carter (1) - 18:37 Anze Kopitar (3) - 19:43 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Justin Williams (1) - 01:26 | Second period | 00:18 - Andy McDonald (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:16 - Matt D'Agostini (1) | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 27 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 16 saves / 21 shots Jake Allen 0 saves / 0 shots | ||||||
| May 3 | St. Louis Blues | 2–4 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 13:33 - Justin Williams (2) | ||||||
| Chris Stewart (1) - 01:13 | Second period | 01:53 - Dwight King (1) 10:29 - pp - Mike Richards (3) | ||||||
| Chris Stewart (2) - 04:35 | Third period | 08:12 - Drew Doughty (1) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 18 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 18 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| May 6 | St. Louis Blues | 1–3 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| Kevin Shattenkirk (1) - 11:34 | First period | 04:36 - Jordan Nolan (1) 18:17 - Dustin Brown (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:34 - en - Dustin Brown (6) | ||||||
| Brian Elliott 16 saves / 18 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 23 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Los Angeles won series 4–0 | |
(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs. (4) Nashville Predators[]
This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.
The Coyotes defeated the Predators in five games to advance to their first ever conference finals in team history. This also marked the first time that Phoenix jumped to a 2–0 series lead since 1987.[47] Ray Whitney scored the overtime winner in the Coyotes' 4–3 victory in Game 1. In Game 2, four different Phoenix players each had a goal and an assist in their 5–3 win. The Predators bounced back in Game 3, with goaltender Pekka Rinne stopping all 32 shots in a 2–0 victory. Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith responded with a shutout of his own in Game 4, stopping 25 shots, while Shane Doan scoring the lone goal in a 1–0 Phoenix win. Smith then continued to hold Nashville scoreless until 14:01 of the third period of Game 5, and the Coyotes held on to a 2–1 victory to win the series. Nashville was without forwards Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn for Games 3 and 4, as the team suspended both players for breaking team curfew prior to Game 3.[48]
| April 27 | Nashville Predators | 3–4 | OT | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | ||
| Brandon Yip (1) - 14:09 | First period | 07:23 - pp - Radim Vrbata (1) | ||||||
| Andrei Kostitsyn (2) - 11:19 | Second period | 03:05 - Rostislav Klesla (2) 16:27 - Mikkel Boedker (3) | ||||||
| Martin Erat (1) - pp - 15:18 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | Ray Whitney (2) - 14:04 | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 20 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 39 saves / 42 shots | ||||||
| April 29 | Nashville Predators | 3–5 | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | |||
| Andrei Kostitsyn (3) - 17:13 | First period | 08:32 - Antoine Vermette (5) | ||||||
| Patric Hornqvist (1) - pp - 11:20 | Second period | 03:47 - Martin Hanzal (2) 07:05 - Radim Vrbata (2) 11:50 - Taylor Pyatt (3) | ||||||
| Ryan Suter (1) - pp - 00:53 | Third period | 03:36 - Shane Doan (2) | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 34 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 30 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| May 2 | Phoenix Coyotes | 0–2 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 08:10 - David Legwand (3) 09:16 - Mike Fisher (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Smith 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 32 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| May 4 | Phoenix Coyotes | 1–0 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
| Shane Doan (3) - 14:25 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Smith 25 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 23 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| May 7 | Nashville Predators | 1–2 | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 03:54 - Derek Morris (1) 15:09 - Martin Hanzal (3) | ||||||
| Colin Wilson (1) - 14:01 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pekka Rinne 15 saves / 17 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 32 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| Phoenix won series 4–1 | |
Conference Finals[]
- See also: NHL Conference Finals
Eastern Conference Finals[]
(1) New York Rangers vs. (6) New Jersey Devils[]
This is the sixth playoff series between these two teams, with New Jersey's only win coming from a sweep of the Rangers in the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Devils and the Rangers last met in the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which the Rangers won in five games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series. In 1994, the Rangers and the Devils also met in the Eastern Conference Finals, with New York prevailing in seven games, en route to winning the 1994 Stanley Cup. The Devils reached the Conference Finals for the first time since beating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, while the Rangers reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 1997, when they lost to rival Philadelphia Flyers.
The Rangers scored three unanswered goals in the third period, and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 21 New Jersey shots, to take Game 1, 3–0. In Game 2, David Clarkson's score early in the third period broke a 2–2 tie to give the Devils a 3–2 victory. Game 3 then ended up being similar to Game 1, as New York scored another three unanswered goals in the third period, and Lundqvist stopped all 37 New Jersey shots, en route to a second 3–0 win in this series. With his fifth goal of the playoffs in Game 3, Rangers rookie forward Chris Kreider set an NHL record for goals and points (5 goals, 7 points) for a player in the playoffs before his first regular season game.[49]
New Jersey then took Game 4, 4–1, as Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur made 28 saves and Zach Parise scored two goals. Game 5 ended up being a wild contest, as New Jersey scored three unanswered goals in the first period before New York tied it up early in the third period. Ryan Carter then scored at 15:36 of the third period, and Zach Parise added an empty-net goal, to give the Devils the 5–3 win. Adam Henrique's goal at 1:03 of overtime of Game 6 then gave New Jersey a 4-2 victory to win the series.
| May 14 | New Jersey Devils | 0–3 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 00:53 - Daniel Girardi (2) 12:00 - pp - Chris Kreider (3) 18:33 - en - Artem Anisimov (3) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 21 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 16 | New Jersey Devils | 3–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Ilya Kovalchuk (6) - pp - 13:39 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ryan Carter (2) - 18:09 | Second period | 02:23 - Marc Staal (3) 12:19 - pp - Chris Kreider (4) | ||||||
| David Clarkson (3) - 02:31 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 24 saves / 27 shots | ||||||
| May 19 | New York Rangers | 3–0 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Daniel Girardi (3) - pp - 03:19 Chris Kreider (5) - 05:16 Ryan Callahan (4) - en - 17:47 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 36 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | New York Rangers | 1–4 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 08:10 - Bryce Salvador (3) 11:59 - Travis Zajac (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ruslan Fedotenko (1) - 14:55 | Third period | 02:41 - pp - Zach Parise (5) 18:31 - en - Zach Parise (6) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 28 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| May 23 | New Jersey Devils | 5–3 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Stephen Gionta (3) - 02:43 Patrik Elias (4) - 04:13 Travis Zajac (7) - 09:49 |
First period | 15:41 - Brandon Prust (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 00:32 - Ryan Callahan (5) | ||||||
| Ryan Carter (3) - 15:36 Zach Parise (7) - en - 19:28 |
Third period | 00:17 - Marian Gaborik (5) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 12 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| May 25 | New York Rangers | 2–3 | OT | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 10:05 - Ryan Carter (4) 13:56 - pp - Ilya Kovalchuk (7) | ||||||
| Ruslan Fedotenko (2) - 09:47 Ryan Callahan (6) - 13:41 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 01:03 - Adam Henrique (3) | ||||||
| Henrik Lundqvist 25 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 33 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| New Jersey won series 4–2 | |
Western Conference Finals[]
(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs. (8) Los Angeles Kings[]
This is the first playoff series between these two franchises (including when the Coyotes were in Winnipeg). Each team won three games in this year's six-game regular season series. The Kings reached the Conference Finals for the first time since losing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens, while this marks the first Conference Finals appearance for the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, which made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1987.
The Kings defeated the Coyotes in five games, advancing to their first Cup Finals since 1993. Los Angeles out-shot Phoenix in Game 1, 48–27, en route to a 4–2 win. The Kings then shut the Coyotes out in Game 2, 4–0, as goaltender Jonathan Quick made 24 saves and Jeff Carter scored a hat trick. Los Angeles then overcame an early 1–0 deficit to take Game 3, 2–1. However, Shane Doan scored Phoenix's only two goals, and goaltender Mike Smith stopped all 36 shots, to give the Coyotes a 2–0 victory in Game 4 to extend the series. But Dustin Penner's goal at 17:42 of overtime of Game 5 gave the Kings a 4–3 victory to win the series. The Game 5 win extended the Kings' road playoff winning streak to ten games, eight of which came this season, both setting NHL playoff records. The Kings became only the second team to eliminate the top three seeds from the same postseason, after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames, and the second team at number 8 to get to the finals in the current format, after the Edmonton Oilers of 2005-06.
| May 13 | Los Angeles Kings | 4–2 | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | |||
| Anze Kopitar (4) - 03:53 | First period | 13:26 - Derek Morris (2) | ||||||
| Dwight King (2) - 08:02 | Second period | 18:05 - Mikkel Boedker (4) | ||||||
| Dustin Brown (7) - 02:11 Dwight King (3) - en - 19:12 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 25 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 44 saves / 47 shots | ||||||
| May 15 | Los Angeles Kings | 4–0 | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | |||
| Dwight King (4) - 13:15 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jeff Carter (2) - 04:47 Jeff Carter (3) - pp - 18:49 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jeff Carter (4) - pp - 12:56 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 24 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 36 saves / 40 shots | ||||||
| May 17 | Phoenix Coyotes | 1–2 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Daymond Langkow (1) - 01:03 | Second period | 03:10 - Anze Kopitar (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:47 - Dwight King (5) | ||||||
| Mike Smith 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 18 saves / 19 shots | ||||||
| May 20 | Phoenix Coyotes | 2–0 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| Shane Doan (4) - pp - 14:19 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Shane Doan (5) - 11:10 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Smith 36 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 19 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 22 | Los Angeles Kings | 4–3 | OT | Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | Recap | ||
| Anze Kopitar (6) - sh - 11:13 | First period | 04:20 - pp - Taylor Pyatt (4) | ||||||
| Drew Doughty (2) - 11:06 Mike Richards (4) - 13:43 |
Second period | 06:23 - Marc-Antoine Pouliot (1) 16:23 - Keith Yandle (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dustin Penner (3) - 17:42 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 38 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Mike Smith 47 saves / 51 shots | ||||||
| Los Angeles won series 4–1 | |
Stanley Cup Finals[]
This was the first playoff series between the Kings and the Devils. The Devils defeated the Kings in both games in this year's two-game regular season series. This was New Jersey's fifth appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, and their first since the 2003 Cup win over Los Angeles's rival Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games. This was Los Angeles's second Finals appearance; their only other appearance was a five-game Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. This combined seeds of the teams, 14, is the highest ever for a Stanley Cup Finals. On June 11, 2012, the Los Angeles Kings defeated New Jersey 4 games to 2 and won their first championship. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after posting a stellar 1.11 goals against average in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Los Angeles Kings became only the second eighth-seeded team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, after the 2005–06 Edmonton Oilers, who lost the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. As Los Angeles's regular-season point total (95 points) was less than New Jersey's (102 points), the Devils had home–ice advantage. The deciding game six saw New Jersey player, Steve Bernier, receive a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct in the first period for charging Los Angeles Kings' defenseman, Rob Scuderi, into the end boards. The ensuing five minute major saw the Los Angeles Kings score three unanswered goals to go up 3 - 0. This proved insurmountable for the New Jersey Devils to overcome and they eventually lost the final game, 6 - 1.
By winning the first two games on the road in Newark, New Jersey, the Los Angeles Kings set the single season consecutive playoff road winning record at ten. They also improved the record to twelve consecutive road wins going back to the 2011 NHL playoffs when they beat the San Jose Sharks the last two games played in San Jose.
| May 30 | Los Angeles Kings | 2–1 | OT | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | ||
| Colin Fraser (1) - 09:56 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 18:48 - Anton Volchenkov (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Anze Kopitar (7) - 08:13 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 17 saves / 18 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 23 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| June 2 | Los Angeles Kings | 2–1 | OT | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | ||
| Drew Doughty (3) - 07:49 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 02:59 - Ryan Carter (5) | ||||||
| Jeff Carter (5) - 13:42 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 32 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| June 4 | New Jersey Devils | 0–4 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:40 - Alec Martinez (1) 15:07 - Anze Kopitar (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:15 - pp - Jeff Carter (6) 06:47 - pp - Justin Williams (3) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 17 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 22 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| June 6 | New Jersey Devils | 3–1 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrik Elias (5) - 07:56 Adam Henrique (4) - 15:29 Ilya Kovalchuk (8) - en - 19:40 |
Third period | 08:56 - pp - Drew Doughty (4) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 21 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 21 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| June 9 | Los Angeles Kings | 1–2 | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 12:45 - pp - Zach Parise (8) | ||||||
| Justin Williams (4) - 03:26 | Second period | 09:05 - Bryce Salvador (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jonathan Quick 17 saves / 19 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| June 11 | New Jersey Devils | 1–6 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:03 - pp - Dustin Brown (8) 12:45 - pp - Jeff Carter (7) 15:01 - pp - Trevor Lewis (2) | ||||||
| Adam Henrique (5) - 18:45 | Second period | 01:30 - Jeff Carter (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:15 - en - Trevor Lewis (3) 16:30 - Matt Greene (2) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 17 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| Los Angeles won series 4–2 | |
Player statistics[]
Skaters[]
These are the top ten skaters based on points. If the list exceeds ten skaters because of a tie in points, goals take precedence, and all the tied skaters are shown.[50]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dustin Brown | align=left|Los Angeles Kings | 20 | 8 | 12 | 20 | +16 | 34 |
| Anze Kopitar | align=left|Los Angeles Kings | 20 | 8 | 12 | 20 | +16 | 9 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | align=left|New Jersey Devils | 23 | 8 | 11 | 19 | –7 | 6 |
| Claude Giroux | align=left|Philadelphia Flyers | 10 | 8 | 9 | 17 | +2 | 13 |
| Drew Doughty | align=left|Los Angeles Kings | 20 | 4 | 12 | 16 | +11 | 14 |
| Zach Parise | align=left|New Jersey Devils | 24 | 8 | 7 | 15 | –8 | 4 |
| Brad Richards | align=left|New York Rangers | 20 | 6 | 9 | 15 | –2 | 8 |
| Mike Richards | align=left|Los Angeles Kings | 20 | 4 | 11 | 15 | +1 | 17 |
| Justin Williams | align=left|Los Angeles Kings | 20 | 4 | 11 | 15 | +8 | 12 |
| Travis Zajac | align=left|New Jersey Devils | 24 | 7 | 7 | 14 | –6 | 4 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes
Goaltending[]
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[51]
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Quick | align=left|Los Angeles Kings | 20 | 16 | 4 | 538 | 29 | 1.41 | .946 | 3 | 1238:12 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | align=left|New York Rangers | 20 | 10 | 10 | 554 | 38 | 1.82 | .931 | 3 | 1250:49 |
| Braden Holtby | align=left|Washington Capitals | 14 | 7 | 7 | 459 | 30 | 1.95 | .935 | 0 | 921:56 |
| Mike Smith | align=left|Phoenix Coyotes | 16 | 9 | 7 | 602 | 34 | 1.99 | .944 | 3 | 1026:49 |
| Pekka Rinne | align=left|Nashville Predators | 10 | 5 | 5 | 296 | 21 | 2.07 | .929 | 1 | 609:14 |
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds)
Television[]
As part of the NHL's new American TV contract with NBC, this was the first time that all playoffs are aired nationally in the United States on NBC, NBC Sports Network, CNBC, and NHL Network.[52] American regional sports networks still carried their teams' first round games, but all games from the second round onward were exclusive to one of NBC's networks.[53]
After the completion of the Quarterfinals, the games on the NBC networks garnered the best ever TV rating for NHL games in the United States. The most watched Quarterfinals game ever was Game 6 between Boston and Washington.
References[]
- ↑ "NHL-Coyotes pounce in overtime to subdue Predators", Reuters, Chicago Tribune, April 28, 2012. Retrieved on April 29, 2012. “After an opening round that featured a record 16 games decided in overtime”
- ↑ NHL playoffs: Brendan Shanahan explains suspensions. Toronto Star (April 17, 2012). Retrieved on April 18, 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Carkner, Dubinsky ejected from Game 2 - Rangers vs Senators - 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com (April 15, 2012). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ NHL fines Sens' Konopka, club for pre-game conduct - Rangers vs Senators - 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com (April 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Rangers respond to Hagelin suspension - Rangers vs Senators - 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. NHL.com (April 15, 2012). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Rangers' Lundqvist makes 39 saves in 1–0 win. Yahoo! (April 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 24, 2012.
- ↑ Panzeri, Allen (April 22, 2012). Mark Stone makes winning impression in NHL debut. Senators Extra. Retrieved on April 24, 2012.
- ↑ Rangers down Senators to force Game 7. The Canadian Press. Sportsnet (April 23, 2012). Retrieved on April 24, 2012.
- ↑ Capitals stun Bruins in OT to win Game 7. NHL.com (April 25, 2012). Retrieved on April 26, 2012.
- ↑ Bruins, Caps shift to DC after splitting OT games – Bruins vs Capitals – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. NHL.com (April 15, 2012). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Capitals' Backstrom suspended for one game – Bruins vs Capitals – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Brouwer's late tally gives Caps 3–2 series lead. NHL.com (April 21, 2012). Retrieved on April 26, 2012.
- ↑ Golen, Jimmy. "NHL Playoffs: Bye, bye Bruins!", Theprovince.com, April 25, 2012. Retrieved on April 26, 2012.
- ↑ Martin Brodeur notches 100th playoff win. Prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com (April 13, 2012). Retrieved on April 15, 2012.
- ↑ Panthers get 1st playoff win since '97, top NJ 4–2. Yahoosports.com (April 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 17, 2012.
- ↑ Panthers vs. Devils – 04/17/2012 – New Jersey Devils – Recap. Devils.nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Florida Panthers at New Jersey Devils Game Recap – 04/19/2012. Nhl.com (April 23, 2009). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Florida Panthers at New Jersey Devils Game Recap – 04/24/2012. Nhl.com (April 24, 2012). Retrieved on April 24, 2012.
- ↑ New Jersey Devils at Florida Panthers Game Recap – 04/26/2012. Nhl.com (April 26, 2012). Retrieved on April 27, 2012.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 predicts 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Expert Picks – 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Five reasons the Flyers lead the Penguins 3–0 – Penguins vs Flyers – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com (April 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Flyers' goaltending problems surface again – Penguins vs Flyers – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Penguins stay alive by edging Flyers 3–2 – Penguins vs Flyers – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 22, 2012.
- ↑ Flyers overwhelm Pens, move on with Game 6 win – Penguins vs Flyers – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 22, 2012.
- ↑ Penguins' Asham Suspended for Four Games - Pittsburgh Penguins - News. Penguins.nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Penguins' Forward Adams Suspended for One Game; Head Coach Bylsma Fined $10,000 - Pittsburgh Penguins - News. Penguins.nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Penguins' Neal Suspended for One Game - Pittsburgh Penguins - News. Penguins.nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Richardson, Lyle (April 25, 2012). Puckin' Around With Spector : Looking Back on the Penguins-Flyers Series. KuklasKorner. Retrieved on April 26, 2012.
- ↑ Five reasons Los Angeles is poised for an upset – Canucks vs Kings – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com (April 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Canucks' Bitz suspended for two games – Canucks vs Kings – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ By Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun columnist April 19, 2012. Vancouver Canucks are Cory Schneider's team now, as Roberto Luongo will be moved. Vancouversun.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Canucks avoid elimination; win first of series over Kings. Tsn.ca (January 4, 2011). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Stoll's OT goal eliminates Canucks – Canucks vs Kings – 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
- ↑ Halak to Start Game 1 vs. San Jose. NHL.com (April 11, 2012). Retrieved on April 21, 2012. “Halak's playoff resume may have played a role in Hitchcock's decision”
- ↑ Halak Leaves Game 2 in Second Period. NHL.com (April 11, 2012). Retrieved on April 21, 2012.
- ↑ By TERESA M. WALKER, The Associated Press. Predators advance, ousting Red Wings 4–1 in series | tenn, ousting, wings – NHL Playoff Capsules. Brownsville Herald. Retrieved on April 21, 2012.
- ↑ Coyotes' Torres suspended 25 games. Retrieved on April 21, 2012.
- ↑ Shea Weber fined for hit; Henrik Zetterberg OK –. Usatoday.com (November 28, 2011). Retrieved on April 13, 2012.
- ↑ Predators' Weber fined for hit on Wings' Zetterberg. Faceoff.com. Retrieved on April 13, 2012.
- ↑ Henrik Zetterberg hit: Predators' Shea Weber fined $2500 | Sports | National Post. Sports.nationalpost.com. Retrieved on April 13, 2012.
- ↑ Brooks, Larry. Rangers defeat Capitals in third OT on Gaborik goal. NYPOST.com. Retrieved on May 5, 2012.
- ↑ NY Rangers' Marian Gaborik scores in third overtime of Game 3 to give Blueshirts 2–1 win over Washington Capitals. NY Daily News (April 29, 1971). Retrieved on May 5, 2012.
- ↑ Katie Carrera (February 24, 2011). 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs: Capitals fall to Rangers in Game 3 on Marian Gaborik’s goal in the third overtime. The Washington Post. Retrieved on May 5, 2012.
- ↑ Carrera, Katie (May 3, 2012). 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Washington Capitals falls to New York Rangers in Game 3 on Marian Gaborik's goal in third overtime. Washington Post. Retrieved on May 4, 2012.
- ↑ Stunner! Rangers win in OT, 3-2. Newsday.com. Retrieved on June 14, 2012.
- ↑ Scoring first not a winning formula for Flyers. nhl.com (May 8, 2012). Retrieved on May 13, 2012.
- ↑ Sarah McLellan (April 29, 2012). Phoenix Coyotes take 2–0 series lead on Nashville Predators. Tucsoncitizen.com. Retrieved on May 1, 2012.
- ↑ Radulov, A. Kostitsyn expected to return for Game 5 - Coyotes vs Predators - 2012 Stanley Cup Conference Semifinals. Nhl.com. Retrieved on June 14, 2012.
- ↑ Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger. Chris Kreider's playoff run now record setting as Rangers rookie scores again. NJ.com. Retrieved on June 14, 2012.
- ↑ 2011–2012 – Playoffs – All Skaters – Summary –. NHL.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved on June 4, 2011.
- ↑ 2011–2012 – Playoffs – Goalie – GAA Leaders – Goals Against Average Leaders. NHL.com. Retrieved on May 19, 2012.
- ↑ "2012 NHL Playoffs Airing Nationally for First Time on NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, NHLN.", NBCSports.com, April 6, 2012. Retrieved on April 7, 2012.
- ↑ "NHL reaches new television deal to remain on NBC, Versus", SI.com, April 19, 2011. Retrieved on April 19, 2011.
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| 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 2020 | 2021 |
| Preceded by 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs |
Stanley Cup playoffs 2012 |
Succeeded by 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |