The 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2015–16 season. They began on April 13, 2016, and ended on June 12, 2016, with the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the cup by defeating the San Jose Sharks four games to two, for their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Dates | April 13–June 12, 2016 |
Teams | 16 |
Defending champions | Chicago Blackhawks |
Final positions | |
Champions | Pittsburgh Penguins |
Runner-up | San Jose Sharks |
Tournament statistics | |
Scoring leader(s) | Logan Couture (Sharks) (30 points) |
MVP | Sidney Crosby (Penguins) |
For only the second time in league history (1970 being the only other time), none of the NHL's seven Canadian-based teams qualified for the postseason.[1] In addition, for the second season in a row and only the fifth (and most recent) time since joining the league in 1979, all four former WHA teams (the Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche) missed the playoffs. The Washington Capitals made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. This was the final season of the Detroit Red Wings' 25-season playoff appearance streak, the longest streak at the time and tied for third longest in NHL history.[2] The Florida Panthers qualified for the playoffs for only the second time since the 1999–2000 season—both times winning their division—and fifth time in franchise history.[3] For the fourth time in six years, all three California-based teams made the playoffs in the same season. And, for only the second time ever (1996 being the only other time), both Florida-based teams made the playoffs in the same season.
For the first time since 2006, and only the third time in league history, all Original Six teams who made the playoffs (three in total) were eliminated in the first round. The New York Islanders won their first post-season series since the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs, ending the third longest post-season win drought in NHL history. For the seventh consecutive season and eleventh out of thirteen seasons, a team from California was in the Western Conference final.[4]
For the first time since 2002, no team lost in a four-game sweep in a playoff series.[5]
Playoff seeds
editThis was the third year in which the top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference).
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:
Eastern Conference
editAtlantic Division
edit- Florida Panthers, Atlantic Division champions – 103 points
- Tampa Bay Lightning – 97 points
- Detroit Red Wings – 93 points
Metropolitan Division
edit- Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 120 points
- Pittsburgh Penguins – 104 points
- New York Rangers – 101 points
Wild cards
edit- New York Islanders – 100 points
- Philadelphia Flyers – 96 points
Western Conference
editCentral Division
edit- Dallas Stars, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 109 points
- St. Louis Blues – 107 points
- Chicago Blackhawks – 103 points
Pacific Division
edit- Anaheim Ducks, Pacific Division champions – 103 points
- Los Angeles Kings – 102 points
- San Jose Sharks – 98 points
Wild cards
edit- Nashville Predators – 96 points
- Minnesota Wild – 87 points
Map of playoff teams
editPlayoff bracket
editIn each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team was at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). 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 series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed; in the last two rounds, it was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
First round | Second round | Conference finals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||
A1 | Florida | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
WC | NY Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
WC | NY Islanders | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
A2 | Tampa Bay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
A2 | Tampa Bay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
A3 | Detroit | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
A2 | Tampa Bay | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
M2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
M1 | Washington | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
WC | Philadelphia | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
M1 | Washington | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
M2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
M2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
M3 | NY Rangers | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
M2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P3 | San Jose | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
C1 | Dallas | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
WC | Minnesota | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
C1 | Dallas | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
C2 | St. Louis | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
C2 | St. Louis | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
C3 | Chicago | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
C2 | St. Louis | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
P3 | San Jose | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P1 | Anaheim | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
WC | Nashville | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
WC | Nashville | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
P3 | San Jose | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
P2 | Los Angeles | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
P3 | San Jose | 4 |
- 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
- WC – Wild Card teams
First round
editEastern Conference first round
edit(A1) Florida Panthers vs. (WC1) New York Islanders
editThe Florida Panthers finished first in the Atlantic Division, earning 103 points. The New York Islanders finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild-card, earning 100 points. This was the first meeting between these two teams. Florida won two of the three games of the regular season series. This was the first time that a Stanley Cup playoff series was played at the Barclays Center. The series contained the two teams with the longest playoff win drought in the league (the Islanders had not won a series since 1993, and the Panthers since 1996).[6] The team that both clubs defeated for their last respective playoff series victory were the Pittsburgh Penguins, of which Panthers' right winger Jaromir Jagr was a member.
The Islanders defeated the Panthers in six games and won a playoff series for the first time since 1993. John Tavares scored a goal and two assists for the Islanders in a 5–4 win in game one.[7] In game two, Roberto Luongo recorded 41 saves in a 3–1 win to help the Panthers tie the series.[8] The Islanders came back from a two-goal deficit in the second period to win game three in overtime on Thomas Hickey's wrist shot.[9] In game four, Jaromir Jagr had an assist to reach 200 points overall in the playoffs. The Panthers won the game 2–1.[10] Games five and six both ended in double-overtime with identical scores of 2–1 and New York winning both games. In game five, Alan Quine scored the game-winner on a power play 16:00 into the second overtime. Thomas Greiss made 47 saves in the victory.[11] In game six, Tavares scored the first New York goal with 54 seconds left in the third period to send the game into overtime. In the second overtime, Tavares scored his second goal and the series winner.[12]
April 14 | New York Islanders | 5–4 | Florida Panthers | BB&T Center | Recap | |||
Brock Nelson (1) – 06:39 Frans Nielsen (1) – pp – 16:46 |
First period | 01:55 – Teddy Purcell (1) 13:51 – pp – Jussi Jokinen (1) | ||||||
John Tavares (1) – 19:38 | Second period | 01:31 – Reilly Smith (1) | ||||||
Kyle Okposo (1) – 02:33 Ryan Strome (1) – 06:01 |
Third period | 06:56 – Reilly Smith (2) | ||||||
Thomas Greiss 42 saves / 46 shots | Goalie stats | Roberto Luongo 21 saves / 26 shots |
April 15 | New York Islanders | 1–3 | Florida Panthers | BB&T Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 04:32 – Reilly Smith (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 06:17 – Nick Bjugstad (1) | ||||||
John Tavares (2) – 16:27 | Third period | 19:50 – en – Dmitry Kulikov (1) | ||||||
Thomas Greiss 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Roberto Luongo 41 saves / 42 shots |
April 17 | Florida Panthers | 3–4 | OT | New York Islanders | Barclays Center | Recap | ||
Reilly Smith (4) – 02:25 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Aleksander Barkov (1) – 01:11 Nick Bjugstad (2) – 07:23 |
Second period | 05:21 – pp – Ryan Pulock (1) 11:48 – Shane Prince (1) 16:55 – pp – Frans Nielsen (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 12:31 – Thomas Hickey (1) | ||||||
Roberto Luongo 35 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Thomas Greiss 36 saves / 39 shots |
April 20 | Florida Panthers | 2–1 | New York Islanders | Barclays Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Teddy Purcell (2) – pp – 15:18 | Second period | 19:44 – pp – John Tavares (3) | ||||||
Alex Petrovic (1) – 09:25 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Roberto Luongo 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Thomas Greiss 27 saves / 29 shots |
April 22 | New York Islanders | 2–1 | 2OT | Florida Panthers | BB&T Center | Recap | ||
Frans Nielsen (3) – 13:31 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 01:59 – Aleksander Barkov (2) | ||||||
Alan Quine (1) – pp – 16:00 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Thomas Greiss 47 saves / 48 shots | Goalie stats | Roberto Luongo 40 saves / 42 shots |
April 24 | Florida Panthers | 1–2 | 2OT | New York Islanders | Barclays Center | Recap | ||
Jonathan Huberdeau (1) – 18:58 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 19:06 – John Tavares (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Second overtime period | 10:41 – John Tavares (5) | ||||||
Roberto Luongo 49 saves / 51 shots | Goalie stats | Thomas Greiss 41 saves / 42 shots |
New York won series 4–2 | |
(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A3) Detroit Red Wings
editThe Tampa Bay Lightning finished second in the Atlantic Division, earning 97 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned 93 points to finish third in the Atlantic. This was the second meeting between these teams; their only previous meeting was in last year's Eastern Conference First Round which Tampa Bay won in seven games. The teams split their four-game regular season series this year.
The Lightning defeated the Red Wings in five games. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov scored twice and goalie Ben Bishop made 34 saves in a 3–2 win in Game 1.[13] Tyler Johnson recorded two goals in Game 2 in a 5–2 win for the Lightning.[14] In Game 3, Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard was replaced with Petr Mrazek, who stopped all 16 shots in a 2–0 win.[15] In Game 4, Kucherov had two goals and an assist and Jonathan Drouin assisted on all three goals scored by Tampa Bay in a 3–2 win.[16] In the final game of the series, Alex Killorn scored with 1:43 left in the third period to give the Lightning a 1–0 lead and the series win.[17]
Games 3 and 4 were the last playoff games ever played at Joe Louis Arena. The arena closed after the 2016-17 as the Red Wings moved into Little Caesars Arena. This was the last of 25 consecutive playoff appearances by the Red Wings, and is to date the last time in which they made the playoffs.
April 13 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 06:23 – Nikita Kucherov (1) | ||||||
Mike Green (1) – 02:11 Justin Abdelkader (1) – 04:07 |
Second period | 09:29 – Nikita Kucherov (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 08:52 – Alex Killorn (1) | ||||||
Jimmy Howard 31 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 34 saves / 36 shots |
April 15 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 15:17 – pp – Nikita Kucherov (3) | ||||||
Dylan Larkin (1) – 03:30 | Second period | 06:46 – Brian Boyle (1) | ||||||
Brad Richards (1) – pp – 04:27 | Third period | 06:32 – Tyler Johnson (1) 14:48 – Tyler Johnson (2) 17:16 – en – Alex Killorn (2) | ||||||
Jimmy Howard 26 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 30 saves / 32 shots |
April 17 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 0–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Joe Louis Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 12:42 – Andreas Athanasiou (1) 17:22 – Henrik Zetterberg (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Ben Bishop 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Petr Mrazek 16 saves / 16 shots |
April 19 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Joe Louis Arena | Recap | |||
Nikita Kucherov (4) – pp – 05:41 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Nikita Kucherov (5) – pp – 10:31 | Second period | 14:53 – Darren Helm (1) 19:50 – Gustav Nyquist (1) | ||||||
Ondrej Palat (1) – pp – 17:01 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Ben Bishop 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Petr Mrazek 30 saves / 33 shots |
April 21 | Detroit Red Wings | 0–1 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 18:17 – Alex Killorn (3) | ||||||
Petr Mrazek 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 34 saves / 34 shots |
Tampa Bay won series 4–1 | |
(M1) Washington Capitals vs. (WC2) Philadelphia Flyers
editThe Washington Capitals earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with 120 points. The Philadelphia Flyers finished as the Eastern Conference's second wild-card, earning 96 points. This was the fifth meeting between these teams; with both teams splitting the four previous series. They last met in the 2008 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Philadelphia won in seven games. These teams split the four-game regular season series.
The Capitals defeated the Flyers in six games. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby shut out the Flyers in game one, stopping all 19 shots he faced in a 2–0 win.[18] In game two, Holtby made 41 saves and a fluke goal[19] by Capitals forward Jason Chimera turned to be the game-winning goal in a 4–1 win.[20] The Capitals scored a franchise record five power play goals to rout the Flyers 6–1 in game three.[21] In game four, Philadelphia avoided elimination by switching goaltender Steve Mason, who gave up six goals in the previous game, to Michal Neuvirth who made 31 saves in a 2–1 win.[22] The Flyers forced a sixth game after Neuvirth made 44 saves in a 2–0 win in game five; the Flyers had 11 shots in a playoff win, the fewest ever in franchise history.[23][24] Nicklas Backstrom scored the only goal for the Capitals in game six for his team to move onto the second round.[25]
April 14 | Philadelphia Flyers | 0–2 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 16:21 – pp – John Carlson (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 16:36 – Jay Beagle (1) | ||||||
Steve Mason 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 19 saves / 19 shots |
April 16 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1–4 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 14:09 – pp – John Carlson (2) | ||||||
Jakub Voracek (1) – 09:37 | Second period | 02:26 – Jason Chimera (1) 17:21 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 17:47 – Nicklas Backstrom (1) | ||||||
Steve Mason 19 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 41 saves / 42 shots |
April 18 | Washington Capitals | 6–1 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
Marcus Johansson (1) – pp – 04:43 | First period | 00:57 – Michael Raffl (1) | ||||||
Alexander Ovechkin (2) – 08:50 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) – pp – 01:58 John Carlson (3) – pp – 07:37 Alexander Ovechkin (3) – pp – 14:58 Jay Beagle (2) – pp – 18:20 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Braden Holtby 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Steve Mason 21 saves / 27 shots |
April 20 | Washington Capitals | 1–2 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 05:51 – pp – Shayne Gostisbehere (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 03:51 – Andrew MacDonald (1) | ||||||
T. J. Oshie (1) – 02:38 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Braden Holtby 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Michal Neuvirth 31 saves / 32 shots |
April 22 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2–0 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Ryan White (1) – 07:52 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Chris VandeVelde (1) – en – 19:29 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Michal Neuvirth 44 saves / 44 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 9 saves / 10 shots |
April 24 | Washington Capitals | 1–0 | Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Nicklas Backstrom (2) – 08:59 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Braden Holtby 26 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Michal Neuvirth 28 saves / 29 shots |
Washington won series 4–2 | |
(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (M3) New York Rangers
editThe Pittsburgh Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division, earning 104 points. The New York Rangers earned 101 points in the regular season to finish third in the Metropolitan. This was the seventh meeting between these teams, and the third meeting in three consecutive seasons, with Pittsburgh losing the last two but winning four of the six overall. They last met in last year's Eastern Conference First Round, which the Rangers won in five games. Pittsburgh won three of the four games of the regular season series.
The Penguins defeated the Rangers in five games. Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist scored a hat trick in a 5–2 win in game one.[26] J. T. Miller had three assists to help the Rangers win 4–2 in game two.[27] In game three, Pittsburgh scored three times after New York took a 1–0 lead to win 3–1.[28] Evgeni Malkin scored two power play goals and Matt Murray made 31 saves in game four for the Penguins in a 5–0 win.[29] In game five, after the Penguins' four-goal second period, of which Bryan Rust had two goals and an assist, Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault pulled Henrik Lundqvist, who had given up six goals on 23 shots. The Penguins ended the series with a 6–3 victory. It was the first time the Rangers were eliminated in the opening round since 2011, snapping a five-year advancement streak. This was also the first playoff series in which two goaltenders on the same team played in and subsequently won their playoff debut, with Jeff Zatkoff winning game one and Matt Murray winning game three.[30]
April 13 | New York Rangers | 2–5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 19:42 – Patric Hornqvist (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 18:56 – Sidney Crosby (1) | ||||||
Derek Stepan (1) – pp – 03:10 Derek Stepan (2) – 10:11 |
Third period | 05:31 – sh – Tom Kuhnhackl (1) 08:02 – pp – Patric Hornqvist (2) 17:10 – en – Patric Hornqvist (3) | ||||||
Henrik Lundqvist 10 saves / 11 shots Antti Raanta 16 saves / 19 shots |
Goalie stats | Jeff Zatkoff 35 saves / 37 shots |
April 16 | New York Rangers | 4–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Keith Yandle (1) – 12:38 Derick Brassard (1) – 12:56 Mats Zuccarello (1) – 16:52 |
Second period | 03:21 – pp – Phil Kessel (1) | ||||||
Chris Kreider (1) – 00:39 | Third period | 05:42 – pp – Phil Kessel (2) | ||||||
Henrik Lundqvist 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jeff Zatkoff 24 saves / 28 shots |
April 19 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–1 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Sidney Crosby (2) – pp – 19:18 | Second period | 00:39 – sh – Rick Nash (1) | ||||||
Matt Cullen (1) – 04:16 Kris Letang (1) – en – 19:47 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Matt Murray 16 saves / 17 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 28 saves / 30 shots |
April 21 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 5–0 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
Eric Fehr (1) – 01:09 Sidney Crosby (3) – pp – 07:11 Conor Sheary (1) – 16:12 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
Evgeni Malkin (1) – pp – 04:00 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Evgeni Malkin (2) – pp – 03:28 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Matt Murray 31 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Henrik Lundqvist 14 saves / 18 shots Antti Raanta 13 saves / 14 shots |
April 23 | New York Rangers | 3–6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
Rick Nash (2) – 01:02 Dominic Moore (1) – 10:35 |
First period | 09:50 – Carl Hagelin (1) 11:39 – pp – Phil Kessel (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 05:21 – Bryan Rust (1) 09:26 – Matt Cullen (2) 16:18 – Conor Sheary (2) 19:01 – Bryan Rust (2) | ||||||
Chris Kreider (2) – pp – 05:38 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Henrik Lundqvist 17 saves / 23 shots Antti Raanta 5 saves / 5 shots |
Goalie stats | Matt Murray 38 saves / 41 shots |
Pittsburgh won series 4–1 | |
Western Conference first round
edit(C1) Dallas Stars vs. (WC2) Minnesota Wild
editThe Dallas Stars finished first in the Central Division, earning 109 points. The Minnesota Wild finished as the Western Conference's second wild-card, earning 87 points. This was the first meeting in the playoffs between Minnesota's current NHL franchise and its former NHL franchise (then known as the North Stars). Dallas won four of the five games of the regular season series.
The Stars defeated the Wild in six games. Jamie Benn scored a goal and two assists and goalie Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves for the Stars in game one in a 4–0 victory.[31] Jamie Benn scored the game winner in game two in a 2–1 win for the Stars to take a 2–0 lead in the series.[32] In game three, after Patrick Sharp scored two goals in the first period for the Stars, the Wild scored four consecutive goals to take the lead. Jason Pominville scored two of the Wild goals in a 5–3 win.[33] Antti Niemi made 28 saves to help the Stars take a 3–1 series lead in a 3–2 win in game four.[34] The Wild avoided elimination in game five when forward Mikko Koivu scored his second goal of the game at 4:55 of the first overtime period, in a 5–4 win.[35] In Game six, the Stars took a four-goal lead before the Wild attempted a late comeback by scoring three goals in under five minutes during the third period. Alex Goligoski scored the eventual series-winner for Dallas halfway through the third period as the Stars hung on for a 5–4 victory.[36]
April 14 | Minnesota Wild | 0–4 | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 03:53 – Radek Faksa (1) 12:17 – Jason Spezza (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 14:16 – pp – Patrick Eaves (1) 16:00 – en – Jamie Benn (1) | ||||||
Devan Dubnyk 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Kari Lehtonen 22 saves / 22 shots |
April 16 | Minnesota Wild | 1–2 | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 03:54 – Antoine Roussel (1) | ||||||
Marco Scandella (1) – pp – 12:42 | Third period | 10:23 – Jamie Benn (2) | ||||||
Devan Dubnyk 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Kari Lehtonen 25 saves / 26 shots |
April 18 | Dallas Stars | 3–5 | Minnesota Wild | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
Patrick Sharp (1) – 00:26 Patrick Sharp (2) – 04:10 |
First period | 19:10 – Chris Porter (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 06:04 – Erik Haula (1) 19:13 – Jason Pominville (1) | ||||||
Colton Sceviour (1) – 13:45 | Third period | 06:26 – pp – Mikko Koivu (1) 18:46 – en – Jason Pominville (2) | ||||||
Kari Lehtonen 20 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Devan Dubnyk 14 saves / 17 shots |
April 20 | Dallas Stars | 3–2 | Minnesota Wild | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Ales Hemsky (1) – pp – 09:11 Patrick Eaves (2) – pp – 13:24 Jason Spezza (2) – 18:51 |
Second period | 05:01 – Jason Pominville (3) 10:14 – Charlie Coyle (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Antti Niemi 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Devan Dubnyk 19 saves / 22 shots |
April 22 | Minnesota Wild | 5–4 | OT | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | ||
Mikael Granlund (1) – 03:32 Jordan Schroeder (1) – 05:16 |
First period | 17:18 – Johnny Oduya (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Nino Niederreiter (1) – 01:50 Mikko Koivu (2) – 16:51 |
Third period | 01:00 – Jamie Benn (3) 08:28 – Jason Spezza (3) 08:56 – Alex Goligoski (1) | ||||||
Mikko Koivu (3) – 04:55 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Devan Dubnyk 37 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Antti Niemi 19 saves / 24 shots |
April 24 | Dallas Stars | 5–4 | Minnesota Wild | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
John Klingberg (1) – pp – 05:56 Jason Spezza (4) – 09:07 Patrick Sharp (3) – 18:11 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
Jamie Benn (4) – 19:36 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Alex Goligoski (2) – 10:28 | Third period | 03:48 – pp – Jared Spurgeon (1) 04:04 – Jonas Brodin (1) 08:39 – pp – Jared Spurgeon (2) 15:13 – Jason Pominville (4) | ||||||
Kari Lehtonen 25 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Devan Dubnyk 19 saves / 24 shots |
Dallas won series 4–2 | |
(C2) St. Louis Blues vs. (C3) Chicago Blackhawks
editThe St. Louis Blues finished second in the Central Division earning 107 points. The Chicago Blackhawks earned 103 points to finish third in the Central. This was the twelfth playoff meeting between these two rivals with Chicago winning eight of the eleven previous series. Their most recent meeting was the 2014 Western Conference First Round, which Chicago won in six games. St. Louis won three of the five games of the regular season series.
The Blues defeated the Blackhawks in seven games after nearly giving up a 3–1 series lead. In game one, neither team scored in regulation; David Backes scored 9:04 into the first overtime for the Blues as goalie Brian Elliott made 35 saves in the win.[37] In game two, Patrick Kane had two assists to help the Blackhawks win 3–2.[38] The Blues recovered in game three, as Elliot made 44 saves in a 3–2 win.[39] Game four saw Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford go after Blues rookie forward Robby Fabbri after the forward was bumped into the goaltender by Chicago captain Jonathan Toews. Five penalties were assessed and the Blackhawks scored on the power play that followed.[40] Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for the Blues as they won the game 4–3.[41] Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw was given a one-game suspension and a $5,000 fine after he used a homophobic slur.[42][43] In game five, the Blues overcame a 3–1 deficit in the third period to send the game to overtime. In double-overtime, Patrick Kane scored the game-winner for the Blackhawks who avoided elimination with a 4–3 win.[44] The Blackhawks came back from a 3–1 deficit in game six, scoring five unanswered goals in a 6–3 victory to force a seventh game.[45] In game seven, the Blues took a two-goal lead in the first period before the Blackhawks tied the game on goals by Marian Hossa and Andrew Shaw. In the third period, Troy Brouwer scored the series-winner as the Blues advanced past the opening round of the playoffs for the first time since 2012 with a 3–2 win.[46]
April 13 | Chicago Blackhawks | 0–1 | OT | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 09:04 – David Backes (1) | ||||||
Corey Crawford 17 saves / 18 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 35 saves / 35 shots |
April 15 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3–2 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Duncan Keith (1) – 19:55 | Second period | 15:20 – Vladimir Tarasenko (1) | ||||||
Andrew Shaw (1) – pp – 15:41 Artemi Panarin (1) – en – 18:34 |
Third period | 19:58 – Kevin Shattenkirk (1) | ||||||
Corey Crawford 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 26 saves / 28 shots |
April 17 | St. Louis Blues | 3–2 | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | Recap | |||
Colton Parayko (1) – pp – 12:11 | First period | 02:18 – pp – Brent Seabrook (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 01:04 – Artem Anisimov (1) | ||||||
Patrik Berglund (1) – 05:15 Jaden Schwartz (1) – pp – 13:22 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Brian Elliott 44 saves / 46 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 33 saves / 36 shots |
April 19 | St. Louis Blues | 4–3 | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | Recap | |||
Vladimir Tarasenko (2) – 14:02 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Vladimir Tarasenko (3) – pp – 17:31 | Second period | 09:12 – Andrew Shaw (2) 13:09 – pp – Duncan Keith (2) | ||||||
Jaden Schwartz (2) – pp – 01:36 Alexander Steen (1) – 04:46 |
Third period | 14:40 – Duncan Keith (3) | ||||||
Brian Elliott 39 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 16 saves / 20 shots |
April 21 | Chicago Blackhawks | 4–3 | 2OT | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Marian Hossa (1) – sh – 11:32 Artem Anisimov (2) – 15:24 Artemi Panarin (2) – 19:59 |
Second period | 12:29 – pp – Jaden Schwartz (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 06:57 – Robby Fabbri (1) 14:50 – David Backes (2) | ||||||
Patrick Kane (1) – 03:07 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Corey Crawford 43 saves / 46 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 31 saves / 35 shots |
April 23 | St. Louis Blues | 3–6 | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | Recap | |||
Scottie Upshall (1) – 06:18 Alex Pietrangelo (1) – 08:51 Vladimir Tarasenko (4) – 11:00 |
First period | 03:47 – Andrew Ladd (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 04:13 – pp – Artem Anisimov (3) 12:21 – Trevor van Riemsdyk (1) 16:18 – Dale Weise (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 16:53 – pp – Andrew Shaw (3) 17:40 – en – Marian Hossa (2) | ||||||
Brian Elliott 30 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Corey Crawford 24 saves / 27 shots |
April 25 | Chicago Blackhawks | 2–3 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
Marian Hossa (3) – 18:30 | First period | 01:00 – Jori Lehtera (1) 13:43 – Colton Parayko (2) | ||||||
Andrew Shaw (4) – pp – 03:20 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 08:31 – Troy Brouwer (1) | ||||||
Corey Crawford 23 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 31 saves / 33 shots |
St. Louis won series 4–3 | |
(P1) Anaheim Ducks vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
editThe Anaheim Ducks finished first in the Pacific Division, earning 103 points. The Nashville Predators finished as the Western Conference's first wild-card, earning 96 points. This was the second meeting between these teams in the playoffs; their only previous series was the 2011 Western Conference quarterfinals, which Nashville won in six games. Nashville won two of the three games of the regular season series.
For the fourth straight year, the Ducks were eliminated in a seventh game at home after having a 3–2 series lead. James Neal scored 35 seconds into game one and Pekka Rinne made 27 saves for the Predators' 3–2 win.[47] In game two, Rinne again made 27 saves in another 3–2 win to take their first ever 2–0 series lead.[48] Before game three, Anaheim replaced goaltender John Gibson with Frederik Andersen who stopped all 27 shots he faced in a 3–0 Ducks victory.[49] Andersen made 30 saves in a 4–1 victory in game four to tie the series.[50] Three players for the Ducks, Ryan Getzlaf, David Perron, and Sami Vatanen, had two points in a 5–2 win in game five to stake the Ducks to a 3–2 series lead.[51] The Predators forced their first ever seventh game after Rinne made 26 saves in a 3–1 win.[52] In game seven, Rinne stopped 36 shots for the Predators in a 2–1 win to advance to the second round.[53]
April 15 | Nashville Predators | 3–2 | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | Recap | |||
James Neal (1) – 00:35 | First period | 17:39 – pp – Ryan Getzlaf (1) | ||||||
Colin Wilson (1) – 07:55 | Second period | 00:48 – Ryan Kesler (1) | ||||||
Filip Forsberg (1) – 10:25 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | John Gibson 30 saves / 33 shots |
April 17 | Nashville Predators | 3–2 | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | Recap | |||
Mattias Ekholm (1) – 19:04 | First period | 14:20 – Andrew Cogliano (1) | ||||||
Craig Smith (1) – 09:55 Shea Weber (1) – pp – 19:21 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 17:18 – Nate Thompson (1) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | John Gibson 24 saves / 27 shots |
April 19 | Anaheim Ducks | 3–0 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
Jamie McGinn (1) – 10:05 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Rickard Rakell (1) – 11:33 Chris Stewart (1) – 17:06 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Frederik Andersen 27 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 18 saves / 21 shots |
April 21 | Anaheim Ducks | 4–1 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
Ryan Getzlaf (2) – 01:02 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Nate Thompson (2) – 17:04 Jamie McGinn (2) – 18:56 |
Second period | 11:26 – Mike Fisher (1) | ||||||
Andrew Cogliano (2) – 16:52 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Frederik Andersen 30 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 21 saves / 25 shots |
April 23 | Nashville Predators | 2–5 | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Ryan Johansen (1) – 14:13 | Second period | 14:35 – David Perron (1) 16:23 – Ryan Garbutt (1) | ||||||
Miikka Salomaki (1) – 13:29 | Third period | 08:34 – Sami Vatanen (1) 16:37 – pp – Cam Fowler (1) 18:14 – en – Ryan Kesler (2) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 27 saves / 29 shots |
April 25 | Anaheim Ducks | 1–3 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Ryan Kesler (3) – pp – 19:46 | Second period | 08:10 – Mattias Ekholm (2) 17:45 – James Neal (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 19:50 – en – Shea Weber (2) | ||||||
Frederik Andersen 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 26 saves / 27 shots |
April 27 | Nashville Predators | 2–1 | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | Recap | |||
Colin Wilson (2) – 06:19 Paul Gaustad (1) – 15:53 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 01:45 – pp – Ryan Kesler (4) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 36 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Frederik Andersen 18 saves / 20 shots |
Nashville won series 4–3 | |
(P2) Los Angeles Kings vs. (P3) San Jose Sharks
editThe Los Angeles Kings finished second in the Pacific Division, earning 102 points. The San Jose Sharks earned 98 points to finish third in the Pacific. This was the fourth meeting between these two teams, with Los Angeles winning two of the three previous meetings. They last met in the 2014 Western Conference first round, which Los Angeles came back from a 3–0 deficit to defeat the Sharks in seven games. San Jose won three of the five games of the regular season series.
The Sharks defeated the Kings in five games. In game one, Joe Pavelski scored twice including the game-winner to help the Sharks win 4–3.[54] Sharks goalie, and former Kings backup goalie, Martin Jones allowed one goal on 27 shots in game two in a 2–1 win.[55] Game three in San Jose required overtime with the game tied 1–1 after regulation time, before Tanner Pearson scored the game-winner for the Kings at 3:47 of the first overtime.[56] In game four, all three Sharks goals came on the power play before the Kings tried to make a comeback cutting the deficit to 3–2, but that was the final score of the game.[57] In game five, the Sharks took a 3–0 lead until the Kings scored three goals to tie the game in the second period. Early in the third period, San Jose rookie Joonas Donskoi's second goal of the game, broke the tie to give the Sharks a 4–3 lead; Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson provided insurance goals as the Sharks ended the series with a 6–3 victory.[58]
April 14 | San Jose Sharks | 4–3 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
Joe Pavelski (1) – pp – 06:25 | First period | 02:53 – Jake Muzzin (1) | ||||||
Brent Burns (1) – 06:50 Tomas Hertl (1) – 17:48 |
Second period | 07:30 – pp – Jeff Carter (1) 17:18 – sh – Trevor Lewis (1) | ||||||
Joe Pavelski (2) – 00:17 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Martin Jones 21 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 19 saves / 23 shots |
April 16 | San Jose Sharks | 2–1 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
Joe Pavelski (3) – 03:37 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Logan Couture (1) – pp – 08:44 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 14:59 – pp – Vincent Lecavalier (1) | ||||||
Martin Jones 26 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 21 saves / 23 shots |
April 18 | Los Angeles Kings | 2–1 | OT | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | ||
Anze Kopitar (1) – pp – 08:10 | First period | 00:30 – Joe Thornton (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Tanner Pearson (1) – 03:47 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Jonathan Quick 29 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 22 saves / 24 shots |
April 20 | Los Angeles Kings | 2–3 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 02:09 – pp – Brent Burns (2) 09:21 – pp – Joe Pavelski (4) | ||||||
Trevor Lewis (2) – 02:49 Luke Schenn (1) – 06:44 |
Third period | 01:40 – pp – Patrick Marleau (1) | ||||||
Jonathan Quick 26 saves / 29 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 26 saves / 28 shots |
April 22 | San Jose Sharks | 6–3 | Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | Recap | |||
Joonas Donskoi (1) – 01:08 Chris Tierney (1) – 11:21 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
Matt Nieto (1) – 04:05 | Second period | 07:44 – Anze Kopitar (2) 11:26 – Jeff Carter (2) 16:36 – Kris Versteeg (1) | ||||||
Joonas Donskoi (2) – 03:58 Joe Pavelski (5) – 12:24 Melker Karlsson (1) – en – 19:38 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Martin Jones 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Jonathan Quick 22 saves / 27 shots |
San Jose won series 4–1 | |
Second round
editEastern Conference second round
edit(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (WC1) New York Islanders
editThis was the second playoff meeting between these teams; their only previous series was in the 2004 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Tampa Bay won in five games. This was the first series in the current playoff format in which a wild-card team had more points than its opponent during the regular season and did not have home ice advantage. New York won two of the three games of the regular season series.
The Lightning defeated the Islanders in five games. The Islanders took game one by a score of 5–3 with two goals scored by Shane Prince.[59] Tyler Johnson scored two goals in a 4–1 victory for the Lightning in game two to tie the series.[60] Games three and four both ended in overtime with Lightning victories as well as Nikita Kucherov scoring the tying goal in the third period. In game three, Kucherov scored with 39 seconds left in the third period to send it to overtime. In overtime, Brian Boyle scored the game-winner for a 5–4 win.[61] In game four, Kucherov scored 7:49 into the third period to tie the game. Jason Garrison scored the game-winner for the Lightning 1:49 into overtime in a 2–1 win.[62] Victor Hedman scored twice and Ben Bishop stopped all 28 shots for the Lightning in game five to move on to the conference finals for the second season in a row and third in six seasons.[63]
April 27 | New York Islanders | 5–3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
Travis Hamonic (1) – 05:44 Shane Prince (2) – 17:28 Shane Prince (3) – 19:57 |
First period | 03:05 – Ondrej Palat (2) | ||||||
John Tavares (6) – pp – 08:59 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Cal Clutterbuck (1) – en – 19:05 | Third period | 07:41 – Nikita Kucherov (6) 17:28 – Valtteri Filppula (1) | ||||||
Thomas Greiss 33 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 9 saves / 13 shots Andrei Vasilevskiy 8 saves / 8 shots |
April 30 | New York Islanders | 1–4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
Nikolay Kulemin (1) – pp – 15:15 | First period | 06:03 – Tyler Johnson (3) 11:55 – Jonathan Drouin (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 11:59 – pp – Victor Hedman (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 17:42 – en – Tyler Johnson (4) | ||||||
Thomas Greiss 27 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 19 saves / 20 shots |
May 3 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 5–4 | OT | New York Islanders | Barclays Center | Recap | ||
Ryan Callahan (1) – pp – 19:47 | First period | 07:55 – Josh Bailey (1) | ||||||
Victor Hedman (2) – 08:10 | Second period | 14:50 – Nick Leddy (1) | ||||||
Vladislav Namestnikov (1) – 03:25 Nikita Kucherov (7) – 19:21 |
Third period | 02:27 – pp – Josh Bailey (2) 11:23 – Cal Clutterbuck (2) | ||||||
Brian Boyle (2) – 02:48 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Ben Bishop 35 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Thomas Greiss 36 saves / 41 shots |
May 6 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2–1 | OT | New York Islanders | Barclays Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | 04:20 – pp – Kyle Okposo (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Nikita Kucherov (8) – 07:49 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Jason Garrison (1) – 01:34 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Ben Bishop 27 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Thomas Greiss 20 saves / 22 shots Jean-Francois Berube 2 saves / 2 shots |
May 8 | New York Islanders | 0–4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 13:49 – Victor Hedman (3) 18:41 – Brian Boyle (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 04:22 – pp – Victor Hedman (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 04:40 – Nikita Kucherov (9) | ||||||
Thomas Greiss 21 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Ben Bishop 28 saves / 28 shots |
Tampa Bay won series 4–1 | |
(M1) Washington Capitals vs. (M2) Pittsburgh Penguins
editThis was the ninth playoff meeting between these teams, with Pittsburgh winning seven of the eight previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals, which Pittsburgh won in seven games. Pittsburgh won three of the five games of the regular season series.
The Penguins defeated the Capitals in six games. T. J. Oshie scored a hat-trick, his third goal being in overtime, in game one for the Capitals in a 4–3 win.[64] Former Capitals forward Eric Fehr scored the game-winner in the third period for the Penguins to take game two by a score of 2–1.[65] Matt Murray made 47 saves for the Penguins in game three for a 3–2 victory.[66] In game four, Patric Hornqvist scored the game-winner for the Penguins in overtime as well as an assist in a 3–2 win.[67] The Capitals avoided elimination in game five, with Braden Holtby stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced in a 3–1 win.[68] In game six, Pittsburgh took a 3–0 lead with two goals from Phil Kessel before the Capitals tied the game 3–3 late in the third period. In overtime, Nick Bonino scored the series-winner 6:32 into the first overtime period to send the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Eastern Conference Final.[69]
April 28 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–4 | OT | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | 10:13 – Andre Burakovsky (1) | ||||||
Ben Lovejoy (1) – 10:40 Evgeni Malkin (3) – 11:37 |
Second period | 12:10 – T. J. Oshie (2) | ||||||
Nick Bonino (1) – 08:42 | Third period | 03:23 – T. J. Oshie (3) | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 09:33 – T. J. Oshie (4) | ||||||
Matt Murray 31 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 42 saves / 45 shots |
April 30 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2–1 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Carl Hagelin (2) – 07:08 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Eric Fehr (2) – 15:32 | Third period | 04:08 – pp – Marcus Johansson (2) | ||||||
Matt Murray 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 33 saves / 35 shots |
May 2 | Washington Capitals | 2–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 06:37 – Patric Hornqvist (4) 07:37 – Tom Kuhnhackl (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 15:03 – Carl Hagelin (3) | ||||||
Alexander Ovechkin (4) – 08:02 Justin Williams (1) – 19:04 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Braden Holtby 20 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 47 saves / 49 shots |
May 4 | Washington Capitals | 2–3 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | ||
Jay Beagle (3) – 02:58 | First period | 09:16 – Trevor Daley (1) | ||||||
John Carlson (4) – 16:19 | Second period | 03:07 – Matt Cullen (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 02:34 – Patric Hornqvist (5) | ||||||
Braden Holtby 30 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 34 saves / 36 shots |
May 7 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1–3 | Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | Recap | |||
Chris Kunitz (1) – pp – 07:08 | First period | 04:04 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (5) | ||||||
Second period | 04:00 – pp – T. J. Oshie (5) 09:58 – Justin Williams (2) | |||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Matt Murray 16 saves / 19 shots | Goalie stats | Braden Holtby 30 saves / 31 shots |
May 10 | Washington Capitals | 3–4 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | 05:41 – Phil Kessel (4) | ||||||
T. J. Oshie (6) – pp – 18:30 | Second period | 07:05 – pp – Phil Kessel (5) 07:38 – pp – Carl Hagelin (4) | ||||||
Justin Williams (3) – 07:23 John Carlson (5) – pp – 13:01 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 06:32 – Nick Bonino (2) | ||||||
Braden Holtby 37 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 36 saves / 39 shots |
Pittsburgh won series 4–2 | |
Western Conference second round
edit(C1) Dallas Stars vs. (C2) St. Louis Blues
editThis was the thirteenth playoff meeting between these teams; the two teams have split the twelve previous series. They last met in the 2001 Western Conference semifinals, which St. Louis won in a four-game sweep. St. Louis won four of the five games of the regular season series.
The Blues defeated the Stars in seven games. In game one, Radek Faksa scored with 4:44 left in the third period to give the Dallas Stars a 2–1 win.[70] In game two, Dallas scored two goals in the third period to tie the game 3–3 after being down 3–1. In overtime, Blues' captain David Backes scored a power play goal to tie the series at a game apiece.[71] Alexander Steen scored twice and Vladimir Tarasenko scored a goal and two assists to help the Blues rout the Stars 6–1 in game three.[72] Jamie Benn had two assists in game four as well as the overtime-game-winner by Cody Eakin for the Stars in a 3–2 win.[73] In game five, Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist and Brian Elliott made 27 saves in a 4–1 victory to take a 3–2 series lead.[74] Dallas scored three goals in the first period in game six prompting St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock to replace Elliott who had only stopped four shots. Dallas won the game 3–2 to force a seventh game.[75] In game seven, six different players scored a goal for the Blues in a 6–1 victory to make their first Conference finals since 2001.
April 29 | St. Louis Blues | 1–2 | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 09:36 – Antoine Roussel (2) | ||||||
Kevin Shattenkirk (2) – 11:32 | Third period | 15:16 – Radek Faksa (2) | ||||||
Brian Elliott 40 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Kari Lehtonen 31 saves / 32 shots |
May 1 | St. Louis Blues | 4–3 | OT | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | ||
Patrik Berglund (2) – 04:11 Joel Edmundson (1) – 07:02 Troy Brouwer (2) – pp – 18:40 |
First period | 03:36 – Alex Goligoski (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 04:35 – Mattias Janmark (1) 17:24 – Jamie Benn (5) | ||||||
David Backes (3) – pp – 10:58 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Brian Elliott 31 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Kari Lehtonen 2 saves / 5 shots Antti Niemi 19 saves / 20 shots |
May 3 | Dallas Stars | 1–6 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
Colton Sceviour (2) – 04:44 | First period | 05:41 – Alexander Steen (2) 16:10 – pp – David Backes (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 02:34 – Troy Brouwer (3) 03:50 – Vladimir Tarasenko (5) 18:03 – pp – Alexander Steen (3) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 18:06 – David Backes (5) | ||||||
Antti Niemi 9 saves / 12 shots Kari Lehtonen 24 saves / 27 shots |
Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 25 saves / 26 shots |
May 5 | Dallas Stars | 3–2 | OT | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | 10:17 – Vladimir Tarasenko (6) | ||||||
Radek Faksa (3) – 04:05 Patrick Sharp (4) – pp – 05:14 |
Second period | 13:06 – pp – Paul Stastny (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Cody Eakin (1) – 02:58 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Kari Lehtonen 24 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 25 saves / 28 shots |
May 7 | St. Louis Blues | 4–1 | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | |||
Robby Fabbri (2) – 06:00 | First period | 10:58 – Alex Goligoski (4) | ||||||
Dmitrij Jaskin (1) – 10:31 Troy Brouwer (4) – 17:42 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Paul Stastny (2) – en – 18:20 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Brian Elliott 27 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Kari Lehtonen 18 saves / 21 shots |
May 9 | Dallas Stars | 3–2 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
Mattias Janmark (2) – 04:53 Vernon Fiddler (1) – 05:13 Jason Spezza (5) – pp – 16:49 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 07:29 – Alexander Steen (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 08:59 – Patrik Berglund (3) | ||||||
Kari Lehtonen 35 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 4 saves / 7 shots Jake Allen 7 saves / 7 shots |
May 11 | St. Louis Blues | 6–1 | Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | Recap | |||
Robby Fabbri (3) – pp – 05:23 Paul Stastny (3) – 18:22 Patrik Berglund (4) – 19:56 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
David Backes (6) – 03:50 Troy Brouwer (5) – 15:06 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Vladimir Tarasenko (7) – en – 15:20 | Third period | 05:15 – Patrick Eaves (3) | ||||||
Brian Elliott 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Kari Lehtonen 5 saves / 8 shots Antti Niemi 8 saves / 10 shots |
St. Louis won series 4–3 | |
(P3) San Jose Sharks vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
editThis was the third playoff meeting between these teams, with San Jose winning both previous series. They last met in the 2007 Western Conference quarterfinals, which San Jose won in five games. Nashville won two of the three games of the regular season series.
The Sharks defeated the Predators in seven games. The home team won every game in the series. Logan Couture scored two goals in game one for the Sharks in a 5–2 win.[76] In game two, Martin Jones made 37 saves for the Sharks in a 3–2 win.[77] Shea Weber scored a goal and an assist and Pekka Rinne made 26 saves in a 4–1 win for the Predators in game three.[78] The Predators played in their longest playoff game in game four going 11:12 into triple overtime. Mike Fisher scored his second goal of the game to end overtime and tie the series with a 4–3 win.[79] Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks in game five who took a 3–2 series lead with a 5–1 win.[80] In game six, the Predators came back from an early 2–0 deficit, sending the game into overtime. In overtime, rookie Viktor Arvidsson scored the game-winner to force a seventh game in a 4–3 win.[81] In game seven, Martin Jones stopped all 20 shots and Logan Couture scored a goal and two assists in a 5–0 win to send the Sharks onto the Western Conference Final.[82]
April 29 | Nashville Predators | 2–5 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Mike Fisher (2) – pp – 04:33 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Ryan Johansen (2) – 18:11 | Third period | 02:37 – pp – Tomas Hertl (2) 11:49 – Joel Ward (1) 15:40 – pp – Logan Couture (2) 18:31 – en – Logan Couture (3) 19:10 – en – Tommy Wingels (1) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 33 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 29 saves / 31 shots |
May 1 | Nashville Predators | 2–3 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 18:36 – pp – Logan Couture (4) | ||||||
Mattias Ekholm (3) – 12:56 Ryan Johansen (3) – 19:55 |
Third period | 17:20 – Joe Pavelski (6) 19:04 – en – Joe Thornton (2) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 22 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 37 saves / 39 shots |
May 3 | San Jose Sharks | 1–4 | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | |||
Patrick Marleau (2) – 13:13 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 05:11 – pp – James Neal (3) 14:44 – Shea Weber (3) | ||||||
Third period | 06:55 – Colin Wilson (3) 15:49 – pp – Filip Forsberg (2) | |||||||
Martin Jones 21 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 26 saves / 27 shots |
May 5 | San Jose Sharks | 3–4 | 3OT | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | ||
Brent Burns (3) – 03:08 | First period | 00:41 – Colin Wilson (4) 09:50 – Mike Fisher (3) | ||||||
Joonas Donskoi (3) – 14:09 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Brent Burns (4) – pp – 06:48 | Third period | 15:39 – James Neal (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Third overtime period | 11:12 – Mike Fisher (4) | ||||||
Martin Jones 41 saves / 45 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 44 saves / 47 shots |
May 7 | Nashville Predators | 1–5 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
Mike Fisher (5) – 15:40 | First period | 10:47 – Patrick Marleau (3) 17:21 – Joe Pavelski (7) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 00:35 – Logan Couture (5) 19:22 – pp – Joe Pavelski (8) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 19:10 – Melker Karlsson (2) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 23 saves / 27 shots Carter Hutton 1 save / 2 shots |
Goalie stats | Martin Jones 24 saves / 25 shots |
May 9 | San Jose Sharks | 3–4 | OT | Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | Recap | ||
Chris Tierney (2) – 09:55 Chris Tierney (3) – 11:51 |
First period | 15:27 – Roman Josi (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 01:25 – Ryan Johansen (4) | ||||||
Logan Couture (6) – pp – 10:04 | Third period | 12:44 – Colin Wilson (5) | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 02:03 – Viktor Arvidsson (1) | ||||||
Martin Jones 28 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Pekka Rinne 15 saves / 18 shots |
May 12 | Nashville Predators | 0–5 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 09:02 – pp – Joe Pavelski (9) 16:51 – Joel Ward (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 00:36 – Logan Couture (7) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 00:32 – pp – Joe Thornton (3) 03:54 – Patrick Marleau (4) | ||||||
Pekka Rinne 21 saves / 26 shots Carter Hutton 1 save / 1 shots |
Goalie stats | Martin Jones 20 saves / 20 shots |
San Jose won series 4–3 | |
Conference finals
editEastern Conference final
edit(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (A2) Tampa Bay Lightning
editThis was the second playoff meeting between these teams. Their only previous series was the 2011 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Tampa Bay came back from a 3–1 series deficit to win in seven games. Pittsburgh last made the conference finals in 2013 where they were swept in four games by the Boston Bruins. This was Tampa Bay's second consecutive Conference finals appearance; they defeated the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in seven games in the previous year. Tampa Bay won all three games of the regular season series.
The Penguins defeated the Lightning in seven games. In game one, Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop suffered a lower-body injury in the first period, requiring him to leave the game on a stretcher.[83] Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves in relief to help the Lightning win 3–1.[84] Four goals were scored in the first period, two by each team, in game two leaving the score tied going into overtime. Sidney Crosby scored 40 seconds into overtime for the Penguins to tie the series.[85] Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel both had a goal and an assist for the Penguins in a 4–2 feat in game three.[86] The Lightning tied the series in game four in a 4–3 win with both Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn providing two assists each, including the game-winning goal, and the team preventing a third period comeback from the Penguins.[87] The Penguins gave up leads of both 2–0 and 3–2 and lost in overtime when Tyler Johnson scored for the Lightning 53 seconds into the first overtime period of game five.[88] Although Brian Boyle scored twice for the Lightning, Pittsburgh forced a seventh game after a 5–2 victory in which Crosby had a goal and an assist.[89] In game seven, Bryan Rust scored both goals for Pittsburgh in a 2–1 victory to send the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2009 and fifth time in franchise history and prevented the Lightning from clinching a second consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals and third time in franchise history altogether.[90]
May 13 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
Alex Killorn (4) – 18:46 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Ondrej Palat (3) – pp – 02:33 Jonathan Drouin (2) – 18:25 |
Second period | 19:05 – pp – Patric Hornqvist (6) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Ben Bishop 9 saves / 9 shots Andrei Vasilevskiy 25 saves / 26 shots |
Goalie stats | Matt Murray 17 saves / 20 shots |
May 16 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2–3 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | ||
Anton Stralman (1) – 16:37 Jonathan Drouin (3) – 19:10 |
First period | 04:32 – Matt Cullen (4) 09:37 – Phil Kessel (6) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 00:40 – Sidney Crosby (4) | ||||||
Andrei Vasilevskiy 37 saves / 40 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 19 saves / 21 shots |
May 18 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 4–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Carl Hagelin (5) – 19:50 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Phil Kessel (7) – 05:16 Sidney Crosby (5) – pp – 10:50 Chris Kunitz (2) – 13:12 |
Third period | 05:30 – Tyler Johnson (5) 18:16 – Ondrej Palat (4) | ||||||
Matt Murray 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 44 saves / 48 shots |
May 20 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 00:27 – Ryan Callahan (2) 14:28 – Andrej Sustr (1) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 14:38 – pp – Jonathan Drouin (4) 17:48 – Tyler Johnson (6) | ||||||
Phil Kessel (8) – 01:18 Evgeni Malkin (4) – 11:13 Chris Kunitz (3) – pp – 13:08 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Matt Murray 26 saves / 30 shots Marc-Andre Fleury 7 saves / 7 shots |
Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 35 saves / 38 shots |
May 22 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 4–3 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | 19:59 – Brian Dumoulin (1) | ||||||
Alex Killorn (5) – 13:15 Nikita Kucherov (10) – 14:25 |
Second period | 01:30 – Patric Hornqvist (7) 19:10 – Chris Kunitz (4) | ||||||
Nikita Kucherov (11) – 16:44 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Tyler Johnson (7) – 00:53 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 21 saves / 25 shots |
May 24 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 5–2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Amalie Arena | Recap | |||
Phil Kessel (9) – pp – 18:46 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Kris Letang (2) – 07:40 Sidney Crosby (6) – 19:34 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Bryan Rust (3) – 17:52 Nick Bonino (3) – en – 19:06 |
Third period | 05:30 – Brian Boyle (4) 12:43 – Brian Boyle (5) | ||||||
Matt Murray 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 saves / 33 shots |
May 26 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Jonathan Drouin (5) – 09:36 | Second period | 01:55 – Bryan Rust (4) 10:06 – Bryan Rust (5) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Andrei Vasilevskiy 37 saves / 39 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 16 saves / 17 shots |
Pittsburgh won series 4–3 | |
Western Conference final
edit(C2) St. Louis Blues vs. (P3) San Jose Sharks
editThis was the fifth playoff meeting between these teams, with both teams splitting the four previous playoff series. They last met in the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals, which St. Louis won in five games. St. Louis most recently made the conference finals in 2001, when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in five games. San Jose last made the conference finals in 2011, where they lost in five games to the Vancouver Canucks. San Jose won two of the three games of the regular season series.
The Sharks defeated the Blues in six games. The Blues won game one 2–1 with help from goalie Brian Elliott who made 31 saves in the process.[91] The Sharks bounced back in game two with Brent Burns scoring twice and goalie Martin Jones stopping all 26 shots he faced in a 4–0 win.[92] In game three, Jones again shutout the Blues, blocking 22 shots; Tomas Hertl scored twice for the Sharks in their 3–0 victory at home.[93] Troy Brouwer and Kyle Brodziak scored twice in a 6–3 victory for the Blues to tie the series in game four.[94] Joe Pavelski and Joel Ward both scored twice in the Sharks' 6–3 victory in game five.[95] The Sharks were able to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their 25-year history after game six with Joel Ward scoring the winning goal 3:01 into the third period in a 5–2 victory.[96]
May 15 | San Jose Sharks | 1–2 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
Tomas Hertl (3) – 15:38 | First period | 15:04 – pp – David Backes (7) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 09:15 – Jori Lehtera (2) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Martin Jones 21 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 31 saves / 32 shots |
May 17 | San Jose Sharks | 4–0 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
Tommy Wingels (2) – 02:07 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Brent Burns (5) – pp – 07:04 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Brent Burns (6) – pp – 11:58 Dainius Zubrus (1) – en – 19:41 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Martin Jones 26 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Brian Elliott 20 saves / 23 shots |
May 19 | St. Louis Blues | 0–3 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 15:53 – Tomas Hertl (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 11:44 – Joonas Donskoi (4) | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 06:09 – Tomas Hertl (5) | ||||||
Brian Elliott 11 saves / 14 shots Jake Allen 2 saves / 2 shots |
Goalie stats | Martin Jones 22 saves / 22 shots |
May 21 | St. Louis Blues | 6–3 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
Troy Brouwer (6) – pp – 06:14 Jori Lehtera (3) – 10:11 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
Kyle Brodziak (1) – sh – 06:09 Kyle Brodziak (2) – 10:11 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Troy Brouwer (7) – pp – 03:55 Alex Pietrangelo (2) – en – 15:39 |
Third period | 01:05 – Joe Pavelski (10) 06:57 – Chris Tierney (4) 16:28 – Melker Karlsson (3) | ||||||
Jake Allen 31 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 15 saves / 19 shots James Reimer 6 saves / 7 shots |
May 23 | San Jose Sharks | 6–3 | St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | Recap | |||
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1) – 03:51 | First period | 07:04 – Jaden Schwartz (4) 15:08 – Troy Brouwer (8) | ||||||
Joel Ward (3) – pp – 04:37 Joe Pavelski (11) – pp – 18:33 |
Second period | 11:58 – pp – Robby Fabbri (4) | ||||||
Joe Pavelski (12) – 00:16 Chris Tierney (5) – en – 19:06 Joel Ward (4) – en – 19:27 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Martin Jones 18 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | Jake Allen 21 saves / 25 shots |
May 25 | St. Louis Blues | 2–5 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 03:57 – Joe Pavelski (13) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 05:02 – Joel Ward (5) | ||||||
Vladimir Tarasenko (8) – 11:39 Vladimir Tarasenko (9) – 16:25 |
Third period | 03:01 – Joel Ward (6) 08:11 – Joonas Donskoi (5) 19:40 – en – Logan Couture (8) | ||||||
Brian Elliott 22 saves / 26 shots Jake Allen 0 saves / 0 shots |
Goalie stats | Martin Jones 24 saves / 26 shots |
San Jose won series 4–2 | |
Stanley Cup Finals
editThis was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Pittsburgh made their fifth Stanley Cup Finals appearance; their most recent appearance was in 2009, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. San Jose made their first Finals appearance in their twenty-fifth season since entering the league in 1991–92. These teams split their two-game regular season series.
May 30 | San Jose Sharks | 2–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
No scoring | First period | 12:46 – Bryan Rust (6) 13:48 – Conor Sheary (3) | ||||||
Tomas Hertl (6) – pp – 03:02 Patrick Marleau (5) – 18:12 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 17:27 – Nick Bonino (4) | ||||||
Martin Jones 38 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 24 saves / 26 shots |
June 1 | San Jose Sharks | 1–2 | OT | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | ||
No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | 08:20 – Phil Kessel (10) | ||||||
Justin Braun (1) – 15:55 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 02:35 – Conor Sheary (4) | ||||||
Martin Jones 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 21 saves / 22 shots |
June 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2–3 | OT | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | ||
Ben Lovejoy (2) – 05:29 | First period | 09:34 – Justin Braun (2) | ||||||
Patric Hornqvist (8) – 19:07 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
No scoring | Third period | 08:48 – pp – Joel Ward (7) | ||||||
No scoring | First overtime period | 12:18 – Joonas Donskoi (6) | ||||||
Matt Murray 23 saves / 26 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 40 saves / 42 shots |
June 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–1 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
Ian Cole (1) – 07:36 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Evgeni Malkin (5) – pp – 02:37 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Eric Fehr (3) – 17:58 | Third period | 08:07 – Melker Karlsson (4) | ||||||
Matt Murray 23 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 17 saves / 20 shots |
June 9 | San Jose Sharks | 4–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | Recap | |||
Brent Burns (7) – 01:04 Logan Couture (9) – 02:43 Melker Karlsson (5) – 14:47 |
First period | 04:44 – pp – Evgeni Malkin (6) 05:06 – Carl Hagelin (6) | ||||||
No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
Joe Pavelski (14) – en – 18:40 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Martin Jones 44 saves / 46 shots | Goalie stats | Matt Murray 18 saves / 21 shots |
June 12 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3–1 | San Jose Sharks | SAP Center | Recap | |||
Brian Dumoulin (2) – pp – 08:16 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
Kris Letang (3) – 07:46 | Second period | 06:27 – Logan Couture (10) | ||||||
Patric Hornqvist (9) – en – 18:58 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
Matt Murray 18 saves / 19 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Jones 24 saves / 26 shots |
Pittsburgh won series 4–2 | |
Player statistics
editSkaters
editThese are the top ten skaters based on points.
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Logan Couture | San Jose Sharks | 24 | 10 | 20 | 30 | +5 | 8 |
Brent Burns | San Jose Sharks | 24 | 7 | 17 | 24 | +11 | 12 |
Joe Pavelski | San Jose Sharks | 24 | 14 | 9 | 23 | +1 | 4 |
Phil Kessel | Pittsburgh Penguins | 24 | 10 | 12 | 22 | +5 | 4 |
Joe Thornton | San Jose Sharks | 24 | 3 | 18 | 21 | +2 | 10 |
Nikita Kucherov | Tampa Bay Lightning | 17 | 11 | 8 | 19 | +13 | 8 |
Sidney Crosby | Pittsburgh Penguins | 24 | 6 | 13 | 19 | –2 | 4 |
Evgeni Malkin | Pittsburgh Penguins | 23 | 6 | 12 | 18 | +1 | 18 |
Nick Bonino | Pittsburgh Penguins | 24 | 4 | 14 | 18 | +9 | 12 |
Tyler Johnson | Tampa Bay Lightning | 17 | 7 | 10 | 17 | +9 | 12 |
Goaltenders
editThis 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.
Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Braden Holtby | Washington Capitals | 12 | 6 | 6 | 363 | 21 | 1.72 | .942 | 2 | 731:32 |
Ben Bishop | Tampa Bay Lightning | 11 | 8 | 2 | 297 | 18 | 1.85 | .939 | 2 | 582:26 |
Roberto Luongo | Florida Panthers | 6 | 2 | 4 | 227 | 15 | 2.05 | .934 | 0 | 438:20 |
Matt Murray | Pittsburgh Penguins | 21 | 15 | 6 | 575 | 44 | 2.08 | .923 | 1 | 1267:16 |
Martin Jones | San Jose Sharks | 24 | 14 | 10 | 684 | 53 | 2.16 | .923 | 3 | 1473:18 |
Andrei Vasilevskiy | Tampa Bay Lightning | 8 | 3 | 4 | 267 | 20 | 2.76 | .925 | 0 | 434:25 |
Television
editThis marked the fifth postseason under NBC Sports' 10-year contract for American television rights, and the second under Sportsnet and TVA Sports' current 12-year contract for Canadian television rights. In the United States, all playoff games were nationally televised by either NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, and NHL Network. During the first round, these national telecasts co-existed with those of the regional rightsholders, after which NBC had exclusive rights to the remaining games.[97] In Canada, all games were aired in English during the second postseason coverage of Rogers Media's 12-year contract of exclusive NHL rights, through its Sportsnet channel and CBC (as part of Hockey Night in Canada), and in French by TVA Sports.[98]
With all seven of the NHL's Canadian teams out of the playoffs, media sources predicted that Rogers would take a massive decline in viewership.[99][100][101] During the regular season, the Sunday-night Hometown Hockey games saw ratings drop 34 percent, while Hockey Night in Canada fell 18 per cent, culminating in the season closer on April 9 that attracted just 721,000 viewers.[102] To cut production costs, Rogers only employed three full-time play-by-play crews, along with a fourth on spot duty, during the first round.[103] In the second round, Rogers only sent a crew for games broadcast on CBC, while simulcasting NBC's feeds for all other games (which aired on Sportsnet). The Hockey News estimated that Rogers saved CA$100,000 per game if they simulcasted a U.S. feed instead of producing their own separate broadcast.[104]
Ratings were also down in the United States, with the conference finals down by 9%, and ratings for the finals down to an average of 4 million viewers, making it the third-lowest-rated finals since 2006. The decline was credited to multiple factors, including the lack of Original Six teams or teams from key media markets such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, and heavy competition from the 2016 NBA Playoffs and Game of Thrones (which aired against the series-ending game 6).[105][106]
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