Everything to Know on NHL Playoff 2023 Races, Tiebreakers, Best Matchups, More (2023)

FAQs

What is the tiebreaker for the NHL 2023? ›

The 2023 NHL Playoffs consist of four rounds of best-of-seven series.

The structure of the playoffs is as follows: The division winner with the most points in each conference will face the second Wild Card team in the first round. The division winner with fewer points in each conference will match up with the top Wild Card team in the first round.

Among the current thirty-two active NHL teams, twelve have never won the Stanley Cup, with the oldest of them being the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres (50 seasons). The longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs (54 seasons), breaking a tie with the New York Rangers.

What are the overtime rules in the regular season of the NHL? If the score remains tied after three periods, the game goes to overtime. Overtime is a five-minute period where the first team to score wins the game. The overtime period is played three-on-three, with each team having three skaters on the ice.

Ties in the NHL make up 9.6% of all results. Of course, that number will continue to decrease since ties have not been a part of the league since shootouts were introduced for the 2005-06 season.

Connor Bedard, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, is in his third season with Regina of the Western Hockey League. The 17-year-old center, No.

Each series is played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning the team with home-ice advantage hosts games one, two, five, and seven, while their opponent hosts games three, four, and six. Games five, six, and seven are only played if needed. Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.

Every series, no matter the round, will play a best-of-seven series, meaning the first team to win four games advances to the next round. Each series is played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, which means the team with the better record plays Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 at its home arena, while its opponent hosts Games 3, 4, and 6.

The tiebreaker criteria is used as follows: Head-to-head record; better record in games with the tied teams. Division record; better record in games against teams in its own division (Only if the teams are in the same division). Conference record; better record in game against teams in its own conference.

How are playoff matches decided? ›

The first four playoff spots in each conference are awarded to the teams that finish with the best record in each division (North, South, East and West). The remaining six spots (three from the AFC and three from the NFC) are given to the teams with the best record who did not win their division.

Immediately following a stoppage of play, the home team makes a player (one to five player s) “line change,” following which the visiting team also makes a player change. The Coach of the home team then decides that they want to put different player (s) on the ice to counter the change made by the visiting team.

The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports because the winner must play sometimes 16 playoff games, and sometimes 28 total games before being deemed a champion. Compared to the other regular seasons of other sports games, the competition level at the Stanley Cup playoffs gets more difficult and exciting.

The youngest player to ever win the Cup was Larry Hillman. He was just 18 years, 2 months, and 9 days old when the Detroit Red Wings won the Cup in 1955. Chris Chelios was the oldest player to win the Cup. He was 46 years, 6 months when he won the cup with Detroit in 2008.

Kenora accomplished two things with their championship: They were—and remain—the smallest town to ever win the Stanley Cup, and they were the last amateur team to do so. Unfortunately, the Thistles only managed to hang onto the Cup for about two months.

PP. Power play goals. SH. Short-handed goals.

1. Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins (May 4, 2000) Keith Primeau leveled their second-round series against the Pens at two games apiece after over 92 minutes of overtime action.

The Marek Malik shootout

On November 26, 2005 the Rangers went to 15 rounds to defeat the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. It set a record for the longest shootout in NHL history that stood for 15 years until the Panthers and Caps set a new record with a 20-round effort.

1949: The Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers stage one of the best goaltending duels in NHL history when Bill Durnan of the Canadiens and Chuck Rayner of the Rangers match saves for 60 minutes in a 0-0 tie at the Forum.

The first double-digit loss in league history came in 1919, when the Toronto Arenas lost to the Canadiens by a 10-0 final.

Has there ever been a double-digit hockey game? ›

They gave up double-digit goals seven times. And on Jan. 23, 1944, the Rangers visited the Red Wings and turned in what still stands as the worst performance in NHL history. The Wings scored two in the first, five in the second, and then poured it on with eight more in the third for a total of 15 goals on the night.

Odds and relative value will vary slightly depending on the sportsbook you use, but one thing is clear: the Bruins are the overwhelming frontrunners to make it out of the Eastern Conference and hoist the Stanley Cup.

Calgary is an interesting matchup, because I think both teams were built for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I like St. Louis because I like their metal with O'Reilly and Brayden Schenn, I'm picking them for the Stanley Cup Finals. My pick to win the Stanley Cup this year is the Carolina Hurricanes.

Anyone who has attempted it will attest that predicting hockey games is not easy. Being able to beat the odds set by sportsbooks like Pinnacle and Bovada is harder still. Nevertheless, with the right combination of skill, smarts and luck, one can have success betting on the NHL.

The top team in each division faces a wild-card entry in Round 1, while the No. 2 and 3 divisional seeds square off against each other. There's no reseeding. Before 2013-14, the top eight teams from each conference would make the playoffs, with division winners grabbing the top three seeds.

Calgary's odds at making the playoffs were at 28 percent, according to Dom Luszczyszyn on Tuesday night. Those odds have now dropped to 12 percent. The Flames' tragic number, according to Flames Nation's Ryan Pike and Sportsnet's Pat Steinberg, is at three.

The Edmonton Oilers officially punched their ticket to the 2023 Playoffs after defeating the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (April 1). They currently sit in second in the Pacific Division and Western Conference with 99 points.

(a) A minor penalty for delay of game shall be assessed to a player other than the goalkeeper who deliberately falls on or gathers the puck into his body, deeming the puck unplayable and causing a stoppage of play.

An Accrued Season is defined as a year in which a skater is on an NHL roster for at least 40 games (30 games for Goalies). If a player is on the NHL team's roster but injured, the team's games count towards the 40 game minimum.

There are two exemptions the NHL allows for head contact: If a hit goes directly through the body of a player and leads to contact of the head. If the posture of the player who is receiving the hit leads to head contact.

How does best of 7 work? ›

Each series is a best-of-seven format, played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format where the home team hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (if the NBA Finals goes to seven games). The home team in the NBA Finals is determined by who has the better regular season record between the two teams.

6 team playoff system, week options, and consolation teams

The top 6 teams in the league standings at end of the regular season qualify for a 3-week postseason tournament to determine a league champion. The next 4 teams (or the next 6 for 12+ team leagues) in rank play consolation rounds for 7th-10th or 7-12th place.

The seven postseason participants from each conference are seeded as follows: The division champion with the best record. The division champion with the second-best record. The division champion with the third-best record.

The playoffs use a best-of-seven elimination format. This means two teams play each other up to seven times, with the team that wins four games progressing to the next round.

Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.

To progress to the final, a team must win both their semi-final and then their final. So, in order to make the playoffs, a team must first finish in the top four of the league table. Then, they must win two further matches – their semi-final and final – in order to be crowned champions.

The fourth line is often called the "energy line," both because their shifts give other players a chance to rest, and because their physically oriented play is said to give their teammates an emotional boost.

The favorite is always indicated by a minus sign (e.g. -5.5) and the underdog by a plus sign (e.g.+5.5). If you bet on the favorite, you win your bet if the favorite wins AND their margin of victory is greater than the point spread.

According to Sports Virsa, the top 10 hardest sports in the world to play in 2022 are as follows: Boxing (hardest), American football, mixed martial arts, ice hockey, gymnastics, basketball, soccer, wrestling, rugby, and water polo.

What is the hardest sport of all time? ›

1. Water Polo: 44 Points. Often overlooked in discussions, this Olympic sport is officially the toughest sport in the world. Similar to the land-based handball that was not too far from the list itself, water polo is played, well, in water.

FIFA World Cup Trophy

The FIFA world cup trophy is arguably the most sought after trophy in the whole world. The sense of pride and accomplishment the winning team get from holding this trophy must be incredible.

Henrik Lundqvist

"King Henrik" is the only NHL goalie to win 30 or more games in each of his first seven NHL seasons. He also won an Olympic Gold Medal, played in three NHL All-Star Games and won the 2012 Vezina Trophy. But Lundqvist has never won a Stanley Cup.

Ken Dryden did it first for the Canadiens as a rookie but Patrick Roy followed in his skate strides when he guided the Habs to a Stanley Cup championship. Roy was nothing short of magnificent in the playoffs as he finished with a 15-10-0 record, a .

The trophy is named after Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, who purchased the original silver cup that became the Stanley Cup in 1893.

Dating back to the original expansion year of the NHL, there are 11 active teams that haven't won a Stanley Cup since their inception. The record for the longest drought ever goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, currently sitting at 55 years since their Cup win in 1967.

Successful comebacks. NHL teams have overcome 3–1 deficits 31 times, the most recent instance being accomplished by the New York Rangers during the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Rangers, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Montreal Canadiens are tied with the most successful 3-1 series comebacks in the NHL, with 3.

If still tied, the total number of all wins is used and, if still tied after that, the edge will go to the team that accumulated more points in the head-to-head matchup against the team they're tied with.

*Regulation wins are the first tiebreaker, and regulation plus overtime wins are the second tiebreaker. Shootout wins are not counted in regulation plus overtime wins.

What is the tie breaker in the NHL regular season? ›

At the NHL level of hockey, a game cannot end in a tie. If the game is tied at the end of regulation time, the teams will play a 5 minute overtime, and if no goal is scored the game will be decided by a shootout.

The first player or team to win seven points, by two, wins the tiebreak. This means the score can end up being very high (e.g. 15-13) or as low as 7-0 through 7-5. Whoever wins the tiebreak game, wins the set by a score of 7-6.

Tie Break Tens is an exhibition tennis format in which only tie-break matches are played. There are no games or sets, only tie-break matches and the winner is the first player to reach 10 points and lead by a margin of two. Most other traditional rules of tennis are the same.

If teams finish on equal points and goal difference then goals scored will be the deciding factor. The team who has scored the most goals across all three group games stays in the competition.

If the score remains tied after three attempts each in the best-of-three scenario, the shootout will go to format in which each team sends out a different play to attempt to score. If one player scores, the other must score to continue to the next round of the shootout or else the scoring player's team wins.

If two teams are tied for a position, both teams are awarded the ranking as if they held it solely. For example, if Team A and Team B are tied for first in points scored, each team is assigned a ranking of “1” in that category, and if Team C is third, its ranking will still be “3.”

NCAA games can end in ties, although conferences may elect to use a three-person shootout to award points in league standings after the initial five-minute OT. Non-conference games tied after the initial five-minute OT will end as ties.

Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four. Strength of victory in all games. Strength of schedule in all games. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed in all games.

Tie Breaking Formula – Ties in Standings – Two Teams Tied If a tie exists than the team with the most wins shall be awarded the higher position. If still tied, add the goals for and the goals against together and divide into the goals for with the team having the highest percentage being awarded the higher position.

What are the NHL wild card rules? ›

Wild card teams are the two teams in each conference outside of the top three with the highest points totals. Divisional alignment has no effect on wild cards, so it's possible for one division to have five teams in the postseason, with the other division in the conference having just three.

One of the rarest plays in hockey is the penalty shot. A penalty shot awarded in overtime is even rarer. Scoring on an overtime penalty shot is even rarer.

Billy Coutu was the first, and to date only, player banned from the NHL for life for violence in 1927; he assaulted referee Jerry Laflamme and tackled referee Billy Bell before starting a bench-clearing brawl during a Stanley Cup game between the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators, apparently on the orders of Bruins ...