A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | |
| 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) |
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.
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
This 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
Atlantic Division
- Florida Panthers, Atlantic Division champions – 103 points
- Tampa Bay Lightning – 97 points
- Detroit Red Wings – 93 points
Metropolitan Division
- 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
- New York Islanders – 100 points
- Philadelphia Flyers – 96 points
Western Conference
Central Division
- Dallas Stars, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 109 points
- St. Louis Blues – 107 points
- Chicago Blackhawks – 103 points
Pacific Division
- Anaheim Ducks, Pacific Division champions – 103 points
- Los Angeles Kings – 102 points
- San Jose Sharks – 98 points
Wild cards
- Nashville Predators – 96 points
- Minnesota Wild – 87 points
Playoff bracket
In 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
Eastern Conference first round
(A1) Florida Panthers vs. (WC1) New York Islanders
The 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 | ||||||