NHL Playoff Bracket Finalized
The NHL regular season finished and the 2026 Stanley Cup playoff bracket was set, with the postseason starting this weekend. (usatoday.com) NBC Sports Philadelphia has already published the Flyers vs. Penguins first‑round schedule, giving fans specific dates to plan around. (nbcsportsphiladelphia.com)
The Stanley Cup playoff field is set, and the National Hockey League opens the 2026 postseason on Saturday, April 18, with 16 teams locked into an eight-series bracket. (nhl.com) The Eastern Conference matchups are Boston Bruins vs. Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators vs. Carolina Hurricanes, and Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins. The Western Conference pairings are Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars, Utah Mammoth vs. Vegas Golden Knights, and Anaheim Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers. (nhl.com) The first game of the playoffs is Hurricanes-Senators at 3 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, followed by Wild-Stars at 5:30 p.m. and Flyers-Penguins at 8 p.m. Four more series begin Sunday, April 19, and Ducks-Oilers opens Monday, April 20. (nhl.com) The bracket follows the National Hockey League’s division-heavy format: the top three teams in each division qualify, plus two wild cards in each conference. That setup produced several first-round series between teams from the same division, including Flyers-Penguins in the Metropolitan and Canadiens-Lightning in the Atlantic. (nhl.com) This year’s field looks different from last spring’s. NHL.com said the six-team turnover from the 2025 playoffs is the league’s second-highest ever, trailing only seasons with seven-team turnover. (nhl.com) Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the most immediate travel-planning series for fans in the Northeast because the full first-round schedule is already out. Game 1 is Saturday, April 18, in Pittsburgh, Game 2 is Monday, April 20, and Games 3 and 4 shift to Philadelphia on April 22 and April 25. (cbsnews.com) Pittsburgh has home ice in that series after finishing second in the Metropolitan Division, while Philadelphia finished third. CBS Philadelphia reported both teams ended the regular season with 98 points, with the Flyers at 43-27-12 and the Penguins at 41-25-16. (cbsnews.com) That matchup also revives one of the league’s oldest regional feuds. CBS Philadelphia reported this is the eighth playoff meeting between the Flyers and Penguins, with Philadelphia holding a 4-3 edge in the previous seven series. (cbsnews.com) The National Hockey League announced that all first-round series are best-of-seven and that Games 5 through 7 remain listed as “if necessary,” with some start times still to be determined. The bracket is fixed now; the only thing left is to play it. (nhl.com)
