It’s getting into late April, and for NHL fans, that means that it’s getting closer and closer to playoff season. The one question that is in every fan’s mind is if their team has made it into the playoffs or if they’re going to be on the outside looking in.
Thankfully, teams from both divisions have been decided for the 2026 Playoffs, both from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. With seeding being decided, that means that matchups have also been decided for both divisions as well.
Eastern Conference
From the eastern conference, we have the following teams in the playoffs, and listed according to seeding. The first team is the Carolina Hurricanes, followed by the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montréal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Pittsburg Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, and lastly Ottawa Senators.
As said before, the matchups for this division have been decided, so below will be a list of the playoff matchups.
The first matchup will be The Buffalo Sabres versus the Boston Bruins, Montréal will face the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes will face off against the Ottawa Senators, and lastly the battle of Pittsburgh will happen where the Penguins will take on the Flyers.
Western Conference
While the teams in the Western Conference have been decided, their exact seeding has not been decided yet, at least at the time of writing.
The teams that have made it, in the order of seeding, are the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Mammoth, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings.
Like the Eastern Conference, this conference’s matchups have been decided as well, and will be listed below as well.
The first matchup of the playoffs for the Western Conference will be The Colorado Avalanche taking on the Los Angeles Kings, followed by the Dallas Stars facing off against the Minnesota Wild, the Vegas Golden Knights will take on the Utah Mammoth, and finally the Edmonton Oilers will take on the Anaheim Ducks.
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With the playoffs all set and ready to go, all that is left is to finish out the regular seasonhttps://unsplash.com/photos/ice-hockey-players-on-ice-hockey-arena-u5lPj3-f0XI and get ready to see the teams live in action.
For fans that don’t have a team in the playoffs, there are plenty of story lines to follow as well, one being seeing Sidney Crosby back in the playoffs with the Pittsburgh Penguins, or Anže Kopitar having one last dance in the playoffs as well with the Los Angeles Kings.