at end of regular season, 16 teams qualify stanley cup playoffs, elimination tournament consisting of 3 rounds of best-of-seven series determine team each conference advance final round, dubbed stanley cup final. top 3 teams in each division earn automatic berths (6 teams per conference) , next 2 teams in conference earn wild-card spots. first round pits top ranked team in conference against lower ranked wild-card , other division winner against higher ranked wild-card. second , third place teams in each division play each other. first round winners meet in second round. western conference (pacific vs. central) , eastern conference (atlantic vs. metropolitan) finals determine faces off in stanley cup finals.
any ties in standings broken using following protocols:
the greater differential between goals , goals against during entire regular season.
for first 2 rounds, higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record). thereafter, goes whoever has better regular season record (no matter seeding). team home-ice advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5 , 7, while opponent hosts games 3, 4 , 6 (games 5–7 played if necessary ).
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