# 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2024 [Stanley Cup playoffs](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-cup-playoffs) were the [National Hockey League](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-hockey-league)'s postseason tournament for the 2023-24 season, a 16-team, four-round bracket of best-of-7 series that ended with the [Florida Panthers](https://www.edgepedia.org/florida-panthers) defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the Stanley Cup Final to win the first championship in franchise history.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-florida-panthers-game-7-recap-june-24)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Teams | 16 qualifiers: the top three teams in each of the four divisions plus two wild cards per conference, in a set, largely division-based bracket[2](https://www.nhl.com/info/standings-info/playoff-format) |
| Series length | Every round was a best-of-7; the first team to win four games advanced[2](https://www.nhl.com/info/standings-info/playoff-format) |
| Conference champions | Florida Panthers (Eastern) and Edmonton Oilers (Western)[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-nhl-conference-finals-schedule) |
| Stanley Cup Final | Panthers won 4-3, taking Game 7 by a score of 2-1 on June 24, 2024[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-florida-panthers-game-7-recap-june-24) |
| Historic note | Florida became the ninth team in NHL history to win the Cup after losing the previous Final, and the first since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009[4](https://www.nhl.com/panthers/info/stanleycup2024) |
| Near comeback | Edmonton, down 3-0 in the Final, outscored Florida 18-5 in Games 4-6 before losing Game 7[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-florida-panthers-game-7-recap-june-24) |
| Viewership | The most-watched playoffs across North America since 2017 and the most-watched Stanley Cup Final across North America since 2013[5](https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2024-25/2024YearInReview_BusinessNHL.pdf) |
## Format
The playoff structure placed the top three finishers in each division into the bracket first, with the remaining four spots filled by the next two highest-placed teams in each conference regardless of division, so one division in a conference could send five teams while the other sent three.[2](https://www.nhl.com/info/standings-info/playoff-format) In the first round, the division winner with the better record in each conference faced the wild-card team with the lesser record, the other wild card played the other division winner, and the second- and third-place teams in each division met each other.[2](https://www.nhl.com/info/standings-info/playoff-format) Home-ice advantage through the first two rounds went to the team that placed higher in the regular-season standings; in the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final it went to the team with the better regular-season record regardless of division standing.[2](https://www.nhl.com/info/standings-info/playoff-format)
## First round
Eight series ran from late April into early May 2024, with the higher seeds advancing in six of them.[6](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule)
- **Atlantic Division bracket:** Florida (1A) beat [Tampa Bay](https://www.edgepedia.org/tampa-bay) (WC1) 4-1, and Boston (2A) beat Toronto (3A) 4-3, with the Bruins taking Game 7 in overtime 2-1.[6](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule)
- **Metropolitan Division bracket:** the [New York Rangers](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-rangers) (1M) swept Washington (WC2) 4-0, and Carolina (2M) beat the [New York Islanders](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-islanders) (3M) 4-1.[6](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule)
- **Central Division bracket:** Dallas (1C) outlasted Vegas (WC2) 4-3, winning Game 7 by 2-1, while Colorado (3C) beat Winnipeg (2C) 4-1 in a series that opened with a 7-6 Jets win.[6](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule)
- **Pacific Division bracket:** Vancouver (1P) beat Nashville (WC1) 4-2, and Edmonton (2P) beat Los Angeles (3P) 4-1.[6](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule)
## Second round
The second round produced two Game 7s and sent the top regular-season team in each conference forward.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-second-round-schedule) Florida recovered from a 5-1 Game 1 loss to Boston to win the series 4-2, and the Rangers beat Carolina 4-2 despite Carolina winning Games 4 and 5.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-second-round-schedule) In the West, Dallas eliminated Colorado 4-2, closing with a 2-1 double-overtime win in Game 6, and Edmonton beat Vancouver 4-3 in a Battle of Alberta-era rivalry series that ended with a 3-2 Oilers win in Game 7.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-second-round-schedule)
## Conference finals
Both conference finals ran six games and both ended with the elimination of the team that had finished first in its conference during the regular season.[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-nhl-conference-finals-schedule) • [8](https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2024/06/18116/2024ConferenceFinalsRecap%20FINAL.pdf) Florida beat the Rangers 4-2, opening with a 3-0 shutout and closing with a 2-1 win in Game 6 in New York; three of the six games went to overtime.[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-nhl-conference-finals-schedule) Edmonton beat Dallas 4-2, taking Game 1 in double overtime 3-2 and Game 6 by 2-1.[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-nhl-conference-finals-schedule)
The NHL noted that this was the third postseason since the 1975 conference realignment in which both conference-final winners eliminated a No. 1-seeded club, after 2007 and 2015, and that the last time the top-seeded team from each conference had reached the Stanley Cup Final was 2001.[8](https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2024/06/18116/2024ConferenceFinalsRecap%20FINAL.pdf)
## Stanley Cup Final
The Final matched the Panthers, in their third trip to the championship series, against the Oilers, appearing in it for an eighth time.[9](https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2024/06/18119/MorningSkate_060424.pdf) The 2,543 miles (4,092 kilometers) between the teams' home arenas made it the longest-distance Final in NHL history, surpassing the Vancouver-Boston series of 2011.[10](https://apnews.com/article/093861d059af4cf849b790c37ceecd4e)
Florida built a 3-0 series lead, winning Game 3 in Edmonton 4-3 behind captain [Aleksander Barkov](https://www.edgepedia.org/aleksander-barkov)'s goal and assist and 32 saves from [Sergei Bobrovsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/sergei-bobrovsky).[11](https://apnews.com/article/40cf3fc25c1935c1ca18f39ac096391a) Edmonton then pushed the series the distance, outscoring Florida 18-5 across Games 4-6, including a 5-1 win in Game 6 at [Rogers Place](https://www.edgepedia.org/rogers-place) that evened the series.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-florida-panthers-game-7-recap-june-24) • [12](https://www.nhl.com/panthers/news/recap-oilers-5-panthers-1) A reverse sweep would have matched the only one in Final history, by Toronto against Detroit in 1942.[13](https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2024/06/23/florida-panthers-edmonton-oilers-stanley-cup-final-preview)
In Game 7 at [Amerant Bank Arena](https://www.edgepedia.org/amerant-bank-arena) on June 24, Carter Verhaeghe tipped in a shot 4:27 into the first period for his team-leading 10th goal of the playoffs, Mattias Janmark tied it for Edmonton less than three minutes later, and the Panthers held on for a 2-1 win and their first [Stanley Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-cup).[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-florida-panthers-game-7-recap-june-24) • [14](https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/game-recap-panthers-2-oilers-1-game-7-06-24-24) The loss ended the attempt by a Canadian-based team to end the country's championship drought; since 1994, seven Canadian teams had reached the Final without winning it.[15](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/24/stanley-cup-finals-game-7-florida-panthers-edmonton-oilers-nhl-hockey)
## Star players and audience
[Connor McDavid](https://www.edgepedia.org/connor-mcdavid) led all playoff scorers with 31 points through three rounds, with [Leon Draisaitl](https://www.edgepedia.org/leon-draisaitl) next at 28, and the Oilers converted a postseason-best 37.3 percent of their power plays; [Matthew Tkachuk](https://www.edgepedia.org/matthew-tkachuk) led Florida with 19 points and Bobrovsky had allowed 38 goals in the entire run.[10](https://apnews.com/article/093861d059af4cf849b790c37ceecd4e)
The playoffs drew record audiences. The league later reported the 2024 playoffs were the most-watched across North America since 2017 and the Final the most-watched since 2013.[5](https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2024-25/2024YearInReview_BusinessNHL.pdf)
## References
1. [Panthers recover, defeat Oilers in Game 7 of Stanley Cup Final for 1st title, NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-florida-panthers-game-7-recap-june-24)
2. [Playoff Format, NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/info/standings-info/playoff-format)
3. [2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs conference finals schedule, NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-nhl-conference-finals-schedule)
4. [Florida Panthers 2024 Stanley Cup Champions, Florida Panthers](https://www.nhl.com/panthers/info/stanleycup2024)
5. [2024 Year in Review: Business of the NHL, NHL Communications](https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2024-25/2024YearInReview_BusinessNHL.pdf)
6. [2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs 1st-round schedule, NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule)
7. [2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs 2nd-round schedule, NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-stanley-cup-playoffs-second-round-schedule)
8. [2024 Conference Finals Recap, NHL Communications](https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2024/06/18116/2024ConferenceFinalsRecap%20FINAL.pdf)
9. [NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Final Edition, June 4, 2024, NHL Communications](https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2024/06/18119/MorningSkate_060424.pdf)
10. [Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers is a Stanley Cup Final of teams far apart in every way, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/093861d059af4cf849b790c37ceecd4e)
11. [Barkov, Bobrovsky and the Panthers beat the Oilers 4-3 to move within win of Stanley Cup title, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/40cf3fc25c1935c1ca18f39ac096391a)
12. [RECAP: Oilers 5, Panthers 1, Florida Panthers](https://www.nhl.com/panthers/news/recap-oilers-5-panthers-1)
13. [Panthers seek first Stanley Cup, flirt with historic collapse in Game 7, Axios](https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2024/06/23/florida-panthers-edmonton-oilers-stanley-cup-final-preview)
14. [GAME RECAP: Panthers 2, Oilers 1 (Game 7), Edmonton Oilers](https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/game-recap-panthers-2-oilers-1-game-7-06-24-24)
15. [Panthers beat Oilers in Stanley Cup Final Game 7 as Canada's drought continues, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/24/stanley-cup-finals-game-7-florida-panthers-edmonton-oilers-nhl-hockey)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Hockey and remaining team sports › National Hockey League › NHL seasons, playoffs, and Finals*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license