How the NHL season and Stanley Cup playoffs work

NHL standings can look odd if you are used to other sports. There is a column for overtime losses, teams are ranked by points rather than wins, and two teams with the same number of points can be separated by something called ROW. Then the playoffs arrive and the bracket is built around divisions, not just the overall table.

This guide explains how the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs work as of the 2026-27 season, which is the first with 84 games per team.

The short version

• There are 32 teams in two conferences and four divisions. Starting in 2026-27, each team plays 84 regular-season games, up from 82.
• A win is worth two points, an overtime or shootout loss one point, and a regulation loss zero.
• A regular-season game tied after 60 minutes goes to five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime, then a shootout. Playoff games have no shootout; teams play full 20-minute periods until someone scores.
• Sixteen teams make the playoffs: the top three in each division plus two wild cards in each conference.
• Every round is best-of-seven, and the bracket is fixed by division, with no reseeding.

Conferences and divisions

The league is split into two conferences, each with two divisions of eight teams:

• Eastern Conference: Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Division
• Western Conference: Central Division and Pacific Division

Divisions matter more in hockey than in most leagues, because they shape both the schedule and the playoff bracket.

The 84-game schedule

The 2026-27 season opened on September 29, 2026, the first time since 1993-94 that teams play 84 games. The change was agreed by the league and the players in their latest labor deal, and most teams now play only four preseason games.

Each team plays 42 games at home and 42 on the road:

• 4 games against each of its 7 division rivals (28 games)
• 3 games against each of the 8 other teams in its conference (24 games)
• 2 games against each of the 16 teams in the other conference (32 games)

The two added games are both divisional, which gives division races a little more weight.

How points work

Teams are ranked by points:

• Win (in regulation, overtime or a shootout): 2 points
• Overtime or shootout loss: 1 point
• Regulation loss: 0 points

The single point for losing after regulation is often called the loser point. It is why a team's record is written as three numbers: wins, regulation losses and overtime losses.

Early in the season, teams have played different numbers of games, so the points column alone can mislead. Look at games played next to points, or at points percentage, which divides a team's points by the maximum it could have earned.

Overtime and shootouts in the regular season

If a regular-season game is tied after three periods, the teams play a five-minute overtime with three skaters a side plus goalies. The first goal wins.

If nobody scores, the game goes to a shootout. Each team sends three shooters, alternating, one-on-one against the goalie. If it is still level after three rounds, it goes to sudden-death rounds until one team scores and the other does not. The shootout winner is credited with one goal in the final score and gets the two points.

Tiebreakers

When teams finish level on points, the NHL breaks the tie in this order:

1. Fewer games played (this only matters during the season, since everyone finishes with 84)
2. More regulation wins (RW)
3. More regulation plus overtime wins (ROW), which leaves out shootout wins
4. More total wins
5. Head-to-head points between the tied teams
6. Goal differential, then goals scored

This is why standings pages show RW and ROW columns. Winning in regulation is worth more than it looks.

Who makes the playoffs

Eight teams from each conference qualify, 16 in all:

• The top three teams in each division get in automatically. That is 12 teams.
• The two best remaining teams in each conference, regardless of division, take the wild card spots.

Because the wild cards are drawn from the whole conference, one division can send five teams and the other only three. A team can also finish fourth in its division with more points than the third-place team in the other division and still be a wild card.

How the bracket is set

In each conference:

• The division winner with more points plays the lower-ranked wild card.
• The other division winner plays the higher-ranked wild card.
• In each division, the second- and third-place teams play each other.

The winners then stay on their side of the bracket. That means the second round is usually a matchup between teams from the same division, which is a big reason hockey rivalries get so heated in the spring. There is no reseeding after any round.

The conference final decides the Eastern and Western champions, who meet in the Stanley Cup Final. The playoffs start in mid-April and usually finish in June.

Series format and home ice

Every round is a best-of-seven series using a 2-2-1-1-1 pattern: the team with home ice hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7.

In the first two rounds, home ice goes by bracket position, so a division winner hosts a wild card even if the wild card finished with more points. In the conference final and the Stanley Cup Final, home ice goes to the team with the better regular-season record.

The team with the most points in the regular season wins the Presidents' Trophy, which also means it has home ice in every series it plays.

Playoff overtime

There are no shootouts and no 3-on-3 in the playoffs. If a game is tied after three periods, the teams play full 20-minute periods at five-on-five, with an intermission between each, and the first goal wins. Long playoff games running into a fourth or fifth overtime period do happen.

Frequently asked questions

How many teams make the Stanley Cup playoffs?

Sixteen, eight from each conference. That is the top three teams in each of the four divisions plus two wild cards per conference.

Why do NHL standings have a column for overtime losses?

Because a loss in overtime or a shootout still earns one point. Tracking those losses separately shows where a team's points came from.

Is there a shootout in the playoffs?

No. Playoff overtime is played in full 20-minute periods at five-on-five until someone scores.

Does the NHL reseed after each round?

No. The bracket is fixed by division and wild card position before the first round, and the winners follow their path through it.

If you follow a team through 84 games and a long spring, Get Your Sports Here can send one short daily email on the teams and players you pick, with every fact linked to its source. The site also keeps the schedule for everything you follow and recaps finished games with the line score, scoring plays and top performers. Before a big game you can make a one-page game sheet, and our guide on how to read a hockey game sheet walks through one. You can set up a briefing here.