Editing Playoffs (section)

===National Hockey League===
{{main|Stanley Cup playoffs}}
{{see also|NHL conference finals}}
The [[National Hockey League]] playoff system is an elimination tournament competition for the [[Stanley Cup]], consisting of four rounds of [[Best-of-seven playoff|best-of-seven series]]. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, dubbed the [[Stanley Cup Finals]]. The winner of that series becomes the NHL and Stanley Cup champion.

Since 2014, the Conference Quarterfinals consists of four match-ups in each conference, based on the seedings division-wise (No. 1 vs. No.  4, and No.  2 vs. No.  3). The division winner with the best record in the conference plays the lowest wild-card seed, while the other division winner plays the top wild-card seed (wild-card teams, who are de facto 4th seeds, may cross over to another division within the conference). In the Conference Semifinals, the four remaining teams in the conference face each other. In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two surviving teams play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.

For the first two rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record). Thereafter, it goes to the team with the better regular season record. In all rounds the team with home-ice advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, while the opponent hosts Games 3, 4 and 6 (Games 5–7 are played "if necessary").

For the {{NHL Year|2019}}, in which the regular season was prematurely ended by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] only the top four teams in each conference, as determined by points-per-game, qualified directly to the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The remaining four First Round teams per conference were determined by best-of-five ''Stanley Cup Qualifiers.''