2012 Stanley Cup playoffs

2012 Stanley Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 11–June 11, 2012
Teams	16
Defending champions	Boston Bruins
Final positions
Champions	Los Angeles Kings
Runner-up	New Jersey Devils
Tournament statistics
Scoring leader(s)	Dustin Brown (Kings) Anze Kopitar (Kings) (20 points)
MVP	Jonathan Quick (Kings)
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The 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2011–12 season. It began on April 11, 2012, after the conclusion of the regular season, and ended on June 11, with the Los Angeles Kings defeating the New Jersey Devils in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals to win their first Stanley Cup championship. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, having recorded a 1.41 goals against average, was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoffs' most valuable player.

The Vancouver Canucks made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners for the second consecutive year with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. The Detroit Red Wings increased their postseason appearance streak to twenty-one seasons, the longest active streak at the time. The Florida Panthers returned to the postseason to end a record-breaking 10-season drought from the playoffs that began with the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs. This was also the first time that the Buffalo Sabres missed the playoffs during their active playoff appearance drought; they surpassed Edmonton and Florida's shared record for longest playoff appearance drought in league history by missing the playoffs in 2022. This was the first year since 1996 in which no Canadian-based teams advanced past the first round. It marked the first time since 2004 in which none of the previous year's conference finalists (Boston Bruins, Vancouver, Tampa Bay Lightning, and San Jose Sharks) advanced past the opening round. This was the only playoffs where the Phoenix Coyotes advanced beyond the round of 16 teams.

After clinching a postseason spot in their 81st game of the regular season,^[1] the Kings became the first eighth-seeded team to win the Stanley Cup in NHL history (and the second eighth seed to reach the Cup Finals after the 2005–06 Edmonton Oilers). They also became the first team in NHL history to have a 3-0 lead in all four playoff rounds. Their postseason began with an elimination of the Vancouver Canucks, who became the third Presidents' Trophy-winning team in the last four seasons to be eliminated in the opening round. Los Angeles went on to become the second team to eliminate the first, second, and third seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames (and the first team to do so in that order).^[2] In addition, the Kings became the first team to make the Finals undefeated on the road (with their 8–0 record).^[3] As the sixth seed in their conference, the Devils were the lowest-seeded team to have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, breaking a record they set when they won the Cup as a fourth seed in 2000.