NHL playoff ties

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "NHL playoff ties" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Except for 1920, the NHL has always used a playoff tournament to determine its champion. The league's playoff system has changed over the years, from the NHL's inception in 1917, to when the NHL took over the Cup in 1926, to the current setup today.

Current rules require overtime for playoff games that are tied after regulation, however that was not always the case. Game 4 of the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins was abandoned after 36:37 of play, but this game is not considered official except for player statistics.

Starting in 1915, the Cup was officially contested between the champion of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the champion of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). After a series of league mergers and folds, including the 1917 establishment of the NHL as a successor to the NHA, the Stanley Cup became the championship trophy of the NHL prior to the 1926–27 season, so in this period, there were Stanley Cup Finals games between the NHL and other leagues during this period.