User:Luke1776/sandbox 4

Dear Wikipedia,

I am deeply sorry for creating so many sandboxes, but I feel that I reserve the right to be allowed to cook.

With kindest regards,

Luke1776

2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s 2025-26 season. The playoffs began on April 18 and concluded on June 18 with the Vegas Golden Knights defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets in seven games to win their second Stanley Cup in franchise history and second in four years.

The Columbus Blue Jackets collected 117 points during the regular season, entering the playoffs as the President's Trophy winners. The New York Islanders returned for the first time since 2023 and the Colorado Avalanche returned to the playoffs after a 1-year absence. The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs both extended their playoff streaks to 10 seasons. The Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators made the playoffs for the sixth straight season. The Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken made it back for the 3rd consecutive season. The Vancouver Canucks made the playoffs for the 4th straight year, while the Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Utah Blizzard each got in for the second year in a row. The Pittsburgh Penguins returned to the playoffs for the 20th straight season, the longest current streak in the NHL and the 7th longest in history. Also, the Minnesota Wild were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2019.

Playoff Teams
Atlantic Division
 * 1) Buffalo Sabres, Atlantic Division champions – 115 points (54–21–7)
 * 2) Boston Bruins – 110 points (51–23–8)
 * 3) Florida Panthers – 108 points (51–25–6)

Metropolitan Division
 * 1) Columbus Blue Jackets, Metropolitan Division champions,  Eastern Conference regular season champions, President's Trophy winners – 117 points (54–19–9)
 * 2) Philadelphia Flyers – 107 points (48–23–11)
 * 3) Pittsburgh Penguins – 99 points (46–29–7)

Wild cards
 * 1) Toronto Maple Leafs – 104 points (47–25–10)
 * 2) New York Islanders – 98 points (42–28–14)

Western Conference

Central Division
 * 1) Utah NHL Team, Central Division champions – 112 points (53–23–6)
 * 2) St. Louis Blues – 109 points (49–22–11)
 * 3) Colorado Avalanche – 107 points (50–25–7)

Pacific Division
 * 1) Seattle Kraken, Pacific Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – 114 points (53–21–8)
 * 2) Vegas Golden Knights – 105 points (48–25–9)
 * 3) Anaheim Ducks – 102 points (46–26–10)

Wild cards
 * 1) Nashville Predators – 104 points (50–28–4)
 * 2) Vancouver Canucks – 100 points (44–26–12)

Playoff Bracket
In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team was at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top three teams in each division made the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference, for a total of eight teams from each conference.

In the first round, the lower seeded wild card in the conference played against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card played against the other division winner, and both wild cards were de facto #4 seeds. The other series matched the second and third-place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home-ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.


 * Legend
 * A1, A2, A3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Atlantic Division, respectively
 * M1, M2, M3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Metropolitan Division, respectively
 * C1, C2, C3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Central Division, respectively
 * P1, P2, P3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Pacific Division, respectively
 * WC – Wild Card teams

(A1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (WC1) Toronto Maple Leafs
This was the second playoff meeting between the Sabres and Maple Leafs. Buffalo won the previous matchup, the 1999 Eastern Conference Final in five games.

(A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A3) Florida Panthers
This was the 3rd playoff meeting between the Bruins and Panthers. Boston won the last matchup in the 2024 Eastern Conference Second Round in seven games. Before that, Florida defeated the Bruins in 5 games in the first round in 1996.

(M1) Columbus Blue Jackets vs. (WC2) New York Islanders
This was the first playoff meeting between the Blue Jackets and Islanders.

(M2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (M3) Pittsburgh Penguins
This was the ninth Battle of Pennsylvania series in the playoffs. The Penguins won the most recent matchup in six games in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.

(C1) Arizona Coyotes vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
This was the fifth playoff meeting, and third consecutive, between the Coyotes and Predators. Nashville won each of the last two meetings, including their second round victory last year in seven games.

(C2) St. Louis Blues vs. (C3) Colorado Avalanche
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Blues and Avalanche. Colorado won the last matchup in 2022 in six games.

(P1) Seattle Kraken vs. (WC2) Vancouver Canucks
This was the second playoff meeting between the Kraken and Canucks. Vancouver won the first matchup in the 2024 first round in six games.

(P2) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (P3) Anaheim Ducks
This was the first playoff meeting between Vegas and Anaheim.

Nashville Predators
The 2024–25 Nashville Predators season was be the 27th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. The Predators won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year and second time in franchise history.

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Philadelphia Flyers
The 2024–25 season was the Flyers' 58th season. The Flyers entered the season looking to improve on their 43–29–10 record and first-round loss last season.

After starting the season 9–7–2 through their first 18 games, the Flyers won 10 games in a row, tying their third longest winning streak in franchise history. On March 27, 2025, they won their 50th game after a shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens, securing their 5th 50-win season in franchise history and first since the 1985–86 team. On April 12, 2025, following a 2–1 shootout loss to the New York Islanders the Flyers clinched the Metropolitan Division for the first time since 2011. Also on the 12th, they secured the top record in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2000. After beating the Ottawa Senators on April 13, they set a new franchise record for wins in a single season with 54.

In the playoffs, the Flyers faced the Ottawa Senators in the first round and defeated them in 6 games. In the second round, the played the Columbus Blue Jackets. The first 6 games of the series all went to overtime, but the Flyers won 5–2 in the deciding game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2010. They defeated the Florida Panthers in 5 games to also reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2010. They played the Nashville Predators in the series, losing in 5 games as Nashville won its second consecutive Stanley Cup.

The regular season schedule was announced on July 2, 2024.


 * - style="text-align:center;"
 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss       = OT/SO Loss

Buffalo Sabres
The regular season schedule was published on July 2, 2024.

Vegas Golden Knights
The regular season schedule was published on July 2, 2024.

Boston Bruins
The Bruins regular season schedule was released on July 2, 2024.

Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets regular season schedule was released on July 2, 2024.