Printable 2020 NHL Playoff Bracket: Full Results and Format

The completed 2020 NHL playoff bracket ends with the Tampa Bay Lightning defeating the Dallas Stars four games to two in the Stanley Cup Final. A complete printable reference also needs the eight qualifying series and the round-robin seed order: this tournament began with twenty-four participants before narrowing to a sixteen-team first round.

The two-page PDF linked below includes every series result and the six Final game scores. This guide explains how to read it, why the qualifiers differ from the first round and how reseeding produced the matchups. All results concern the completed 2020 tournament.

Read the 2020 bracket as three distinct stages

The useful way to read 2020 is to separate entry, seeding and elimination. The NHL's return-to-play announcement brought back twenty-four teams, twelve from each conference. That did not mean twenty-four clubs entered a conventional first round together. Two different competitions established the sixteen-team field and its order.

The qualifiers were not the same as the first round

Sixteen clubs contested eight best-of-five qualifying series. A third victory advanced a team; a third defeat ended its run. The eight clubs already holding first-round places instead played conference round robins to determine their seeds. Once those parallel stages finished, the remaining sixteen teams began the four best-of-seven rounds leading to the Cup.

This distinction explains why a complete historical reference needs more than the familiar fifteen-series championship tree. Omitting the qualifiers removes eight genuine elimination series and the teams that lost them. Treating the round robin as another elimination round creates the opposite error: those participants were competing for position, rather than immediate survival.

The NHL's 2020 FAQ counted both forms of qualifier-stage games in postseason statistics. A player can therefore have official postseason totals even if his club did not reach the round labeled First Round. The statistical boundary and the round name answer different questions.

Reseeding changed the path after each round

The June 4 format decision paired each conference's highest remaining seed with its lowest remaining seed in succeeding rounds. A completed diagram can show the matchups that actually happened. It should not suggest that every later opponent was locked into an adjacent lane before the tournament began.

Location also needs its historical setting. Toronto hosted the Eastern competition and Edmonton the Western competition through the second round; the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final moved entirely to Edmonton. A designated home team on the score sheet did not necessarily mean a game in that club's own city.

Qualifying-round results: eight teams advanced

The qualifying results below complete the part of the tournament that a sixteen-team-only sheet leaves out. Each result gives the winner's series victories first. Thus, Montreal's three to one result means three games won against one loss; it is not a four-goal game score. These outcomes are recorded in the NHL's historical bracket data.

Eastern Conference qualifiers

Eastern qualifying series, best of five

Original pairing	Advancing team	Series result
Pittsburgh (5) vs. Montreal (12)	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal won 3-1
Carolina (6) vs. NY Rangers (11)	Carolina Hurricanes	Carolina won 3-0
NY Islanders (7) vs. Florida (10)	New York Islanders	Islanders won 3-1
Toronto (8) vs. Columbus (9)	Columbus Blue Jackets	Columbus won 3-2

Carolina was the only Eastern qualifier to advance without a defeat. Columbus and Toronto needed the entire five-game allowance; the other two Eastern series ended in four games. Those different lengths matter when reconstructing a team's postseason workload, even though every winner earned the same immediate reward: a place in the first round.

The numbers beside the teams belong to the original qualifying field. They explain why Montreal's victory over Pittsburgh was an upset by entry position. They should not be copied into the next round as though the first-round field still contained twelve teams in each conference. The eight remaining clubs needed a new matchup list after qualifying and round-robin play finished.

Western Conference qualifiers

Western qualifying series, best of five

Original pairing	Advancing team	Series result
Edmonton (5) vs. Chicago (12)	Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago won 3-1
Nashville (6) vs. Arizona (11)	Arizona Coyotes	Arizona won 3-1
Vancouver (7) vs. Minnesota (10)	Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver won 3-1
Calgary (8) vs. Winnipeg (9)	Calgary Flames	Calgary won 3-1

Every Western qualifying series finished in four games. Chicago and Arizona advanced from the lower positions in their pairings, while Vancouver and Calgary advanced from the higher positions. Taken together with Pittsburgh's loss in the East, Edmonton's elimination meant neither conference's original fifth seed reached the first round.

For a completed worksheet, record all eight winners before moving to the championship rounds. Do not count an eliminated qualifier twice, or carry a losing team into a main-bracket box simply because its original seed looks stronger. The actual results, rather than the entry ranking, determine which names continue across the page.

Round-robin seeds and first-round results

The original return-to-play rankings were an entry list, not the final order at the top of the sixteen-team bracket. A useful completed reference must show which order actually governed the first-round pairings. Otherwise, a reader can reproduce every qualifying winner correctly and still assign the wrong opponents.

What the top four teams were playing for

The final Eastern order was Philadelphia first, Tampa Bay second, Washington third and Boston fourth. In the West it was Vegas first, Colorado second, Dallas third and St. Louis fourth. Those positions appear in the first-round records of the official bracket dataset. They differ from the order in which the same clubs entered the return-to-play competition.

The NHL used regular-season points percentage to break round-robin standings ties, and the resulting top-four seeds carried forward. That rule belongs to the seeding stage. A round-robin club did not win a best-of-seven series to secure its position, and a loss there did not eliminate it. Keep the seed list separate from the series results when filling the printable sheet.

Completed first round, all series best of seven

Conference	Matchup with first-round seeds	Winner and result
East	Philadelphia (1) vs. Montreal (8)	Flyers won 4-2
East	Tampa Bay (2) vs. Columbus (7)	Lightning won 4-1
East	Washington (3) vs. NY Islanders (6)	Islanders won 4-1
East	Boston (4) vs. Carolina (5)	Bruins won 4-1
West	Vegas (1) vs. Chicago (8)	Golden Knights won 4-1
West	Colorado (2) vs. Arizona (7)	Avalanche won 4-1
West	Dallas (3) vs. Calgary (6)	Stars won 4-2
West	St. Louis (4) vs. Vancouver (5)	Canucks won 4-2

No first-round series reached a seventh game. Five finished in five games and the remaining three finished in six. That creates a very different picture from the qualifying round: the winning target had increased from three games to four, even when a completed series occupied a similar amount of space on a printed page.

The Islanders and Canucks were the only qualifying-series winners to win another series in the first round. Both therefore need a continuous path beginning on the qualifying page. The other six qualifying winners stop at their first-round opponents. This is a simple way to check that the additional qualifying stage has been connected to the main results correctly.

For wider context on what a seed normally means and how a series ends, the site's NHL playoff format guide is useful alongside this historical exception. Use the seed labels printed here when checking the actual twenty-twenty matchups.

Second round and conference finals

The second round provides the clearest practical demonstration of reseeding. Philadelphia, the highest remaining Eastern seed, faced the Islanders, the lowest remaining Eastern seed. Vegas drew Vancouver on the same basis in the West. Tampa Bay faced Boston, while Colorado met Dallas. These are the actual connections a completed diagram must preserve.

The four second-round series

Second-round results

Conference	Series	Result
East	NY Islanders vs. Philadelphia	Islanders won 4-3
East	Tampa Bay vs. Boston	Lightning won 4-1
West	Vegas vs. Vancouver	Golden Knights won 4-3
West	Dallas vs. Colorado	Stars won 4-3

Three of the four series required a seventh game, compared with none in the first round. Tampa Bay was the exception, advancing in five games. Once again, a four to three entry in this table describes the series, not the score of the deciding game. Keeping those two kinds of result apart prevents an easy transcription mistake.

The Islanders survived from the qualifying stage through the second round. Vancouver's run ended here. That distinction leaves one qualifying-series participant among the final four, alongside three clubs that had taken the round-robin route. The qualifying page therefore remains relevant almost to the end of the completed tournament, even though its games were a shorter series format.

Tampa Bay and Dallas win the conferences

Conference-final results, played in Edmonton

Conference	Series	Result
East	Tampa Bay vs. NY Islanders	Lightning won 4-2
West	Dallas vs. Vegas	Stars won 4-1

The conference names describe the competition, rather than two different host cities at this stage. Both finals took place in Edmonton under the hub arrangement. Tampa Bay eliminated the Islanders in six games; Dallas defeated Vegas in five. The NHL's series records identify the Lightning and Stars as the two finalists.

Trace Tampa Bay backward and the path is Columbus, Boston and the Islanders. Trace Dallas backward and it is Calgary, Colorado and Vegas. Neither finalist had played a qualifying series. Each had nevertheless won twelve games across three best-of-seven rounds before reaching the championship series. Their round-robin games belong in their postseason record, but they are not additional series victories on that path.

This is also why a historical bracket needs explicit round labels. A line joining Dallas to Vegas means Dallas actually advanced from its Colorado series to that opponent. It does not establish that a Dallas-Vegas meeting had been guaranteed by fixed lanes before the first round began.

The 2020 Stanley Cup Final: Tampa Bay beats Dallas

Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup Final four games to two, closing the series with a two to zero victory on September twenty-eighth. The championship series consisted of six actual games, all at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The NHL's season game record supplies the dates, scores and venue below.

Stanley Cup Final game scores, September 2020

Game	Date	Final score	Series after game
1	September 19	Dallas 4, Tampa Bay 1	Dallas led 1-0
2	September 21	Tampa Bay 3, Dallas 2	Tied 1-1
3	September 23	Tampa Bay 5, Dallas 2	Tampa Bay led 2-1
4	September 25	Tampa Bay 5, Dallas 4 (OT)	Tampa Bay led 3-1
5	September 26	Dallas 3, Tampa Bay 2 (2OT)	Tampa Bay led 3-2
6	September 28	Tampa Bay 2, Dallas 0	Tampa Bay won 4-2

Dallas won the opener, so the eventual champion did not lead from the start. Three consecutive Lightning victories then put Tampa Bay one win from the Cup. The Stars extended the series by winning the fifth game in double overtime, before Tampa Bay finished it in regulation in the sixth.

There are two distinct score columns for a reason. The final score measures goals in that night's game. The series column measures games won over the entire matchup. The Lightning's shutout in the last game therefore appears as two to zero in goals and four to two in the completed series box. A seventh game does not belong in a completed results table because it was unnecessary.

The NHL's historical Final record independently lists those six scores and identifies Victor Hedman as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. That award is a tournament distinction; it does not change the winner or series total printed in the bracket.

Counting Tampa Bay's four championship rounds yields sixteen victories. Its round-robin appearances are additional postseason games, rather than part of those sixteen series-clinching requirements. When comparing a player's full postseason game total with the bracket, remember that the bracket describes advancement. It does not replace the full game log.

Why 2020 should not be confused with 2021 or current playoffs

The two pandemic-era tournaments used different structures. The twenty-twenty competition brought back twenty-four clubs and included qualifying series plus round-robin seeding. The following year's tournament had sixteen teams drawn from four temporary divisions, with the opening two rounds played within those divisions. The four surviving clubs then entered seeded semifinals.

The NHL's historical format record documents both arrangements and the return to the earlier format for the next season. Those changes explain why a bracket labeled only with a season starting year can send a reader to the wrong tournament.

Here, the year means the Stanley Cup awarded in twenty-twenty, at the end of the season that began in twenty-nineteen. The 2021 playoff results belong to the following Cup competition. Keep those two files separate when building a personal archive or preparing a classroom comparison.

The printable 2022 bracket is another separate historical reference. Its layout should not be relabeled and reused for this tournament: the extra qualifying stage and round-robin seed list would disappear. For the broader sequence of changes, consult the site's playoff format history.

Likewise, this completed sheet is not a source of upcoming fixtures, present standings or live results. It answers who advanced and how the unusual tournament worked. For a game taking place now, start with today's NHL games and check that game's own date. A historical file remains useful precisely because its year and completed status are clear.

Download and print the completed 2020 playoff bracket

Download the completed 2020 NHL playoff bracket PDF. This is a two-page historical reference with the results filled in. It is designed for readers checking the tournament, saving an archive or comparing the unusual format with another season.

What the two-page PDF contains

The first page carries all eight best-of-five qualifying series, their winners and the original seeds beside each pairing. It also lists the final round-robin seed order in each conference. Those separate panels keep a seeding competition from looking like an elimination series.

The second page shows the fifteen best-of-seven championship series and Tampa Bay's final victory over Dallas. The first-round rows are grouped by their actual second-round opponents so that the connecting lines trace what happened. They are not a promise of predetermined matchups. A row of six Final game cards includes dates, goal scores and overtime distinctions.

Both pages identify the file as an independent reference and provide links to official source material. The design uses text and simple lines rather than league logos or photographs. The completed results can therefore remain readable in a straightforward black-and-white printout.

Printing and using the historical reference

Open the PDF, then use your viewer's print or save function. Select landscape orientation and use the setting that fits the page to the printer's printable area. The file uses US Letter pages; fitting it to A4 preserves the full layout while adjusting its size. Check the preview before committing paper, especially if your printer uses wide margins.

Keep both pages together. Printing only the championship tree loses the qualifying results and the seed lists that distinguish this tournament. When saving the file, retain the year in its name so that it cannot be mistaken for a current bracket or the following year's temporary-division competition.

Use the sheet to answer historical questions such as which team eliminated Vancouver, how Dallas reached the Final or why Montreal appears before the first round. It is a completed reference rather than an empty prediction form. The accompanying article explains the stage labels and result notation when a small box on paper cannot carry the full context.