| Stanley Cup playoffs | |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Dates: | April 17 – June 13, 2023 |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Defending Champions: | Colorado Avalanche |
| Winners: | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Second: | Florida Panthers |
| Stat Leader Title: | Scoring leader(s) |
| Stat Leader Player: | Jack Eichel (Golden Knights) |
| Stat Leader Value: | 26 points |
| Award Title: | MVP |
| Award: | Jonathan Marchessault (Golden Knights) |
| Prev Season: | 2022 |
| Next Season: | 2024 |
The 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2022–23 season. The playoffs began on April 17, 2023, three days after the end of the regular season, and concluded on June 13, 2023, with the Vegas Golden Knights winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Florida Panthers four games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals.[1]
The Boston Bruins made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners after setting the league record for the most wins and points in a single regular season. The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005–06 NHL season, ending the NHL's and major North American sports' longest active playoff streak at sixteen consecutive seasons. The new longest active playoffs streak in major North American sports belonged to MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers, who qualified for the postseason every year since 2013.[2] The longest active Stanley Cup playoff streak moved to the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs at seven consecutive seasons after the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals also had their eight-season playoff streaks end.[3] As a result, this is the first time since 1976 that the longest active playoff streak was less than ten consecutive seasons. The Seattle Kraken became the second fastest NHL expansion team since 1991 to qualify for the playoffs, after the Vegas Golden Knights, and the first to clinch their inaugural playoff appearance in their second season in the league since the Quebec Nordiques in 1981.[4] The Kraken also became the first NHL exclusive expansion team to make their first playoff appearance in their second season since the Atlanta Flames in 1974.[5] All three New York metropolitan area teams (the Devils, Islanders and Rangers) made the playoffs in the same year for the first time since 2007.[6] For the first time since 1990 and second time since entering the NHL as expansion teams in the 1967–68 NHL season, both Pennsylvania-based teams (the Flyers and Penguins) missed the playoffs in the same season.
This postseason marked the second consecutive and fourth time overall that the league played 50 or more games in the opening round of the playoffs since this round was changed to a best-of-seven format in 1987.[7] In addition, visiting teams in the first round went 31–19 overall to set a new league record for the most road wins in a single round.[8] Among these opening round road victories, the Florida Panthers overcame a 3–1 series deficit to upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in seven games, the Seattle Kraken defeated the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games to win their first playoff series, and the Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road in game six to win their first series since the 2004 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
For the fourth consecutive year, a Florida-based team reached the Stanley Cup Finals. For the first time, the conference finals consisted exclusively of teams located in the Sun Belt, with the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final, and the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final.[9]
This was the eighth year in which the top three teams in each division made the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference).
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:[10]
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.
The Boston Bruins earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with a record-setting 135 points. Florida earned 92 points to finish as the Eastern Conference's second wild card. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Florida won in five games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.
The Panthers defeated the Bruins in seven games after being down 3–1 in the series. In game one, goaltender Linus Ullmark made 31 saves to backstop the Bruins in a 3–1 victory.[11] A four-goal third period, coupled with Brandon Montour's two goals helped the Panthers win game two 6–3.[12] In game three, Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist for Boston defeating Florida 4–2.[13] Hall scored twice and provided two assists in game four for the Bruins, giving Boston a 3–1 series lead with a 6–2 victory.[14] In game five, Carter Verhaeghe assisted on three goals including the Panthers' overtime goal scored by Matthew Tkachuk, keeping Florida alive in the series with a 4–3 victory.[15] Tkachuk scored twice and provided an assist in a high-scoring affair between Florida and Boston in game six, defeating the Bruins 7–5 to force a seventh game.[16] In game seven, after the Panthers rallied a late goal to tie the game, Verhaeghe scored in the subsequent overtime to send Florida to the second round.[17]
The Toronto Maple Leafs finished second in the Atlantic Division, earning 111 points. The Tampa Bay Lightning earned 98 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division. This was the second consecutive and the second overall playoff meeting between these two teams. Tampa Bay won the previous year's Eastern Conference first-round series in seven games. Toronto won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Maple Leafs defeated the Lightning in six games, winning their first playoff series since 2004. The Lightning scored four power play goals in game one, outscoring the Maple Leafs in a 7–3 victory.[18] In game two, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares scored a hat trick and Ryan O'Reilly provided four assists for Toronto's 7–2 victory.[19] O'Reilly scored a goal and two assists in the Maple Leafs' game three victory where Morgan Rielly scored the overtime goal in a 4–3 triumph.[20] In game four, the Maple Leafs overcame a three-goal deficit led by two goals from Auston Matthews, and in the subsequent overtime, Alexander Kerfoot tipped in a shot to give Toronto a 5–4 victory and 3–1 series lead.[21] The Lightning kept their season alive, being backed by a 28-save performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy in game five for a 4–2 victory.[22] In game six and with overtime required, Tavares scored to send Toronto to the second round with a 2–1 victory.[23]
The Carolina Hurricanes finished first in the Metropolitan Division earning 113 points. New York finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild card earning 93 points. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous playoff meeting was during the 2019 Eastern Conference second round, which Carolina won in a four-game sweep. Carolina won three of the four games in this year's regular-season series.
The Hurricanes defeated the Islanders in six games. Martin Necas and Brent Burns assisted on both Carolina goals in game one whose team emerged victorious for a 2–1 triumph.[24] The Hurricanes prevented New York from achieving a two-goal comeback in game two by forcing overtime wherein Jesper Fast scored to give Carolina a 4–3 victory.[25] With game three tied at 1–1 and it appearing to head to overtime, in a span of 2:18, the Islanders scored four times within the final four minutes and set a league record for the fastest four goals scored by one team in the playoffs to win the game 5–1.[26] In game four, Seth Jarvis scored twice for the Hurricanes in a 5–2 victory, winning their first playoff road game since game three of the 2021 Eastern Conference second round.[27] Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves for the Islanders in game five, forcing a sixth game with a 3–2 victory.[28] In game six, with the game headed to overtime, Paul Stastny scored for the Hurricanes, sending Carolina to the second round with a 2–1 victory.[29]
The New Jersey Devils finished second in the Metropolitan Division with 112 points. The New York Rangers earned 107 points to finish third in the Metropolitan Division. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two rivals with New York winning four of the six previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final, which New Jersey won in six games. New Jersey won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Devils defeated the Rangers in seven games. In game one, Adam Fox assisted four times for the Rangers emerging with a 5–1 victory.[30] Patrick Kane scored a goal and assisted on both of Chris Kreider's goals in the Rangers 5–1 game two victory.[31] In game three, the Devils made a goaltender change and started rookie Akira Schmid, who made 35 saves en route to a 2–1 overtime victory, in which Dougie Hamilton scored the game-winning goal.[32] In game four, Jonas Siegenthaler scored a goal and provided an assist for the Devils for a 3–1 win to tie the series 2–2.[33] In game five, Erik Haula scored twice and notched an assist while Schmid stopped all 23 shots he faced for the Devils, defeating the Rangers 4–0 for a 3–2 series lead.[34] Kreider scored a goal and provided two assists for the Rangers in game six, defeating the Devils 5–2 to force a seventh game.[35] In game seven, Schmid stopped all 31 shots he faced in a 4–0 victory to send the Devils to the second round.[36]
The Colorado Avalanche finished first in the Central Division, earning 109 points. The Seattle Kraken earned 100 points to finish as the Western Conference's first wild card for their first playoff appearance. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This series also marked the first appearance of a team representing Seattle in the Stanley Cup playoffs in ninety-nine years. The most recent team to represent Seattle before this was the Seattle Metropolitans who lost the PCHA Final in 1924. Seattle won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Kraken defeated the Avalanche in seven games. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves in game one for the Kraken, defeating Colorado 3–1 for the city of Seattle's first playoff victory since game four of the 1920 Stanley Cup Finals.[37] In game two, the Avalanche overcame a two-goal deficit, spearheaded by Devon Toews third period goal, to win 3–2.[38] Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both scored twice for the Avalanche in game three, defeating 6–4.[39] In game four, with the game tied 2–2 after three periods, the Kraken's Jordan Eberle scored in the overtime period to give Seattle a 3–2 victory with a series tied 2–2.[40] Grubauer made 26 saves for the Kraken in game five, who took a 3–2 series lead with a 3–2 victory.[41] In game six, Artturi Lehkonen scored twice and Toews assisted thrice for Colorado, forcing a seventh game with a 4–1 victory.[42] game seven saw Oliver Bjorkstrand score twice for Seattle, and coupled with Grubauer's 33-save performance to hold a 2–1 lead, the Kraken advanced to the second round, becoming the first expansion team to triumph over the defending Stanley Cup champions in their inaugural playoff series.[43] [44]
The Dallas Stars finished with 108 points to finish second in the Central Division. The Minnesota Wild earned 103 points to finish third in the Central Division. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous playoff meeting was in the 2016 Western Conference first round, which Dallas won in six games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.
The Stars defeated the Wild in six games. In game one, both teams remained tied after three periods and an overtime period; however, at 12:20 of the second overtime, the Wild's Ryan Hartman scored to give Minnesota a 3–2 victory.[45] Forward Roope Hintz scored a hat trick and defenceman Miro Heiskanen provided four assists for the Stars in game two, defeating the Wild 7–3 to tie the series 1–1.[46] In game three, Mats Zuccarello scored twice and Hartman scored a goal and provided two assists for Minnesota, defeating Dallas 5–1.[47] Hintz assisted thrice and goaltender Jake Oettinger made 32 saves for the Stars, tying the series 2–2 with a 3–2 victory.[48] In game five, Oettinger shut out the Wild stopping all 27 shots in a 4–0 victory to give Dallas a 3–2 series lead.[49] Max Domi and Mason Marchment both scored a goal and provided an assist in game six, moving onto the second round with a 4–1 victory.[50]
The Vegas Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division and Western Conference earning 111 points. The Winnipeg Jets earned 95 points to finish as the Western Conference's second wild card. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2018 Western Conference Final, which Vegas won in five games. Vegas won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Jets in five games. In game one, Blake Wheeler scored a goal and provided two assists for the Jets in their 5–1 victory.[51] Mark Stone provided two goals and an assist for Vegas in game two, tying the series 1–1 in a 5–2 victory.[52] The Golden Knights prevented the Jets from overtaking a three-goal lead in game three with Michael Amadio scoring in double overtime to win 5–4.[53] In Game 4, Brett Howden scored twice for the Golden Knights to defeat the Jets 4–2 and take a 3–1 series lead.[54] Chandler Stephenson scored twice for the Golden Knights in game five, sending Vegas to the second round with a 4–1 victory.[55]
The Edmonton Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division with 109 points. The Los Angeles Kings earned 104 points to finish third in the Pacific Division. This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and ninth playoff meeting overall between these two rivals with Edmonton winning six of the eight previous series. Edmonton won the previous year's Western Conference first-round series in seven games. These teams split their four-game regular-season series.
The Oilers defeated the Kings in six games. Los Angeles came back from a two-goal deficit in game one, and, assisted by captain Anze Kopitar's goal and three assists, the Kings won 4–3 in overtime by forward Alex Iafallo's goal.[56] Although the Kings tied game two after being down by two goals, Edmonton forward Klim Kostin's goal at 2:20 of the third period proved to be the game-winner for the Oilers in a 4–2 affair.[57] In game three, the game again headed to overtime where Trevor Moore scored for the Kings to win 3–2.[58] The Oilers came back from a three-goal deficit and a one-goal deficit in Game 4 to force overtime then Zach Hyman scored to give Edmonton the 5–4 victory and a series tied 2–2.[59] In game five, the Oilers forced Kings goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to be pulled after tallying four goals on nineteen shots, wrapping in a 6–3 victory to take a 3–2 series lead.[60] Kailer Yamamoto sealed the Oilers' victory late in game six, scoring with 3:03 left in the third period to win 5–4 and advance to the second round.[61]
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Toronto won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs in five games. Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for the Panthers in game one, defeating the Maple Leafs 4–2.[62] In game two, the Panthers overcame a two-goal deficit and with Sergei Bobrovsky's 35 saves, Florida won 3–2.[63] Game three was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 6; however, due to scheduling conflicts with the Miami Heat and the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, the game was rescheduled to Sunday, May 7.[64] [65] The Panthers emerged victorious in this game, winning 3–2 via Sam Reinhart's overtime goal, taking a 3–0 series lead in the process.[66] In game four, the Maple Leafs staved off elimination on the back of Mitch Marner's goal and assist in a 2–1 victory to force a fifth game.[67] With game five tied 2–2 after three periods, the Panthers' Nick Cousins scored in overtime to advance Florida to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in twenty-seven years.[68]
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Carolina winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which Carolina won in seven games. These teams split the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Hurricanes defeated the Devils in five games. In game one, Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal assisted twice in the Hurricanes' 5–1 victory.[69] Frederik Andersen made 28 saves in game two, and with Jesperi Kotkaniemi's two goals, Carolina defeated New Jersey 6–1.[70] Jack Hughes had two goals and assists in game three, granting the Devils the victory in an 8–4 affair.[71] In game four, the Hurricanes capitalized on a five-goal second period, routing out the Devils 6–1 for a 3–1 series lead.[72] Andersen made 27 saves in game five for the Hurricanes and with an overtime goal by Jesper Fast, Carolina advanced to the Eastern Conference Final with a 3–2 victory.[73]
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Dallas won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Stars defeated the Kraken in seven games. Although Joe Pavelski scored four goals in game one for the Stars, Yanni Gourde's overtime goal for the Kraken provided Seattle a 5–4 victory.[74] Wyatt Johnston and Tyler Seguin each provided a goal and an assist in Dallas' game two victory, outscoring Seattle 4–2.[75] Seven different Kraken players scored in game three, routing the Stars 7–2 to take a 2–1 series lead.[76] Max Domi scored twice for Dallas in game four, outscoring Seattle 6–3 to even the series 2–2.[77] In game five, Roope Hintz provided an assist and scored twice for Dallas, giving the Stars a 5–2 victory and a 3–2 series lead.[78] Eeli Tolvanen scored a goal and had two assists while Jordan Eberle scored twice and provided an assist for the Kraken in game six, sending the series to a seventh game with a 6–3 victory.[79] In game seven, Hintz and Johnston each provided a goal and an assist for the Stars, sending Dallas to the conference finals with a 2–1 victory.[80]
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Edmonton won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Oilers in six games. In game one, Leon Draisaitl scored four goals for Edmonton; however, the Golden Knights, led in part by Ivan Barbashev's two goals, defeated the Oilers 6–4.[81] Game two was originally scheduled for Friday, May 5; however, with game three of the Maple Leafs-Panthers series rescheduled to Sunday, May 7, a void was left in the Hockey Night in Canada timeslot, thus game two was moved to Saturday, May 6 to the dismay of Oilers fans.[64] [65] Draisaitl continued his scoring into game two, providing two goals for the Oilers and this time defeating the Golden Knights 5–1.[82] In game three, Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and Jack Eichel provided a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights to win 5–1.[83] Connor McDavid assisted twice and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a goal and provided an assist for the Oilers in game four, tying the series 2–2 with a 4–1 victory.[84] In game six, Jonathan Marchessault scored a natural hat trick in the second period, giving the Golden Knights a 5–2 victory and a fourth advancement to the conference finals/Stanley Cup Semifinals.[85]
See main article: NHL conference finals.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina made their fifth Conference finals appearance. They were defeated in a four-game sweep against the Boston Bruins in their most recent Conference Final in 2019. This was Florida's second Conference Final appearance. Their only prior appearance was in 1996, which they won against the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. Carolina won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
The Panthers defeated the Hurricanes in four games, the first four-game sweep in franchise history. Each game was decided by a single goal, with two of them going to overtime. Game one was tied 2–2 after three periods, so it went to overtime. Ryan Lomberg appeared to have scored early in the first overtime period, but the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference. With 12.7 seconds remaining in the fourth overtime period, Matthew Tkachuk scored for Florida to end the sixth-longest playoff game in NHL history.[86] Game two also went to overtime with Tkachuk again providing the winning goal for Florida in a 2–1 victory.[87] In game three, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 32 shots he faced, helping the Panthers to a 1–0 victory which gave them a 3–0 series lead.[88] In game four, the Hurricanes fought back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game. However, another goal from Tkachuk with less than five seconds left in the game sealed Florida's 4–3 victory, thus the Panthers advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in their history.[89]
This was the second playoff series between these two teams. Vegas made their fourth Conference Final/Stanley Cup Semifinal appearance. They were defeated in 2021 by the Montreal Canadiens in six games in their most recent appearance. This was Dallas's tenth Conference Final/Stanley Cup Semifinal appearance since the league began using a 16-team or greater playoff format in 1980. Their most recent appearance in the Conference Final/Stanley Cup Semifinal was in 2020 against the Golden Knights, which is also their most recent playoff matchup; Dallas won in five games. Dallas won all three games in this year's regular season series.
The Golden Knights defeated the Stars in six games. In game one, the Stars tied the game late to force overtime, but in the extra period, Brett Howden scored for Vegas to give the Golden Knights a 4–3 victory.[90] Game two also required overtime, wherein Chandler Stephenson scored for Vegas to give the Golden Knights a 3–2 victory and a 2–0 series lead.[91] In game three, Stars captain Jamie Benn was penalized for cross-checking Golden Knights captain Mark Stone resulting in an ejection for the Dallas forward.[92] Benn received a two-game suspension as a result of his actions.[93] Vegas won the game 4–0 on the backs of Adin Hill's 34-save shutout and Ivan Barbashev's goal and two assists.[92] Game four required overtime and in the subsequent overtime period, Joe Pavelski scored for Dallas to force a fifth game.[94] In game five, Ty Dellandrea's two goals in the third period helped Dallas achieve a 4–2 victory, forcing a sixth game.[95] In game six, William Karlsson scored twice and provided an assist and Hill stopped all 23 shots for the Golden Knights to defeat the Stars 6–0 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.[96]
See main article: 2023 Stanley Cup Finals.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was Vegas's second Finals appearance. Their only previous Finals appearance was in 2018, during their inaugural season, which they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games. Florida made their second Finals appearance as well. Their only previous Finals appearance was in 1996, which they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in a four-game sweep. As had been the case in 2018, this Finals series featured two teams that did not previously win the Stanley Cup. These teams split the two games in this year's regular season series.
These were the top ten skaters based on points, following the conclusion of the playoffs.[97]
| Player | Team | data-sort-type="number" style="width:4em" | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 6 | 20 | 26 | +14 | 14 | |||
| Vegas Golden Knights | 22 | 13 | 12 | 25 | +17 | 14 | ||
| 20 | 11 | 13 | 24 | +12 | 74 | |||
| Vegas Golden Knights | 22 | 11 | 13 | 24 | +5 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 10 | 14 | 24 | +4 | 8 | |||
| Vegas Golden Knights | 22 | 10 | 10 | 20 | +3 | 30 | ||
| 12 | 8 | 12 | 20 | –1 | 0 | |||
| Edmonton Oilers | 12 | 13 | 5 | 18 | –1 | 10 | ||
| Dallas Stars | 19 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Vegas Golden Knights | 22 | 7 | 11 | 18 | +14 | 18 | ||
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average (GAA) and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage (SV%), with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[98]
| Player | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 3 | 245 | 18 | 1.83 | .927 | 0 | 590:18 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 203 | 14 | 1.96 | .931 | 0 | 427:38 | |||
| 16 | 11 | 4 | 488 | 33 | 2.17 | .932 | 2 | 913:20 | |||
| 9 | 4 | 4 | 229 | 18 | 2.35 | .921 | 2 | 459:46 | |||
| 19 | 12 | 6 | 639 | 54 | 2.78 | .915 | 1 | 1,164:21 |
In Canada, this marked the ninth postseason under Rogers Media's 12-year contract. Games aired across the Sportsnet networks, FX, Citytv, and CBC under the Hockey Night in Canada brand. For first and second rounds U.S.–U.S. games not on CBC, Sportsnet generally simulcasted the U.S. feed instead of producing their own telecast. Games were streamed live on Sportsnet Now and CBCSports.ca (for games televised on CBC).[99]
In the U.S., this marked the second year of a seven-year agreement with the ESPN/ABC and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. Games aired across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, and TNT. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first round games (except for Saturday primetime games on ABC, which the network began broadcasting this postseason). Only selected ESPN/ABC games were streamed live on ESPN+; for other games, live streams were only available for pay-TV subscribers via authenticated streaming on ESPN and TNT/TBS's respective apps.[100]
With the Stanley Cup playoffs starting roughly at the same time as 2023 NBA playoffs, instead of two weeks later like in 2022, ESPN and TNT's scheduling conflicts between the two leagues were different this year. In general, during the first round, ESPN or ESPN2 aired Stanley Cup playoff games Mondays through Thursdays, and TNT or TBS broadcast games Fridays through Sundays. ABC also aired two Saturday night games, while TBS had selected Mondays through Thursday's games, ensuring that both broadcasters televised two of the first four games in each series and roughly half of the total first-round games.[101] [102]
In the second round, coverage of all four series was also split roughly evenly between the ESPN networks and TNT/TBS, rather than being de facto exclusive broadcasters for two specific series the previous year. ESPN aired games on Monday through Wednesday and the second weekend (including all game ones, fours, and sixes); TNT on Thursday, Friday, and the first Saturday (including all game twos and fives); and TBS on the first Sunday.[103] [104] Game two of the Edmonton–Vegas series was originally scheduled for Friday, May 5. However, due to the NBA's Miami Heat's home game against the New York Knicks along with the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, game three of Florida–Toronto was moved from Saturday, May 6 to Sunday, May 7, leaving the traditional Hockey Night in Canada timeslot available. Thus, game two of the Edmonton–Vegas series was moved to Saturday, May 6, while a tripleheader of the other three series was held on Sunday, May 7.[64] This left several Edmonton fans to suffer cancelation/rescheduling fees for flights and tickets as they were not initially aware of the NHL schedule change.[65] As a result, game six of the Edmonton–Vegas series was moved to Sunday, May 14; despite this being the lone game on that day, its start time was pushed to 10:00 p.m. ET so ESPN could air it after Sunday Night Baseball.[105] [106]
Under their contract, ESPN/ABC had the first choice of which Conference finals series to broadcast, selecting the Vegas–Dallas Western Conference finals series. TNT aired the Hurricanes–Panthers Eastern Conference finals series. Had ESPN selected the Eastern Conference finals instead, the Panthers would have gone head-to-head with the Miami Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference finals (airing on TNT).[107]
As per the yearly alternating rotation, the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals aired on TNT. This marked the first time that the network carried the Stanley Cup Finals and the first time since 1994 that the entire series aired only on cable television in the U.S.[108] The Stanley Cup Finals were also simulcast on WBD sister networks TruTV and TBS.[109]
American national radio rights to select Stanley Cup playoff games, including the entire Conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals, were broadcast on the Sports USA Radio Network via NHL Radio. This was the second of a four-year deal signed between the NHL and Sports USA to syndicate NHL games on U.S. national radio.[110]