2018–19 NHL season

The 2018–19 NHL season was the 102nd season of operation (101st season of play) of the National Hockey League. 31 teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, 2018, and ended on April 6, 2019. The 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs began on April 10, 2019, and the Stanley Cup Finals concluded on June 12, 2019, with the St. Louis Blues winning their first Stanley Cup in the Finals over the Boston Bruins in seven games.

2018–19 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 3, 2018 – June 12, 2019
Number of games	82
Number of teams	31
TV partner(s)	CBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports (Canada) NBCSN, NBC, CNBC, USA (United States)
Draft
Top draft pick	Rasmus Dahlin
Picked by	Buffalo Sabres
Regular season
Presidents' Trophy	Tampa Bay Lightning
Season MVP	Nikita Kucherov (Lightning)
Top scorer	Nikita Kucherov (Lightning)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Ryan O'Reilly (Blues)
Stanley Cup
Champions	St. Louis Blues
Runners-up	Boston Bruins

Standings

Top 3 (Metropolitan Division)

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Washington Capitals	82	48	26	8	44	278	249	+29	104
2	x – New York Islanders	82	48	27	7	43	228	196	+32	103
3	x – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	44	26	12	42	273	241	+32	100

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Top 3 (Atlantic Division)

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Tampa Bay Lightning	82	62	16	4	56	325	222	+103	128
2	x – Boston Bruins	82	49	24	9	47	259	215	+44	107
3	x – Toronto Maple Leafs	82	46	28	8	46	286	251	+35	100

Source: National Hockey League
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	ME	x – Carolina Hurricanes	82	46	29	7	44	245	223	+22	99
2	ME	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	47	31	4	45	258	232	+26	98
3	AT	Montreal Canadiens	82	44	30	8	41	249	236	+13	96
4	AT	Florida Panthers	82	36	32	14	33	267	280	−13	86
5	ME	Philadelphia Flyers	82	37	37	8	34	244	281	−37	82
6	ME	New York Rangers	82	32	36	14	26	227	272	−45	78
7	AT	Buffalo Sabres	82	33	39	10	28	226	271	−45	76
8	AT	Detroit Red Wings	82	32	40	10	29	227	277	−50	74
9	ME	New Jersey Devils	82	31	41	10	28	222	275	−53	72
10	AT	Ottawa Senators	82	29	47	6	29	242	302	−60	64

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot

Top 3 (Central Division)

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Nashville Predators	82	47	29	6	43	240	214	+26	100
2	x – Winnipeg Jets	82	47	30	5	45	272	244	+28	99
3	x – St. Louis Blues	82	45	28	9	42	247	223	+24	99

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Top 3 (Pacific Division)

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Calgary Flames	82	50	25	7	50	289	227	+62	107
2	x – San Jose Sharks	82	46	27	9	46	289	261	+28	101
3	x – Vegas Golden Knights	82	43	32	7	40	249	230	+19	93

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Western Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	CE	x – Dallas Stars	82	43	32	7	42	210	202	+8	93
2	CE	x – Colorado Avalanche	82	38	30	14	36	260	246	+14	90
3	PA	Arizona Coyotes	82	39	35	8	35	213	223	−10	86
4	CE	Chicago Blackhawks	82	36	34	12	33	270	292	−22	84
5	CE	Minnesota Wild	82	37	36	9	36	211	237	−26	83
6	PA	Vancouver Canucks	82	35	36	11	29	225	254	−29	81
7	PA	Anaheim Ducks	82	35	37	10	32	199	251	−52	80
8	PA	Edmonton Oilers	82	35	38	9	32	232	274	−42	79
9	PA	Los Angeles Kings	82	31	42	9	28	202	263	−61	71

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot

Tie Breakers:
1. Fewer number of games played
2. Greater Regulation + OT Wins (ROW)
3. Greatest number of points earned in head-to-head play (If teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded.)
4. Greater Goal differential

Playoffs

Bracket

In each round, teams compete 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 plays at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team is at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top three teams in each division make 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 plays against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card plays against the other division winner, and both wild cards are de facto #4 seeds. The other series match the second and third place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home ice advantage is awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it is awarded to the team that had more points in the regular season followed by the tie breakers, if necessary.

First Round

Second Round

Conference Finals

Stanley Cup Finals

A1

Tampa Bay

0

WC

Columbus

4

WC

Columbus

2

A2

Boston

4

A2

Boston

4

A3

Toronto

3

A2

Boston

4

Eastern Conference

WC

Carolina

0

M1

Washington

3

WC

Carolina

4

WC

Carolina

4

M2

NY Islanders

0

M2

NY Islanders

4

M3

Pittsburgh

0

A2

Boston

3

C3

St. Louis

4

C1

Nashville

2

WC

Dallas

4

WC

Dallas

3

C3

St. Louis

4

C2

Winnipeg

2

C3

St. Louis

4

C3

St. Louis

4

Western Conference

P2

San Jose

2

P1

Calgary

1

WC

Colorado

4

WC

Colorado

3

P2

San Jose

4

P2

San Jose

4

P3

Vegas

3

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

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of games played on April 6, 2019.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Nikita Kucherov	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	41	87	128	+24	62
Connor McDavid	Edmonton Oilers	78	41	75	116	+3	20
Patrick Kane	Chicago Blackhawks	81	44	66	110	+2	22
Leon Draisaitl	Edmonton Oilers	82	50	55	105	+2	52
Brad Marchand	Boston Bruins	79	36	64	100	+15	96
Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	79	35	65	100	+18	36
Nathan MacKinnon	Colorado Avalanche	82	41	58	99	+20	34
Johnny Gaudreau	Calgary Flames	82	36	63	99	+18	24
Steven Stamkos	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	45	53	98	+4	37
Aleksander Barkov	Florida Panthers	82	35	61	96	–3	8

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the conclusion of games played on April 6, 2019, while playing at least 1,800 minutes.

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	OTL	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Jordan Binnington	St. Louis Blues	32	1,876:25	24	5	1	59	5	.927	1.89
Ben Bishop	Dallas Stars	46	2,637:18	27	15	2	87	7	.934	1.98
Robin Lehner	New York Islanders	46	2,615:49	25	13	5	93	6	.930	2.13
Thomas Greiss	New York Islanders	43	2,293:42	23	14	2	87	5	.927	2.28
Darcy Kuemper	Arizona Coyotes	55	3,251:15	27	20	8	126	5	.925	2.33
Jaroslav Halak	Boston Bruins	40	2,308:07	22	11	4	90	5	.922	2.34
Petr Mrazek	Carolina Hurricanes	40	2,386:51	23	14	3	95	4	.914	2.39
Andrei Vasilevskiy	Tampa Bay Lightning	53	3,203:45	39	10	4	128	6	.925	2.40
Pekka Rinne	Nashville Predators	56	3,219:44	30	19	4	130	4	.918	2.42
Tuukka Rask	Boston Bruins	46	2,635:09	27	13	5	109	4	.912	2.48

NHL awards

The league's awards will be presented at the NHL Awards ceremony, to be held following the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs at a site to be determined. Finalists for voted awards are announced during the playoffs and winners are presented at the award ceremony. Voting will conclude immediately after the end of the regular season. The Presidents' Trophy, the Prince of Wales Trophy and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl are not presented at the awards ceremony. The Lester Patrick Trophy is announced during the summer and presented in the fall.

2018–19 NHL awards

Award	Recipient(s)	Runner(s)-up/Finalists
Stanley Cup	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
Presidents' Trophy (Best regular-season record)	Tampa Bay Lightning	Calgary Flames Boston Bruins
Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference champion)	Boston Bruins	Carolina Hurricanes
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl (Western Conference champion)	St. Louis Blues	San Jose Sharks
Art Ross Trophy (Player with most points)	Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)	Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Perseverance, Sportsmanship, and Dedication)	Robin Lehner (New York Islanders)	Nick Foligno (Columbus Blue Jackets) Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks)
Calder Memorial Trophy (Best first-year player)	Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks)	Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
Conn Smythe Trophy (Most valuable player, playoffs)	Ryan O' Reilly (St. Louis Blues)	N/A
Frank J. Selke Trophy (Defensive forward)	Ryan O'Reilly (St. Louis Blues)	Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins) Mark Stone (Ottawa Senators/Vegas Golden Knights)
Hart Memorial Trophy (Most valuable player, regular season)	Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)	Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Jack Adams Award (Best coach)	Barry Trotz (New York Islanders)	Craig Berube (St. Louis Blues) Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning)
James Norris Memorial Trophy (Best defenseman)	Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)	Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks) Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Leadership and humanitarian contribution)	Jason Zucker (Minnesota Wild)	Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona Coyotes) Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers)
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Sportsmanship and excellence)	Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers)	Sean Monahan (Calgary Flames) Ryan O'Reilly (St. Louis Blues)
Ted Lindsay Award (Outstanding player)	Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)	Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Mark Messier Leadership Award (Leadership and community activities)	Wayne Simmonds (Philadelphia Flyers/Nashville Predators)	Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames) Justin Williams (Carolina Hurricanes)
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (Top goal-scorer)	Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)	Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
NHL General Manager of the Year Award (Top general manager)	Don Sweeney (Boston Bruins)	Doug Armstrong (St. Louis Blues) Don Waddell (Carolina Hurricanes)
Vezina Trophy (Best goaltender)	Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)	Ben Bishop (Dallas Stars) Robin Lehner (New York Islanders)
William M. Jennings Trophy (Goaltender(s) of team with fewest goals against)	Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders)	Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin (Dallas Stars)
Lester Patrick Trophy (Service to ice hockey in U.S.)		N/A

All-Star teams

Position	First Team	Second Team	Position	All-Rookie
G	Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning	Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars	G	Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
D	Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks	John Carlson, Washington Capitals	D	Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
D	Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames	Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning	D	Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
C	Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers	Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins	F	Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning
RW	Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning	Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks	F	Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
LW	Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals	Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins	F	Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators

Milestones

First games

The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game during the 2018–19 season, listed with their first team.

Player	Team	Notability
Rasmus Dahlin	Buffalo Sabres	First overall pick in the 2018 Draft
Elias Pettersson	Vancouver Canucks	2018–19 Calder Memorial Trophy winner

Last games

Player	Team	Notability
Roberto Luongo	Florida Panthers	William M. Jennings Trophy winner, 489 career games won, over 1,000 career games played, two-time NHL All-Star Team selection, six-time NHL All-Star
Brooks Orpik	Washington Capitals	Over 1,000 career games played.
Tomas Plekanec	Montreal Canadiens	Over 1,000 career games played.

Other websites

• 2018–19 NHL season schedule