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2024 Stanley Cup Playoff Format and Tie-Breaking Procedure

Playoff Format

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature 16 teams, divided into two conferences: the Eastern and Western Conferences. The top three teams in each division will automatically qualify for the playoffs, and the remaining two teams from each conference will be Wild Card teams. The teams will be seeded 1-8 in each conference based on their regular season performance. The top four seeds in each conference will receive a bye to the second round. The remaining eight teams will play in a best-of-three Wild Card round to determine the final four teams in the playoffs. In the second round, the top seed from each conference will play the lowest seed Wild Card team, and the second seed from each conference will play the second lowest seed Wild Card team. The third and fourth seeds from each conference will play each other. All series in the second round and beyond will be best-of-seven. The Eastern and Western Conference Finals will each be a best-of-seven series between the winners of the second round. The winners of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals will then meet in the Stanley Cup Final, which is also a best-of-seven series.

Tie-Breaking Procedure

If two or more teams finish with the same number of points at the end of the regular season, the following tie-breaking procedures will be used to determine playoff seeding: 1. **Points per game:** The team with the higher points per game average will be ranked higher. 2. **Regulation wins:** The team with the higher number of regulation wins will be ranked higher. 3. **Overtime wins:** The team with the higher number of overtime wins will be ranked higher. 4. **Goal differential:** The team with the higher goal differential will be ranked higher. 5. **Goals for:** The team with the higher number of goals for will be ranked higher. If two or more teams are still tied after applying all of the above tie-breaking procedures, a random drawing will be held to determine the playoff seeding. ```