Four of the seven teams that had the best regular-season records were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, as Chicago, Minnesota and Montreal were upset and Columbus (108 points) lost to Pittsburgh (111 points).
There were 18 overtime games among the 42 games, a record for any playoff round. Twenty-eight games were decided by one goal and five more were decided by two goals because of an empty-net score. Eighteen games entered the final five minutes of regulation with the score tied. In 17 games the winning team overcame a deficit of at least one goal.