Season structure of the NHL The National Hockey League ( NHL ) season is divided into the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs . In the regular season , teams play 82 games which determine their standings . The eight top - seeded teams in each conference enter the playoff elimination tournament to determine the Stanley Cup champion . Regular season . Each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games , 41 games at home and 41 on the road . Teams play 40 games against the ten opponents in the other divisions of their own conference ( two home and two road games against each ) , and 24 games against the other four teams in their own division ( three home and three road games against each ) . Teams play 18 games against teams in the opposite conference : a team against every team in the over conference once , and will play three teams a second time . Teams will not play the five teams in the third division of the opposite conference in a particular season . The interconference division matchups rotate each season . The season is typically divided approximately in half by the NHL All - Star Game and its accompanying festivities , during which no regular season games take place . Two points are awarded for a win ( including in Overtime or shootout ) , one point for a loss in overtime or shootout , and no points for a loss in regulation time . At the end of the regular season , 16 teams , eight from each conference , qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs . The teams are seeded one through eight in each conference . The teams that finish with the most points in each division are crowned the division champions , and are seeded one through three based on their point records . The next five teams with the best records in the conference are seeded four through eight . In the event of a tie in points in the standings , ties are broken using the following procedures : The higher ranked team is the one with : Stanley Cup playoffs . The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament consisting of four rounds of best - of - seven series . The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round , dubbed the Stanley Cup Finals . The winner of that series becomes the NHL / Stanley Cup champion . The most recent Stanley Cup playoffs are the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs . The first round of the playoffs , or Conference Quarterfinals , consists four matchups in each conference , based on the seedings ( 1 - 8 , 2 - 7 , 3 - 6 , and 4 - 5 ) . In the second round , or Conference Semifinals , the top remaining conference seed plays against the lowest remaining seed , and the other two remaining conference teams pair off ( unlike the NBA , for example , where the 1 - 8 winner always plays the 4 - 5 winner , regardless of who wins ) . In the third round , the Conference Finals , the two remaining teams in each conference play each other , with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals . For the first three rounds , the higher - seeded team has home - ice advantage ( regardless of point record ) . In the Stanley Cup Finals , it goes to the team with the better regular season record . The team with home - ice advantage will host games 1 , 2 , 5 and 7 , while the opponent hosts games 3 , 4 and 6 ( games 5 - 7 are played " if necessary " ) . Criticisms . The decision to radically change the regular season schedule after the lockout by drastically reducing interconference play has proven controversial . The NHL has received complaints from clubs that are unable to play traditional rivals in the opposite conference in the regular season . Notably , the placement of the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks in the West has distanced these clubs from rivalries with the other Original 6 teams , since they are in the Eastern conference . In general , there are several recurring criticisms of the schedule : The future . During the 2006 - 07 season , NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that he will keep the current format for the 2007 – 08 season , thus allowing for at least one full rotation since the system was put into place . However , it is rumored that another major NHL re - alignment is on the way for 2008 . Several alternate formats ( for the league and the schedule ) have been suggested :