1986 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 9, after the conclusion of the 1985–86 NHL season. The playoffs concluded on May 24 with the champion Montreal Canadiens defeating the Calgary Flames 4–3 to win the series four games to one and win the Stanley Cup.
==Series==
The playoffs of 1986 saw three first place teams eliminated in the opening round and the fourth, Edmonton, bowed out in the second.
The Montreal Canadiens decided to go with a rookie goaltender by the name of Patrick Roy. This decision proved to be a good one just like when the Canadiens rode rookie goalie Ken Dryden to a Stanley Cup championship in 1971. In the Final, the Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames, who were also riding a rookie netminder, Mike Vernon. Patrick Roy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP and had a sparkling 1.92 goals against average along with 15 wins.
===Playoff bracket===
==Division semi-finals==
===Adams Division Semi-Finals===
Hartford Whalers vs. Quebec Nordiques
This was Hartford's lone playoff series victory in their NHL history prior to moving to Carolina.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	Hartford	3 	Quebec 	2 	(OT)
April 10	Hartford	4 	Quebec 	1 	
April 12	Quebec 	4 	Hartford	9 	
Hartford wins best-of-five series 3–0.
Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	Boston 	1 	Montreal	3 	
April 10	Boston 	2 	Montreal	3 	
April 12	Montreal	4 	Boston 	3 	
Montreal wins best-of-five series 3–0.
===Patrick Division Semi-Finals===
New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	New York 	6 	Philadelphia	2 	
April 10	New York 	1 	Philadelphia	2 	
April 12	Philadelphia	2 	New York 	5 	
April 13	Philadelphia	7 	New York 	1 	
April 15	New York 	5 	Philadelphia	2 	
New York Rangers wins best-of-five series 3–2.
New York Islanders vs. Washington Capitals
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	New York 	1 	Washington	3 	
April 10	New York 	2 	Washington	5 	
April 12	Washington	3 	New York 	1 	
Washington wins best-of-five series 3–0.
===Norris Division Semi-Finals===
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Chicago Black Hawks
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	Toronto	5 	Chicago	3 	
April 10	Toronto	6 	Chicago	4 	
April 12	Chicago	2 	Toronto	7 	
Toronto wins best-of-five series 3–0.
St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota North Stars
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	St. Louis	2 	Minnesota	1 	
April 10	St. Louis	2 	Minnesota	6 	
April 12	Minnesota	3 	St. Louis	4 	
April 13	Minnesota	7 	St. Louis	4 	
April 15	St. Louis	6 	Minnesota	3 	
St. Louis wins best-of-five series 3–2.
===Smythe Division Semi-Finals===
Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	Vancouver	3 	Edmonton 	7 	
April 10	Vancouver	1 	Edmonton 	5 	
April 12	Edmonton 	5 	Vancouver	1 	
Edmonton wins best-of-five series 3–0.
Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 9 	Winnipeg	1 	Calgary 	5 	
April 10	Winnipeg	4 	Calgary 	6 	
April 12	Calgary 	4 	Winnipeg	3 	(OT)
Calgary wins best-of-five series 3–0.
==Divisional Finals==
Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens
The upstart Whalers pushed the eventual Stanley Cup Champions to the limit before falling. Claude Lemieux scored the series-winning overtime goal for Montreal.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 17	Hartford	4 	Montreal	1 	
April 19	Hartford	1 	Montreal	3 	
April 21	Montreal	4 	Hartford	1 	
April 23	Montreal	1 	Hartford	2 	(OT)
April 25	Hartford	3 	Montreal	5 	
April 27	Montreal	0 	Hartford	1 	
April 29	Hartford	1 	Montreal	2 	(OT)
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–3.
New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 17	New York 	4 	Washington	3 	(OT)
April 19	New York 	1 	Washington	8 	
April 21	Washington	6 	New York 	3 	
April 23	Washington	5 	New York 	6 	(OT)
April 25	New York 	4 	Washington	2 	
April 27	Washington	1 	New York 	2 	
New York Rangers wins best-of-seven series 4–2.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. St. Louis Blues
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 18	Toronto 	1 	St. Louis	6 	
April 20	Toronto 	3 	St. Louis	0 	
April 22	St. Louis	2 	Toronto 	5 	
April 24	St. Louis	7 	Toronto 	4 	
April 26	Toronto 	3 	St. Louis	4 	(OT)
April 28	St. Louis	3 	Toronto 	5 	
April 30	Toronto 	1 	St. Louis	2 	
St. Louis wins best-of-seven series 4–3.
Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers
The deciding goal of game seven between the Oilers and Flames was scored five minutes into the third period when Edmonton's Steve Smith attempted a cross-ice pass from the side of his own net and the puck struck goaltender Grant Fuhr's leg and went in the Edmonton goal. This is significant because it eliminated the Oilers from the playoffs and prevented them from possibly winning a third straight Stanley Cup. The series was the Flames' only playoff victory over the Oilers in the Battle of Alberta (Edmonton beat Calgary in 4 other playoff series), but significantly fueled the rivalry between the teams.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 18	Calgary 	4 	Edmonton	1 	
April 20	Calgary 	5 	Edmonton	6 	(OT)
April 22	Edmonton	2 	Calgary 	3 	
April 24	Edmonton	7 	Calgary 	4 	
April 26	Calgary 	4 	Edmonton	1 	
April 28	Edmonton	5 	Calgary 	2 	
April 30	Calgary 	3 	Edmonton	2 	
Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4–3
==Conference Finals==
New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens
This series is best remembered for the third game, in which the Rangers badly outshot the Habs, but were stymied by Patrick Roy. Another Montreal rookie, Claude Lemieux, scored in overtime—his second overtime goal of the playoffs.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
May 1	New York	1 	Montreal	2 	
May 3	New York	2 	Montreal	6 	
May 5	Montreal	4 	New York	3 	(OT)
May 7	Montreal	0 	New York	2 	
May 9	New York	1 	Montreal	3 	
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1
St. Louis Blues vs. Calgary Flames
In Game 6, the Flames led 4–1 after two periods and 5–2 early in the third, but the Blues came back to tie it and then won on an overtime goal by Doug Wickenheiser. In Game 7, the Flames were up 2–0 before the Blues scored in the third to cut the lead in half. There wouldn't be another comeback, though, as Mike Vernon and the Flames withstood a late assault to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
May 2 	St. Louis	3 	Calgary 	2 	
May 4 	St. Louis	2 	Calgary 	8 	
May 6 	Calgary 	5 	St. Louis	3 	
May 8 	Calgary 	2 	St. Louis	5 	
May 10	St. Louis	2 	Calgary 	4 	
May 12	Calgary 	5 	St. Louis	6 	(OT)
May 14	St. Louis	1 	Calgary 	2 	
Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4–3
==Stanley Cup Final==
Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
May 16	Montreal	2 	Calgary 	5 	
May 18	Montreal	3 	Calgary 	2 	(OT)
May 20	Calgary 	3 	Montreal	5 	
May 2 	Calgary 	0 	Montreal	1 	
May 24	Montreal	4 	Calgary 	3 	
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1
==See also==
*List of Stanley Cup champions
==References==
Category:1986 in hockey
Category:Stanley Cup Playoffs