[2] The Canucks made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season.

For the first time in NHL history, all three California-based teams, the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks, made the playoffs.

San Jose went on to the Western Conference Final, marking the fifth time in eight seasons that a California-based team did so.

[5] This season marked the only time that all six division champions advanced to the second round, as the NHL has since reverted to a four-division alignment.

For the first time in the history of major professional sports in North America, two different teams came back from a 3–0 deficit to tie a series, with the Chicago Blackhawks forcing game seven against the Vancouver Canucks in the first round, and the Detroit Red Wings doing the same against the San Jose Sharks in the second round (both lost).

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs.

The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

The Washington Capitals entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season champions, earning 107 points.

The Buffalo Sabres earned the seventh seed with 96 points, losing the tiebreaker to Montreal in regulation + overtime wins (41 to 38).

The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Northeast Division with 103 points.

One of the greatest rivalries in North American professional sports, this was the 33rd meeting of these teams in the postseason, which is the most frequent playoff series in NHL history.

The most recent meeting of these teams in the postseason was in the 2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which ended with Boston sweeping Montreal.

[12] The NHL did not suspend Chara for the hit, however Montreal Police opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 106 points, losing the tiebreaker for the Atlantic Division title to the Philadelphia Flyers on regulation + overtime wins (39 to 44).

The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions and Presidents' Trophy winners, earning 117 points.

The Chicago Blackhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions, barely qualified for the post-season as the eighth and final seed with 97 points.

The San Jose Sharks entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference after winning the Pacific Division with 105 points.

However, that would not be enough, as Joe Thornton of San Jose scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game six to eliminate Los Angeles from the playoffs.

The Detroit Red Wings entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference after winning the Central Division with 104 points.

The Phoenix Coyotes earned the sixth seed with 99 points, losing tiebreakers over the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators in total regulation + overtime wins (43 to 38).

This was a rematch of the previous year's Western Conference quarterfinals, in which Detroit defeated Phoenix in seven games.

In the six-game regular season series between these teams, Washington won four games (including one win in a shootout).

It was a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference semifinals, in which Philadelphia came back from a 3–0 deficit to beat Boston in seven games.

Boston swept Philadelphia out of the playoffs, avenging their blown 3–0 lead to move on to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1992.

This was a rematch of the previous year's Western Conference semifinals, in which San Jose defeated Detroit in five games.

Boston's Nathan Horton recorded his second game-seven-winning goal in this year's playoffs, as his first was scored against Montreal in round one.

As the Presidents' Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks earned home ice advantage over the Boston Bruins in the Finals.

In the deciding Game 7 at Rogers Arena, the Bruins shut out the Canucks 4–0 to win the Stanley Cup with a 4–3 series victory.

[32] GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds) National Canadian English-language coverage of the first three rounds of the playoffs were split between CBC and TSN.

After Comcast, the owners of Versus, completed its acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal, the combined company signed a new TV contract in April 2011.