Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, having recorded a 1.41 goals against average, was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoffs' most valuable player.

The Vancouver Canucks made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners for the second consecutive year with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season.

It marked the first time since 2004 in which none of the previous year's conference finalists (Boston Bruins, Vancouver, Tampa Bay Lightning, and San Jose Sharks) advanced past the opening round.

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.

(for each specific fine or suspension, see each series summary below) The New York Rangers entered the playoffs as the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 109 points.

The Ottawa Senators earned 92 points during the regular season, losing the tiebreaker to Washington in regulation + overtime wins (38 to 35) to finish eighth overall in the Eastern Conference.

Senators' head coach Paul MacLean responded by adding enforcers Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner for game two.

[6] Konopka harried Boyle as he conducted a live TV interview during the pre-game warm-ups, earning himself and his club fines.

In an unrelated incident in that same game, New York's rookie skater Carl Hagelin elbowed Ottawa's captain Daniel Alfredsson in the head.

Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson stopped all 41 shots in a 2–0 victory on the road in game five, giving the Senators their first lead in the series.

The Boston Bruins, the defending 2011 Stanley Cup champions, entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Northeast Division with 102 points.

Rookie Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, who started in place of injured regulars Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, allowed only two goals in the first two games, matching his Bruins counterpart Tim Thomas.

With Washington's victory in the series, Holtby became just the third rookie goaltender in NHL history to defeat the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

Florida's Jose Theodore surrendered three goals in the first period before being replaced by Scott Clemmensen, appearing in only his second playoff game.

[16] Brodeur bounced back in game four and broke another one of Roy's records with his 24th career playoff shutout, as the Devils beat the Panthers, 4–0.

The Flyers' goaltending flaws resurfaced in that game, with neither Ilya Bryzgalov nor Sergei Bobrovsky able to stop the Penguins' torrid shooting.

[24] Game three was overshadowed by a flurry of penalties drawn between the two teams, reminiscent of their penultimate regular season meeting on April 1.

[27] Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma was fined $10,000 because of Adams' instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the game.

The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions and the back-to-back Presidents' Trophy winners, earning 111 points.

The Canucks entered the series as the favourites, with many hockey commentators predicting them to win this series be the Western Conference champions due to the fact they had fell one win short from the Stanley Cup the year prior having went all the way to the Finals and losing in seven to the Boston Bruins along with coming off two consecutive Presidents' Trophies and having most of the players from the previous year still intact on their roster.

Vancouver struggled offensively throughout the series, while Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick only allowed eight total goals, including a shutout in game three.

St. Louis swept this year's four-game regular season series, outscoring San Jose by a combined score of 11–3.

A large part of the Blues' success was the play of their goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, who both allowed a league low of 165 combined team goals, earning them the William M. Jennings Trophy.

This became only the second playoff series in NHL history in which the first five games went into overtime, the first being the 1951 Stanley Cup Finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens.

Game six ended up being one-sided as Smith shutout the Blackhawks, 4–0, and the Coyotes won their first playoff series since moving from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996, and the first one in franchise history since 1987.

[44] Washington evened the series in game four with Mike Green's power play goal with 5:48 remaining to give the Capitals a 2–1 win.

Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith responded with a shutout of his own in game four, stopping 25 shots, while Shane Doan scoring the lone goal in a 1–0 Phoenix win.

In 1994, the Rangers and the Devils also met in the Eastern Conference Final, with New York prevailing in seven games, en route to winning the 1994 Stanley Cup.

The Kings then shut the Coyotes out in game two, 4–0, as goaltender Jonathan Quick made 24 saves and Jeff Carter scored a hat trick.

However, Shane Doan scored Phoenix's only two goals, and goaltender Mike Smith stopped all 36 shots, to give the Coyotes a 2–0 victory in game four to extend the series.