1980 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The 1980 Stanley Cup Playoffs began on April 8th (after the end of the 1979-80 NHL season) and ended on May 24, 1980 when the New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5–4 to win the Final series four games to two and win the Stanley Cup.

It was the Islanders' first Stanley Cup win and was the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup wins.

Changes

With the league expansion from 17 to 21 teams, the playoffs were also expanded from a 12-team tournament to a 16-team tournament.

The sixteen teams were composed of the four divisional champions plus the top 12 finishers of the remaining 17 teams. The 16 qualifying teams were then seeded based on regular season points, with divisional rankings ignored.

Division leaders no longer received first round byes.

The teams were seeded 1 through 16 with the top team playing the 16th team in the first round, and so on.

In subsequent rounds, matchups were similarly arranged, with the top remaining seed against the lowest remaining seed and so on.

The Preliminary Round was a best-of-five set.

The Atlanta Flames played their final playoff games in this postseason and moved to Calgary soon after. The playoffs returned to Atlanta in 2007.

Playoff Seeds

The sixteen teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–16 based on regular season points.

Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 116 points
Buffalo Sabres, Adams Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 110 points
Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions – 107 points
Boston Bruins – 105 points
New York Islanders – 91 points
Minnesota North Stars – 88 points
Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 87 points
New York Rangers – 86 points
Atlanta Flames – 83 points
St. Louis Blues – 80 points
Toronto Maple Leafs – 75 points
Los Angeles Kings – 74 points
Pittsburgh Penguins – 73 points (30 wins)
Hartford Whalers – 73 points (27 wins)
Vancouver Canucks – 70 points
Edmonton Oilers – 69 points

Preliminary Round

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (16) Edmonton Oilers

April 8th: 3-4 OT win (Flyers)
April 9th: 5-1 win (Flyers)
April 11th: 3-2 OT win (Flyers)

Philadelphia won the series 3-0.

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (15) Vancouver Canucks

April 8th: 2-1 win (Sabres)
April 9th: 6-0 win (Sabres)
April 11th: 5-4 win (Canucks)
April 12th: 3-1 win (Sabres)

Buffalo won the series 3-1.

(3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (14) Hartford Whalers

April 8th: 6-1 win (Canadiens)
April 9th: 8-4 win (Canadiens)
April 11th: 4-3 OT win (Canadiens)

Montreal won the series 3-0.

(4) Boston Bruins vs. (13) Pittsburgh Penguins

April 8th: 4-2 win (Penguins)
April 10th: 4-1 win (Bruins)
April 12th: 4-1 win (Penguins)
April 13th: 8-3 win (Bruins)
April 14th: 6-2 win (Bruins)

Boston won the series 3-2.

(5) New York Islanders vs. (12) Los Angeles Kings

April 8th: 8-1 win (Islanders)
April 9th: 6-3 win (Kings)
April 11th: 4-3 OT win (Islanders)
April 12th: 6-0 win (Islanders)

New York Islanders won the series 3-1.

(6) Minnesota North Stars vs. (11) Toronto Maple Leafs

April 8th: 6-3 win (North Stars)
April 9th: 7-2 win (North Stars)
April 11th: 4-3 OT win (North Stars)

Minnesota won the series 3-0.

(7) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (10) St. Louis Blues

With their victory in Game one, Chicago snapped a record 16-game losing streak in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

April 8th: 3-2 OT win (Blackhawks)
April 9th: 5-1 win (Blackhawks)
April 11th: 4-1 win (Blackhawks)

Chicago won the series 3-0.

(8) New York Rangers vs. (9) Atlanta Flames

April 8th: 2-1 OT win (Rangers)
April 9th: 5-1 win (Rangers)
April 11th: 4-2 win (Flames)
April 12th: 5-2 win (Rangers)

New York Rangers won the series 3-1.

Quarterfinals

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (8) New York Rangers

April 16th: 2-1 win (Flyers)
April 17th: 4-1 win (Flyers)
April 19th: 3-0 win (Flyers)
April 20th: 4-2 win (Rangers)
April 22nd: 3-1 win (Flyers)

Philadelphia won the series 4-1.

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs. (7) Chicago Black Hawks

April 16th: 5-0 win (Sabres)
April 17th: 6-4 win (Sabres)
April 19th: 2-1 win (Sabres)
April 20th: 3-2 win (Sabres)

Buffalo won the series 4-0.

(3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (6) Minnesota North Stars

April 16th: 3-0 win (North Stars)
April 17th: 4-1 win (North Stars)
April 19th: 5-0 win (Canadiens)
April 20th: 5-1 win (Canadiens)
April 22nd: 6-2 win (Canadiens)
April 24th: 5-2 win (North Stars)
April 27th: 3-2 win (North Stars)

Minnesota won the series 4-3.

(4) Boston Bruins vs. (5) New York Islanders

April 16th: 2-1 OT win (Islanders)
April 17th: 5-4 OT win (Islanders)
April 19th: 5-3 win (Islanders)
April 21st: 4-3 OT win (Bruins)
April 22nd: 4-2 win (Islanders)

New York Islanders won the series 4–1.

Semifinals

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Minnesota North Stars

April 29th: 6-5 win (North Stars)
May 1st: 7-0 win (Flyers)
May 4th: 5-3 win (Flyers)
May 6th: 3-2 win (Flyers)
May 8th: 7-3 win (Flyers)