Man, looking back at the NHL playoffs 2017 bracket, it feels like a fever dream. If you were a betting person back then, you probably lost a lot of money. It wasn't just that the favorites went down; it was the way they went down—sudden death overtimes, sweepings that nobody saw coming, and a Nashville crowd that basically turned a hockey game into a rock concert.
Hockey is inherently weird. The puck is a frozen disc of rubber that bounces unpredictably. But 2017 was something else. We had the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that had won three cups in the previous seven years, enter the postseason as the top seed in the Western Conference. They didn't just lose. They got erased. The Nashville Predators, who barely squeaked in as the second wild card, swept them in four games.
Chicago scored three goals. Total. In four games.
The Western Conference Car Crash
The Western side of the NHL playoffs 2017 bracket was absolute carnage. When Nashville bounced Chicago, the entire bracket opened up like a wound. Suddenly, teams that usually spent May on the golf course were looking at a legitimate path to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The St. Louis Blues took down the Minnesota Wild in five, which wasn't a massive shock, but the efficiency was impressive. Then you had the Anaheim Ducks and the Edmonton Oilers. This was the series where we all thought, "Okay, Connor McDavid has arrived." It was a brutal, seven-game slog. The Ducks eventually moved on, but it took everything they had.
Honestly, the Predators were the story. Pekka Rinne decided he wasn't going to let anything past him. He played like a man possessed. After sweeping the Blackhawks, they dismantled the Blues in six and then outlasted the Ducks in the Western Conference Finals. It was the first time a number eight seed (effectively) made it that far since the 2012 Kings, and the energy in Nashville was infectious. People were throwing catfish on the ice. It was glorious.
Why the Atlantic Division Was a Mess
While the West was exploding, the East was dealing with its own brand of nonsense. The Atlantic Division was... well, it was weak. Let's be real. The Montreal Canadiens were the top seed, and they ran into a New York Rangers team that was technically a wild card but had more points than half the Atlantic.
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The Rangers won that in six.
Then you had the Ottawa Senators. Nobody liked the 2017 Senators except people in Ottawa. They played a "1-3-1" neutral zone trap that was about as exciting to watch as paint drying, but it was incredibly effective. They beat Boston in six, with Erik Karlsson playing on what was basically a shattered foot. Seriously, the guy had hairline fractures and tendon damage, and he was still the best player on the ice.
The Real Finals: Pittsburgh vs. Washington
If you ask any hockey nerd about the NHL playoffs 2017 bracket, they’ll tell you the "real" Stanley Cup Finals happened in the second round. The Pittsburgh Penguins versus the Washington Capitals. This was the peak of the Crosby vs. Ovechkin era.
Washington had won the Presidents' Trophy. They were the best team in the league. They were "destined" to finally get over the hump.
It went seven games.
The Penguins took a 3-1 lead, then the Capitals roared back to force Game 7. Everyone thought Pittsburgh was toast. But in that final game, the Penguins shut them out 2-0. It was devastating for D.C. fans. It felt like the Capitals were cursed. It’s easy to forget now because Washington won the Cup the following year, but in 2017, the narrative was that Ovechkin would never win the big one.
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The Heartbreak of the Eastern Conference Finals
The Penguins then ran into the Ottawa Senators. This series shouldn't have been close. Pittsburgh had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel. Ottawa had... a system.
But it went to double overtime in Game 7.
Chris Kunitz, who hadn't scored a goal in months, took a fluttering shot that somehow found the back of the net. That single goal changed everything. If that puck goes two inches to the left, the Ottawa Senators—the most boring team in modern history—play for the Stanley Cup. Instead, the Penguins headed back to the Finals for the second year in a row.
The 2017 Stanley Cup Finals: Pens vs. Preds
The Finals were a tale of two cities. Pittsburgh was the established dynasty. Nashville was the "Smashville" newcomer.
Pittsburgh took the first two games at home. Nashville came back and leveled it at 2-2. The home-ice advantage in that series was massive. I remember the noise in Nashville being so loud that the TV announcers were struggling to hear themselves talk.
Game 6 was the heartbreaker for the Preds. It was 0-0 late in the third period. Colton Sissons scored a goal for Nashville that was waved off because the referee, Kevin Pollock, lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle early. It was a phantom whistle. The puck was sitting right there in the crease.
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Shortly after, Patric Hornqvist scored for Pittsburgh with about 95 seconds left. An empty-netter sealed it. The Penguins became the first team in the salary cap era to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Stat Leaders and Noteworthy Performances
Let's talk numbers for a second, because the NHL playoffs 2017 bracket produced some wild stat lines.
- Evgeni Malkin: Led the playoffs with 28 points. When Malkin is "on," he’s arguably more terrifying than Crosby.
- Jake Guentzel: A rookie at the time, he scored 13 goals. He was the breakout star that nobody planned for.
- Pekka Rinne: Despite losing in the Finals, he finished with a .930 save percentage. He was the reason Nashville was even there.
- Erik Karlsson: 18 points in 19 games as a defenseman while playing on one leg. Absolute legend.
Misconceptions About the 2017 Run
A lot of people think the Penguins dominated that year. They didn't. They were actually outshot in most of their games. They survived on high-end finishing talent and incredible goaltending from the tandem of Marc-André Fleury and Matt Murray. Fleury carried them through the first two rounds, and Murray took over when he got healthy. It was a controversial goalie swap at the time, but Mike Sullivan pushed the right buttons.
Another misconception is that Nashville was just "lucky." They weren't. They had the best defensive top-four in the league with P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm. They were built for the modern NHL—fast, mobile defensemen who could transition the puck instantly.
Why We Still Talk About 2017
This specific bracket matters because it was the end of an era and the start of a new one. It was the last time we saw that specific iteration of the "boring" trap work so well (Ottawa). It was the year the "Crosby vs. Ovechkin" rivalry hit its absolute fever pitch. And it was the year Nashville proved that non-traditional hockey markets could be the loudest, most vibrant places in the sport.
The NHL playoffs 2017 bracket showed that the regular season is just a suggestion. A wild card team can sweep the top seed. A defenseman can carry a team to within one goal of the Finals. And sometimes, a bad whistle can decide a championship.
How to Use These Insights for Modern Playoff Analysis
If you're looking at current NHL brackets and trying to predict the next big upset, keep these lessons from 2017 in mind:
- Watch the "Goalie Heater": Look for a goaltender like 2017 Pekka Rinne who finishes the season on a tear. In a short series, a hot goalie beats a great team every single time.
- Don't ignore the Wild Cards: The gap between the 1st seed and the 8th seed in the NHL is smaller than in any other sport. The 2017 Blackhawks-Predators series is the ultimate proof.
- Check the Blue Line Mobility: Teams with defensemen who can join the rush (like Josi or Karlsson) create matchup nightmares that standard defensive schemes can't handle.
- Value Playoff Experience: The Penguins weren't the fastest or the youngest, but they knew how to win close games. Look for teams with a core that has "been there" when the pressure of Game 7 hits.
Next time you’re filling out a bracket, remember that the most "logical" choice is rarely the one that actually happens in May and June. Get ready for the chaos.