The 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on May 15, 2021, and concluded on July 7, 2021, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning their second consecutive and third overall Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Montreal Canadiens four games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin a few days after the 2020–21 regular season, but they began four days prior to the end of the regular season after the Vancouver Canucks had eleven games postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak.