Lightning, Oilers Among Major First-Round Exits in 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2026: Lightning, Oilers among biggest first-round disappointments

A few Stanley Cup contenders didn't even make it out of the first round

By Austin Nivison

May 4, 2026 at 12:49 pm ET • 7 min read

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The first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books, and while eight teams are still vying for a championship, eight more have had their hopes dashed. Early NHL playoff exits always hurt, but some clubs will feel the sting a bit more than others.

Because of the way the NHL formats its playoff bracket, Stanley Cup contenders are bound to bow out in the opening round each year. This season, it was the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning . In the case of the Stars, it's especially painful because that franchise has grown accustomed to playing in the conference finals. This year, Dallas hardly got out of the starting gate before its postseason came to an end at the hands of the Minnesota Wild .

On the other end of the spectrum, what was anyone really expecting out of the Los Angeles Kings ? Anything can happen in the NHL, but the Colorado Avalanche are a juggernaut, and the talent imbalance was evident in every game of that brief series. Few teams stack up well against the Avs.

Before we move on from the first round completely, let's see which teams will be able to move on from defeat rather quickly and which ones will be thinking about what could have been all offseason.

8. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings came into the series as massive underdogs against the Presidents' Trophy winners, and they looked the part. Los Angeles gets some credit for forcing the Colorado Avalanche to play in a few low-scoring games, but it didn't matter. The Avs had too much firepower -- even for one of the best defensive teams in the league. Would it have been nice to get at least one more playoff win for Anze Kopitar ? Sure, but there's no shame in losing to this Colorado team.

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7. Boston Bruins

It was a surprise to see this Bruins team hit 100 points in the regular season, given the state of the roster. New coach Marco Sturm got the most out of his team, but the simple fact is that Boston was outmatched against the Buffalo Sabres in the first round. It didn't help that the city of Buffalo was rabid after ending a postseason drought. The usual suspects -- Jeremy Swayman and David Pastrnak -- did their part to make sure the series reached six games, but this was always going to be an uphill climb. Perhaps the most disappointing part of this early exit for the Bruins is that they had the Sabres on the ropes in game one before their third-period collapse. If Boston hangs on, are we preparing for Game 7 on Sunday?

6. Utah Mammoth

Utah had all the ingredients to be a dangerous playoff team, but they ran into a terrible first-round matchup. The Golden Knights have defenders who can skate with the speedy Mammoth forwards, and they have a Stanley Cup pedigree. In goal, Carter Hart underwhelmed for Vegas, but he still managed to outplay Karel Vejmelka at the other end. Goaltending woes aside, it's hard to be too disappointed if you're a Mammoth fan. This team's championship window is just now opening, and the core that's been assembled in Salt Lake City should become a staple of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

5. Ottawa Senators

Normally, the second wild card team losing to the top team in the East wouldn't be all that disappointing, but this one will sting for the Senators . The only reason Ottawa finished as low as it did was the fact that the goaltending cratered in the middle of the season. If not for that, the team might have been battling for a top-two seed in the Atlantic. That's why the Sens were a trendy upset pick against the mighty Carolina Hurricanes -- including for yours truly.

Then the series began, and the Senators were on their back foot for all four games. Star forwards Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk combined to register one assist in the series, and No. 1 defenseman Jake Sanderson was wildly ineffective at slowing down Carolina's offense before exiting Game 3 with a concussion. Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen gets plenty of credit for stifling the Ottawa attack, but even that was a little disappointing. In the regular season, Andersen ranked 94th out of 98 goalies with 18.2 goals allowed above average. He now looks like an early Conn Smythe Trophy favorite.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

In many ways, this season was a success for the Penguins . First-year coach Dan Muse revitalized an aging core of veterans, turning them into one of the most prolific offenses in the NHL. However, once the postseason rolled around, Muse and the Pens refused (or were unable) to adjust to what the Flyers were doing defensively. That led to Pittsburgh scoring just 10 goals over six games. No single player scored more than two goals, and just two players registered more than three points. The offense that drove the team in the regular season didn't translate to the postseason.

What really stings for the Penguins is that this felt like the last gasp for their legendary trio of Sidney Crosby , Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang . The team's core isn't getting any younger, and Pittsburgh will face tough decisions on all three players this offseason . If there was going to be one more deep run, this seemed like the best opportunity.

3. Dallas Stars

Well, at least they didn't lose in the Western Conference Final for the fourth straight season. The question for the Stars entering the season was whether they could get over that hump and win the Stanley Cup, but now they'll be watching the second round from their couch. It would be easy to blame the NHL's convoluted playoff format or Roope Hintz's injury for Dallas' early exit, but the team didn't do itself any favors.

As good as the Stars' power play was, the offense was invisible at five-on-five as they scored just four goals in those situations. The only two players with multiple five-on-five points were Matt Duchene and Jason Robertson -- tied atop the leaderboard with two apiece. Mikko Rantanen , in the first year of his $96 million contract, was a complete non-factor when the Stars weren't on the man advantage. He was held off the scoresheet and generated 0.69 expected goals with both teams at full strength, per Natural Stat Trick . In goal, Jake Oettinger got outplayed by Jesper Wallstedt a year after he was pulled in a do-or-die Game 5 in the Western Conference Final. He allowed 2.36 goals above average with a .894 save percentage.

This feels like a wasted season for the Stars, a team that now faces critical contract negotiations with leading scorer Jason Robertson. What will Dallas look like in 2026-27?

2. Edmonton Oilers

When Connor McDavid signed a team-friendly two-year extension in October, the Oilers knew they had a three-year window to convince him of their long-term plan. This was not a good start. Yes, Edmonton was banged up, and that laundry list of injuries included an apparent ankle injury to McDavid himself. Still, even with the Oilers not at full strength, this was a winnable series. The Anaheim Ducks are an explosive offensive team, but their defense and goaltending can be exposed. Edmonton was favored to prevail for a reason.

Goaltending has been an Achilles heel for the Oilers throughout most of McDavid's career, and after doing nothing to address it at the trade deadline, it sank them again in the playoffs. Connor Ingram started five of the six games, and he allowed 4.78 goals above average while posting a .700 high-danger save percentage. Defensively, Edmonton was a mess. The team allowed 3.71 xGA/60 throughout the series, a bottom-three mark among playoff teams, and the top pairing of Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm got out-chanced and outscored at five-on-five.

Make no mistake about it, McDavid was well below full strength, and that was evident. Even Leon Draisaitl was hampered by an injury that forced him to miss the final month of the regular season. With that dynamic duo fighting with one arm behind its back, the rest of the team's flaws were laid bare. The Oilers cannot use injuries as an excuse not to do major work on the supporting cast this summer.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Look, it wasn't exactly shocking to see the Montreal Canadiens take down the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams recorded 106 points in the regular season, and Montreal has plenty of star power. However, that doesn't mean this loss will hurt any less for the Bolts. Let's start with Game 7 itself. Tampa outshot Montreal, 29-9, as the Habs set a record for the fewest shots on goal in a playoff win. Play that game 100 times, and the Lightning win 99, but that's not the way it played out on Sunday.

Second, the road to the Stanley Cup Final looked relatively clear for Tampa Bay. The Florida Panthers missed the postseason, and the Eastern Conference field was deep but lacked many true juggernauts. The Lightning looked like a juggernaut through 82 games, but they played at an average level too often in the first round. Secondly, this early exit makes it four first-round series losses in a row, and this core isn't exactly young anymore. Nikita Kucherov , Andrei Vasilevskiy , Victor Hedman and Jake Guentzel are all at least 31 years old. Tampa has done a good job of extending its championship window, but it won't stay open forever.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/stanley-cup-playoffs-2026-lightning-oilers-first-round-disappointments/)._