The 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League began on April 7, 2004, following the 2003–04 regular season. The playoffs ended with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup with a seven-game series win over the Calgary Flames on June 7. It was Tampa Bay's first Stanley Cup championship. It was the Flames' third final appearance, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in and beating the Canadiens in the rematch. These playoffs ended up being the last playoff tournament until 2006 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the following season. The 16 qualified teams, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven games for Conference Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. The winner of each conference proceeded to the Stanley Cup Finals. The format was identical to the one introduced for the 1999 playoffs. These playoffs marked the first time the Nashville Predators qualified, being in their sixth season in the NHL. This would be the last time that all eastern Canadian teams would make the playoffs together until 2013. This was the last time until 2019 that both Southern California teams, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, missed the playoffs. The Flames tied the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers for the most games played (26) in one playoff year (later matched by the 2014 Los Angeles Kings, 2015 Tampa Bay Lightning, and 2019 St. Louis Blues). The record was subsequently broken by the Dallas Stars during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, albeit due to a change in the playoff format. Playoff seeds Eastern Conference Tampa Bay Lightning, Southeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 106 points Boston Bruins, Northeast Division champions – 104 points Philadelphia Flyers, Atlantic Division champions – 101 points Toronto Maple Leafs – 103 points Ottawa Senators – 102 points New Jersey Devils – 100 points Montreal Canadiens – 93 points New York Islanders – 91 points Western Conference Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 109 points San Jose Sharks, Pacific Division champions – 104 points Vancouver Canucks, Northwest Division champions – 101 points Colorado Avalanche – 100 points Dallas Stars – 97 points Calgary Flames – 94 points St. Louis Blues – 91 points (39 wins) Nashville Predators – 91 points (38 wins) Playoff bracket Conference Quarterfinals Eastern Conference Quarterfinals (1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (8) New York Islanders The Tampa