1981 Stanley Cup playoffs

The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, and were seeded 1–16 based on regular season points, regardless of conference or division, as follows:

1. New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions, NHL regular season champions – 110 points
2. St. Louis Blues, Smythe Division champions – 107 points
3. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 103 points
4. Los Angeles Kings – 99 points (43 wins)
5. Buffalo Sabres, Adams Division champions – 99 points (39 wins)
6. Philadelphia Flyers – 97 points
7. Calgary Flames – 92 points
8. Boston Bruins – 87 points (37 wins)
9. Minnesota North Stars – 87 points (35 wins)
10. Chicago Black Hawks – 78 points (31 wins)
11. Quebec Nordiques – 78 points (30 wins)
12. Vancouver Canucks – 76 points
13. New York Rangers – 74 points (30 wins)
14. Edmonton Oilers – 74 points (29 wins)
15. Pittsburgh Penguins – 73 points
16. Toronto Maple Leafs – 71 points

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system: in each round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth.

Each series in the Preliminary Round was played in a best-of-five format while each series in the other three rounds were played in a best-of-seven format.

{{#invoke:transcludable section|main|section=Bracket|text=

{{16TeamBracket|RD1-RD2-path=0|RD2-RD3-path=0

| RD1=Preliminary Round

| RD2=Quarterfinals

| RD3=Semifinals

| RD4=Stanley Cup Finals

| RD1-seed01=1

| RD1-team01=NY Islanders

| RD1-score01=3

| RD1-seed02=16

| RD1-team02=Toronto

| RD1-score02=0

| RD1-seed05=3

| RD1-team05=Montreal

| RD1-score05=0

| RD1-seed06=14

| RD1-team06=Edmonton

| RD1-score06=3

| RD1-seed03=2

| RD1-team03=St. Louis

| RD1-score03=3

| RD1-seed04=15

| RD1-team04=Pittsburgh

| RD1-score04=2

| RD1-seed07=4

| RD1-team07=Los Angeles

| RD1-score07=1

| RD1-seed08=13

| RD1-team08=NY Rangers

| RD1-score08=3

| RD1-seed09=5

| RD1-team09=Buffalo

| RD1-score09=3

| RD1-seed10=12

| RD1-team10=Vancouver

| RD1-score10=0

| RD1-seed11=6

| RD1-team11=Philadelphia

| RD1-score11=3

| RD1-seed12=11

| RD1-team12=Quebec

| RD1-score12=2

| RD1-seed13=7

| RD1-team13=Calgary

| RD1-score13=3

| RD1-seed14=10

| RD1-team14=Chicago

| RD1-score14=0

| RD1-seed15=8

| RD1-team15=Boston

| RD1-score15=0

| RD1-seed16=9

| RD1-team16=Minnesota

| RD1-score16=3

| RD2-seed01=1

| RD2-team01=NY Islanders

| RD2-score01=4

| RD2-seed02=8

| RD2-team02=Edmonton

| RD2-score02=2

| RD2-seed03=2

| RD2-team03=St. Louis

| RD2-score03=2

| RD2-seed04=7

| RD2-team04=NY Rangers

| RD2-score04=4

| RD2-seed05=3

| RD2-team05=Buffalo

| RD2-score05=1

| RD2-seed06=6

| RD2-team06=Minnesota

| RD2-score06=4

| RD2-seed07=4

| RD2-team07=Philadelphia

| RD2-score07=3

| RD2-seed08=5

| RD2-team08=Calgary

| RD2-score08=4

| RD3-seed01=1

| RD3-team01=NY Islanders

| RD3-score01=4

| RD3-seed02=4

| RD3-team02=NY Rangers

| RD3-score02=0

| RD3-seed03=2

| RD3-team03=Calgary

| RD3-score03=2

| RD3-seed04=3

| RD3-team04=Minnesota

| RD3-score04=4

| RD4-seed01=1

| RD4-team01=NY Islanders

| RD4-score01=4

| RD4-seed02=3

| RD4-team02=Minnesota

| RD4-score02=1

}}}}

The New York Islanders, the defending 1980 Stanley Cup champions, entered the playoffs as the regular season, Campbell Conference, and Patrick Division champions, earning 110 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 71 points during the regular season to finish sixteenth overall in the league. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the 1978 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, where Toronto defeated the Islanders in seven games. The Islanders won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

Toronto was swept in the opening round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. New York's series-clinching win in game three was the first (and to date only until the bubble in the 2020 playoffs) time that the Islanders have won a playoff game in Toronto, and this was the second (and to date, last) victory that a road team has ever earned in the three series between these two franchises. As of 2019, this series marks the only time that the Islanders have defeated Toronto in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In game one, the Islanders scored three times on the power play, and Bryan Trottier scored twice and added three assists in a decisive 9–2 victory. The Islanders dominance of the Maple Leafs continued in game two, as Trottier recorded a hat trick in a 5-1 Islanders win. The Islanders jumped all over the Maple Leafs quickly in game three, by jumping out to a 5–0 lead after the first period. The Maple Leafs and Islanders traded goals in the second period 19 seconds apart. Game three ended in a series-clinching 6-1 Islanders victory.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Toronto Maple Leafs

|team2=New York Islanders

|stadium2=Maple Leaf Gardens

|stadium1=Nassau Coliseum

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =2–9

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-nyi/1981/04/08/1980030111#game=1980030111,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =No Scoring

|1-1-2 =05:27 – sh – Billy Carroll (1)
11:26 – pp – Clark Gillies (1)

|1-2-1 =Bill Derlago (1) – pp – 01:39

|1-2-2 =07:34 – pp – Mike Bossy (1)
08:30 – Bryan Trottier (1)
10:17 – pp – Bryan Trottier (2)
19:06 – Bob Lorimer (1)

|1-3-1 =Ian Turnbull (1) – 17:00

|1-3-2 =02:25 – Mike Bossy (2)
07:25 – Bob Bourne (1)
11:30 – sh – Bob Bourne (2)

|goalie1-1 =Jiri Crha 21 saves / 27 shots
Michel Larocque 5 saves / 8 shots

|goalie1-2 =Billy Smith 29 saves / 30 shots
Roland Melanson 10 saves / 11 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =1–5

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-nyi/1981/04/09/1980030112/recap/box-score#game=1980030112,game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =07:39 – Mike Bossy (3)
08:18 – Bryan Trottier (3)
19:16 – pp – Bryan Trottier (4)

|2-3-1 =Bruce Boudreau (1) – 6:06

|2-3-2 =09:27 – Mike McEwen (1)
13:40 – Bryan Trottier (5)

|goalie2-1 =Michel Larocque 19 saves / 24 shots
Jiri Crha 3 saves / 3 shots

|goalie2-2 =Billy Smith 25 saves / 26 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =6–1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-tor/1981/04/11/1980030113#game=1980030113,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Wayne Merrick (1) – 08:58
Mike Bossy (4) – pp – 12:05
Hector Marini (1) – 14:03
Mike McEwen (2) – pp – 17:40
Clark Gillies (2) – 19:35

|3-2-1 =13:53 – Rick Vaive (1)

|3-2-2 =Bryan Trottier (6) – 13:34

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Jiri Crha 9 saves / 14 shots
Paul Harrison 16 saves / 17 shots

|goalie3-2 =Billy Smith 22 saves / 23 shots

|series = New York won series 3–0

}}

The St. Louis Blues entered the playoffs as the Smythe Division champions, earning 107 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins earned 73 points during the regular season to finish fifteenth overall in the league. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams; the teams split their two previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1975 Preliminary round, where Pittsburgh defeated St. Louis in two-game sweep. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

In game one of the series, Pittsburgh struck quickly thanks to a Greg Malone goal at 0:15 of the first period. However, the Blues recovered by the end of the second period and took a 3–2 lead into the final period, which they held on to, winning the game 4–2. Game two proved to be a different story, as the Penguins exploded offensively and scored four times in the second period to erase a 1-0 first period deficit. The Blues and Penguins traded goals in the third period, giving Pittsburgh a 6–4 victory that tied the series at a game apiece. Game three went back and forth, with both teams trading goals all game long until Bernie Federko scored his second goal of the game with 4:06 left to play in the third period. The Blues won the game 5-4 and retook home ice advantage in the best-of-five series. The Penguins avoided elimination in game four, as Randy Carlyle and Mike Bullard each scored three points in the game, helping the Penguins to a 6–3 win. Game five was another tight contest and for the first time in the series overtime was required, with the score tied at 3 after regulation time. The game and series ended on Mike Crombeen's second goal of the series, scored at 5:16 of the second overtime period, giving St. Louis a 4–3 win and a 3–2 series victory.{{cite web|title=Overtime Games: 1980-89|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=31244|publisher=National Hockey League|access-date=May 10, 2013}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Pittsburgh Penguins

|team2=St. Louis Blues

|stadium2=Pittsburgh Civic Arena

|stadium1=Checkerdome

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =2–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-stl/1981/04/08/1980030121#game=1980030121,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Greg Malone (1) – 00:15

|1-1-2 =04:48 – pp – Mike Zuke (1)
15:58 – Tony Currie (1)

|1-2-1 =Rod Schutt (1) – 13:21

|1-2-2 =14:44 – Jorgen Pettersson (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =19:59 – en – Mike Crombeen (1)

|goalie1-1 =Greg Millen 44 saves / 47 shots

|goalie1-2 =Mike Liut 24 saves / 26 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =6–4

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-stl/1981/04/09/1980030122#game=1980030122,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =02:35 – pp – Joe Micheletti (1)

|2-2-1 =Randy Carlyle (1) – 02:03
Gregg Sheppard (1) – 04:58
Mario Faubert (1) – pp – 06:59
George Ferguson (1) – 11:13

|2-2-2 =03:11 – Tony Currie (2)

|2-3-1 =Rod Schutt (2) – 00:35
Randy Carlyle (2) – 03:06

|2-3-2 =10:49 – Blair Chapman (1)
16:04 – pp – Bernie Federko (1)

|goalie2-1 =Greg Millen 19 saves / 23 shots

|goalie2-2 =Mike Liut 24 saves / 30 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =5–4

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-pit/1981/04/11/1980030123#game=1980030123,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =07:04 – pp – Rod Schutt (3)

|3-1-2 =Brian Sutter (1) – pp – 11:51

|3-2-1 =08:57 – Mike Bullard (1)
10:31 – Mark Johnson (1)

|3-2-2 =Ralph Klassen (1) – 06:36
Wayne Babych (1) – 09:58
Bernie Federko (2) – pp – 14:38

|3-3-1 =05:08 – pp – Gregg Sheppard (2)

|3-3-2 =Bernie Federko (3) – 15:54

|goalie3-1 =Greg Millen 27 saves / 32 shots

|goalie3-2 =Mike Liut 27 saves / 31 shots

|date4 =April 12

|score4 =3–6

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-pit/1981/04/12/1980030124#game=1980030124,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =14:52 – pp – Mike Bullard (2)

|4-1-2 =Ralph Klassen (2) – 05:53
Mike Zuke (2) – pp – 07:10

|4-2-1 =07:45 – pp – Mark Johnson (2)
11:49 – sh – Randy Carlyle (3)

|4-2-2 =Mike Zuke (3) – pp – 13:55

|4-3-1 =00:44 – Mike Bullard (3)
09:21 – Randy Carlyle (4)
14:02 – Pat Price (1)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Greg Millen 21 saves / 24 shots

|goalie4-2 =Mike Liut 28 saves / 34 shots

|date5 =April 14

|score5 =3–4

|ot5 =2

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-stl/1981/04/14/1980030125#game=1980030125,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =Paul Gardner (1) – pp – 07:48

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =George Ferguson (2) – 15:06

|5-2-2 =11:17 – Brian Sutter (2)
16:06 – pp – Bernie Federko (4)

|5-3-1 =Greg Malone (2) – 10:36

|5-3-2 =03:34 – Rick Lapointe (1)

|5-4-1 =No scoring

|5-4-2 =05:16 – Mike Crombeen (2)

|goalie5-1 =Greg Millen 48 saves / 52 shots

|goalie5-2 =Mike Liut 48 saves / 51 shots

|series = St. Louis won series 3–2

}}

The Montreal Canadiens entered the playoffs as the Wales Conference and Norris Division champions, earning 103 points. The Edmonton Oilers earned 74 points during the regular season and finished fourteenth overall, losing the tiebreaker with the New York Rangers in wins (30 to 29). This was the first and only playoff meeting between these two teams. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

The Oilers recorded the first playoff series victory by any of the four teams that joined the NHL in the 1979. It was also the first-ever sweep by the Oilers, including their history as a World Hockey Association franchise. The Oilers gained a 6–3 victory in game one, in large part due to Wayne Gretzky's five-assist night. At the time this was a new playoff record for assists by a single player in one game. Edmonton went on to win game two, with Risto Siltanen's power play goal at 4:43 of the second period giving the Oilers a 2–1 lead, Edmonton eventually winning the game by a score of 3–1. Edmonton completed the sweep of the heavily favoured Canadiens in game three, defeating Montreal 6–2. Gretzky led all scorers in the three-game series, finishing with 11 points (3G, 8A).

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Edmonton Oilers

|team2=Montreal Canadiens

|stadium2=Northlands Coliseum

|stadium1=Forum de Montréal

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =6–3

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-mtl/1981/04/08/1980030131#game=1980030131,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Glenn Anderson (1) – 06:41
Jari Kurri (1) – 11:42
Jari Kurri (2) – 17:36

|1-1-2 =11:15 – Steve Shutt (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Brett Callighen (1) – 01:14
Paul Coffey (1) – 13:38
Brett Callighen (2) – en – 19:21

|1-3-2 =07:39 – pp – Doug Risebrough (1)
16:55 – Rejean Houle (1)

|goalie1-1 =Andy Moog 28 saves / 31 shots

|goalie1-2 =Richard Sevigny 22 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =3–1

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-mtl/1981/04/09/1980030132#game=1980030132,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Paul Coffey (2) – 05:24

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Risto Siltanen (1) – pp – 04:43

|2-2-2 =00:32 – pp – Gaston Gingras (1)

|2-3-1 =Jari Kurri (3) – 14:27

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Andy Moog 40 saves / 41 shots

|goalie2-2 =Richard Sevigny 26 saves / 29 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =2–6

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-edm/1981/04/11/1980030133#game=1980030133,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =06:09 – Matti Hagman (1)
11:54 – Paul Coffey (3)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =08:15 – Wayne Gretzky (1)
18:56 – Wayne Gretzky (2)

|3-2-2 =Brian Engblom (1) – 08:49
Steve Shutt (2) – 15:33

|3-3-1 =19:23 – en – Dave Lumley (1)
19:53 – Wayne Gretzky (3)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Andy Moog 22 saves / 24 shots

|goalie3-2 =Richard Sevigny 23 saves / 28 shots

|series = Edmonton won series 3–0

}}

The Los Angeles Kings entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the league with 99 points, winning the tiebreaker with the Buffalo Sabres in wins (43 to 39). The New York Rangers earned 74 points during the regular season and finished thirteenth overall, winning the tiebreaker with the Edmonton Oilers in wins (30 to 29). This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the 1979 Preliminary round, where New York defeated Los Angeles in two-game sweep. The Kings won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

The Rangers won game one in large part due to the impressive goaltending performance of Steve Baker, as he turned away 31 of the Kings' 32 shots. Game two was marked by a brawl at the end of the first period; six players were ejected from the game as result of this. The Kings won game two 5–4 on the strength of a Dean Hopkins goal at 17:16 of the third period. Game three was dominated by the Rangers, as eight different players would score in the game for New York, and the Rangers won 10–3 on home ice. Game four was tied 3–3 in the third period, until Tom Laidlaw's goal at 6:44 gave the Rangers a 4–3 lead. The Rangers added two more goals in the third, earning a series-clinching 6–3 victory. Ranger forwards Ron Duguay and Ulf Nilsson each scored a goal in every game of this series.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New York Rangers

|team2=Los Angeles Kings

|stadium2=Madison Square Garden

|stadium1=The Forum

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =3–1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-lak/1981/04/08/1980030141#game=1980030141,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Anders Hedberg (1) – 09:04

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Ulf Nilsson (1) – 01:25

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Ron Duguay (1) – en – 19:52

|1-3-2 =12:31 – Billy Harris (1)

|goalie1-1 =Steve Baker 31 saves / 32 shots

|goalie1-2 =Mario Lessard 16 saves / 18 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =4–5

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-lak/1981/04/09/1980030142#game=1980030142,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Ed Hospodar (1) – 00:27

|2-1-2 =08:22 – pp – Larry Murphy (1)
08:48 – pp – Marcel Dionne (1)

|2-2-1 =Ron Duguay (2) – 16:44

|2-2-2 =15:04 – pp – Dave Taylor (1)

|2-3-1 =Anders Hedberg (2) – pp – 07:01
Ulf Nilsson (2) – 11:17

|2-3-2 =02:34 – Billy Harris (2)
17:16 – Dean Hopkins (1)

|goalie2-1 =Steve Baker 34 saves / 39 shots

|goalie2-2 =Mario Lessard 23 saves / 27 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =3–10

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/lak-vs-nyr/1981/04/11/1980030143#game=1980030143,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =01:51 – pp – Don Maloney (1)
08:28 – Barry Beck (1)
14:29 – Ron Greschner (1)
19:44 – Ed Johnstone (1)

|3-1-2 =Mark Hardy (1) – pp – 01:13
Dave Taylor (2) – 02:48

|3-2-1 =07:34 – Ron Duguay (3)
12:25 – Ed Johnstone (2)
13:40 – Dean Talafous (1)
16:44 – Ulf Nilsson (3)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =02:51 – Mike Allison (1)
07:38 – pp – Ulf Nilsson (4)

|3-3-2 =Larry Murphy (2) – 18:59

|goalie3-1 =Steve Baker 16 saves / 18 shots
Steve Weeks 7 saves / 8 shots

|goalie3-2 =Mario Lessard 22 saves / 30 shots
Jim Rutherford 6 saves / 8 shots

|date4 =April 12

|score4 =3–6

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/lak-vs-nyr/1981/04/12/1980030144#game=1980030144,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =00:46 – Ron Duguay (4)
05:53 – Lance Nethery (1)

|4-1-2 =Greg Terrion (1) – pp – 01:47
Dan Bonar (1) – sh – 13:26

|4-2-1 =08:22 – Ulf Nilsson (5)

|4-2-2 =Larry Murphy (3) – 14:30

|4-3-1 =06:44 – Tom Laidlaw (1)
12:11 – Anders Hedberg (3)
15:08 – Ron Duguay (5)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Steve Baker 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie4-2 =Mario Lessard 42 saves / 48 shots

|series = New York won series 3–1

}}

The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the Adams Division champions, earning 99 points, losing the tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Kings in wins (43 to 39). The Vancouver Canucks earned 76 points during the regular season and finished twelfth overall in the league. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, and was a rematch of last year's Preliminary Round, where Buffalo defeated Vancouver in four games. These teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

The Sabres swept Vancouver in three games, eliminating the Canucks in the preliminary round for the second consecutive season. Buffalo forced game one to overtime as Andre Savard scored the tying goal with just 8 seconds left in the third period. Rookie centre Alan Haworth scored the game-winning goal for Buffalo five minutes into overtime. The Sabres scored three times on the power play in game two, winning the game 5–2. Vancouver attempted to mount a comeback from a 4–1 deficit in the third period of game three before Buffalo's Tony McKegney scored his second goal of the game, giving the Sabres a 5–3 lead. Buffalo hung on to their 5–3 lead and clinched the series with a game three victory.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Vancouver Canucks

|team2=Buffalo Sabres

|stadium2=Pacific Coliseum

|stadium1=Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =2–3

|ot1 =1

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-buf/1981/04/08/1980030151#game=1980030151,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Darcy Rota (1) – pp – 12:31

|1-1-2 =No Scoring

|1-2-1 =Curt Fraser (1) – 04:51

|1-2-2 =00:14 – Ric Seiling (1)

|1-3-1 =No Scoring

|1-3-2 =19:52 – Andre Savard (1)

|1-4-1 =No Scoring

|1-4-2 =05:00 – Alan Haworth (1)

|goalie1-1 =Richard Brodeur 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie1-2 =Don Edwards 17 saves / 19 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =2–5

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/van-vs-buf/1981/04/09/1980030152#game=1980030152,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Jerry Butler (1) – 07:40

|2-1-2 =05:02 – pp – Alan Haworth (2)
09:09 – Andre Savard (2)
19:41 – pp – Danny Gare (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =4:05 – Andre Savard (3)
15:52 – pp – Lindy Ruff (1)

|2-3-1 =Stan Smyl (1) – 01:59

|2-3-2 =No Scoring

|goalie2-1 =Richard Brodeur 32 saves / 37 shots

|goalie2-2 =Don Edwards 20 saves / 22 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =5–3

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-van/1981/04/11/1980030153#game=1980030153,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =13:57 – Darcy Rota (2)

|3-1-2 =Danny Gare (2) – 11:10
Tony McKegney (1) – 14:37
Danny Gare (3) – pp – 17:12

|3-2-1 =No Scoring

|3-2-2 =Lindy Ruff (2) – 10:25

|3-3-1 =01:13 – Thomas Gradin (1)
13:08 – Ivan Boldirev (1)

|3-3-2 =Tony McKegney (2) – 15:42

|goalie3-1 =Richard Brodeur 19 saves / 24 shots

|goalie3-2 =Don Edwards 23 saves / 26 shots

|series = Buffalo won series 3–0

}}

The Philadelphia Flyers entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the league with 97 points. The Quebec Nordiques earned 78 points during the regular season and finished eleventh overall, losing the tiebreaker with the Chicago Black Hawks in wins (31 to 30). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Quebec won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points. This series also marked the first appearance of a team representing Quebec City in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 68 years. The most recent team to represent Quebec City prior to this was the Quebec Bulldogs who won the Stanley Cup in 1913, in the Bulldogs' final playoff appearance.{{cite web|title=Stanley Cup Playoffs|url= http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=25098|publisher=National Hockey League|access-date=June 5, 2013}}

The home team won all games of this series. Bill Barber and Ken Linseman scored five points each in the first two games of the series. The Flyers won both games in Philadelphia, taking a 2–0 series lead. Game three was a battle of goaltenders, as the game remained scoreless until 9:48 of the third period, when Michel Goulet scored the eventual game-winning goal; Quebec won game three 2–0. Philadelphia took a 3–1 lead into the third period in game four, however the Nordiques made a comeback, tying the game in the third period with two goals in the last five minutes. Quebec completed the comeback 37 seconds into overtime as Dale Hunter scored the game-winning goal. Ken Linseman's three points in the third period of Game 5 helped ensure a Philadelphia series-clinching win, 5–2.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Quebec Nordiques

|team2=Philadelphia Flyers

|stadium2=Colisée de Québec

|stadium1=Spectrum

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =4–6

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/que-vs-phi/1981/04/08/1980030161#game=1980030161,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Anton Stastny (1) – 14:08

|1-1-2 =06:45 – Bill Barber (1)
09:09 – Brian Propp (1)
16:00 – Brian Propp (2)

|1-2-1 =Michel Goulet (1) – 01:28
Dale Hunter (1) – 04:34

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Anton Stastny (2) – pp – 17:55

|1-3-2 =01:41 – Paul Holmgren (1)
09:59 – Al Hill (1)
19:19 – en – Bill Barber (2)

|goalie1-1 =Dan Bouchard 39 saves / 44 shots

|goalie1-2 =Rick St. Croix 16 saves / 20 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =5–8

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/que-vs-phi/1981/04/09/1980030162#game=1980030162,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Peter Stastny (1) – pp – 16:50

|2-1-2 =02:07 – Bill Barber (3)
14:56 – Mel Bridgman (1)
18:31 – pp – Bill Barber (4)

|2-2-1 =Anton Stastny (3) – 02:31
Jacques Richard (1) – pp – 19:29

|2-2-2 =05:55 – sh – Bill Barber (5)
09:47 – Tom Gorence (1)

|2-3-1 =Dale Hunter (2) – 10:36
Marc Tardif (1) – 13:25

|2-3-2 =03:25 – Ken Linseman (1)
15:21 – Mel Bridgman (2)
18:46 – sh-en – Bobby Clarke (1)

|goalie2-1 =Dan Bouchard 16 saves / 22 shots
Michel Plasse 7 saves / 8 shots

|goalie2-2 =Pete Peeters 20 saves / 25 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =0–2

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-que/1981/04/11/1980030163#game=1980030163,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =09:48 – Michel Goulet (2)
17:26 – Peter Stastny (2)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Dan Bouchard 32 saves / 32 shots

|goalie3-2 =Rick St. Croix 29 saves / 31 shots

|date4 =April 12

|score4 =3–4

|ot4 =1

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-que/1981/04/12/1980030164#game=1980030164,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =06:13 – pp – Robbie Ftorek (1)

|4-1-2 =Terry Murray (1) – 00:07
Behn Wilson (1) – 07:39
Tom Gorence (2) – 13:34

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =15:35 – Dale Hunter (3)
17:08 – Jacques Richard (2)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|4-4-1 =00:37 – Dale Hunter (4)

|4-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Dan Bouchard 19 saves / 22 shots

|goalie4-2 =Rick St. Croix 19 saves / 23 shots

|date5 =April 14

|score5 =2–5

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/que-vs-phi/1981/04/14/1980030165#game=1980030165,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =Michel Goulet (3) – 18:04

|5-1-2 =17:16 – pp – Rick MacLeish (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =10:05 – Al Hill (2)

|5-3-1 =Anton Stastny (4) – pp – 06:16

|5-3-2 =00:18 – Ken Linseman (2)
02:48 – Paul Holmgren (2)
05:07 – Brian Propp (3)

|goalie5-1 =Dan Bouchard 32 saves / 37 shots

|goalie5-2 =Pete Peeters 16 saves / 18 shots

|series = Philadelphia won series 3–2

}}

The Calgary Flames entered the playoffs as the seventh seed in the league with 92 points. The Chicago Black Hawks earned 78 points during the regular season and finished tenth overall, winning the tiebreaker with the Quebec Nordiques in wins (31 to 30). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Chicago won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points. This series also marked the first appearance of a team representing Calgary in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 56 years. The most recent team to represent Calgary prior to this was the Calgary Tigers who lost the WCHL Final in 1925.

The Flames recorded their first sweep and first playoff series victory in franchise history. In game one, Calgary's Kent Nilsson recorded a point on every Calgary goal, helping the Flames to a 4–3 win. Calgary scored three times in the third period of game two and won the game decisively by a score of 6–2. The Black Hawks heavily out-shot the Flames in game three; Rejean Lemelin made 61 saves for the Flames. Chicago tied the game on a Darryl Sutter goal with 43 seconds left in the third period. However the Black Hawks came up short in double overtime as Willi Plett scored the series-clinching goal for the Flames at 15:17.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Chicago Black Hawks

|team2=Calgary Flames

|stadium2=Chicago Stadium

|stadium1=Stampede Corral

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =3–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-cgy/1981/04/08/1980030171#game=1980030171,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Darryl Sutter (1) – 17:54
Al Secord (1) – 18:03

|1-2-2 =01:14 – Bob MacMillan (1)
19:29 – Phil Russell (1)

|1-3-1 =Darryl Sutter (2) – pp – 08:40

|1-3-2 =07:34 – Kent Nilsson (1)
08:20 – pp – Dan Labraaten (1)

|goalie1-1 =Tony Esposito 29 saves / 33 shots

|goalie1-2 =Rejean Lemelin 22 saves / 25 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =2–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-cgy/1981/04/09/1980030172#game=1980030172,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =08:38 – Bob MacMillan (2)

|2-2-1 =Al Secord (2) – 06:53

|2-2-2 =16:15 – Bob MacMillan (3)
17:12 – pp – Willi Plett (1)

|2-3-1 =Peter Marsh (1) – 03:57

|2-3-2 =04:47 – Kent Nilsson (2)
05:22 – Guy Chouinard (1)
08:37 – Bill Clement (1)

|goalie2-1 =Tony Esposito 36 saves / 42 shots

|goalie2-2 =Rejean Lemelin 38 saves / 40 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =5–4

|ot3 =2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-chi/1981/04/11/1980030173#game=1980030173,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =02:55 – sh – Rick Paterson (1)
09:56 – Al Secord (3)

|3-1-2 =Willi Plett (2) – pp – 03:19
Ken Houston (1) – 17:34

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Bob MacMillan (4) – 10:32
Don Lever (1) – 11:20

|3-3-1 =17:12 – Al Secord (4)
19:17 – Darryl Sutter (3)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Willi Plett (3) – 15:17

|goalie3-1 =Tony Esposito 43 saves / 48 shots

|goalie3-2 =Rejean Lemelin 61 saves / 65 shots

|series = Calgary won series 3–0

}}

The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the league with 87 points, winning the tiebreaker with the Minnesota North Stars in wins (37 to 35). The North Stars earned 87 points during the regular season and finished ninth overall, losing the tiebreaker with the Bruins in wins (37 to 35). This was the first and to date only playoff meeting between these two teams. Boston won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.

The North Stars swept the Bruins in three games. Minnesota won game one in overtime due to Steve Payne's hat trick goal at 3:34. The North Stars' win in game one was the first-ever victory for the franchise in the Boston Garden (they went winless in their first 35 games in Boston over fourteen seasons).{{cite news|title=Young Gives North Stars First-Ever Win at Boston|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19810409&id=Hf8sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D80FAAAAIBAJ&pg=978,6916590|publisher=The Palm Beach Post|pages= 94|date=April 9, 1981|access-date=June 3, 2014}} In game two, Boston's Brad Park and Minnesota's Dino Ciccarelli both scored four points in a high-scoring 9-6 Minnesota victory. The North Stars scored four times in the first period of game three and they did not relinquish the lead, eliminating the Bruins with a 6–3 win.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Minnesota North Stars

|team2=Boston Bruins

|stadium2=Met Center

|stadium1=Boston Garden

|date1 =April 8

|score1 =5–4

|ot1 =1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-bos/1981/04/08/1980030181#game=1980030181,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Steve Payne (1) – pp – 05:32
Dino Ciccarelli (1) – 19:28

|1-1-2 =12:54 – Don Marcotte (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =02:29 – Dwight Foster (1)
07:20 – pp – Peter McNab (1)

|1-3-1 =Steve Payne (2) – 00:37
Jack Carlson (1) – 11:55

|1-3-2 =07:14 – Peter McNab (2)

|1-4-1 =Steve Payne (3) – 03:34

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Gilles Meloche 28 saves / 32 shots

|goalie1-2 =Rogie Vachon 35 saves / 40 shots

|date2 =April 9

|score2 =9–6

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-bos/1981/04/09/1980030182#game=1980030182,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Bobby Smith (1) – 01:15
Steve Payne (4) – pp – 07:00
Al MacAdam (1) – 09:32

|2-1-2 =00:56 – pp – Brad Park (1)
19:29 – Terry O'Reilly (1)

|2-2-1 =Brad Maxwell (1) – pp – 02:49
Steve Payne (5) – 10:15
Al MacAdam (2) – 19:38

|2-2-2 =00:41 – Peter McNab (3)

|2-3-1 =Dino Ciccarelli (2) – pp – 02:47
Kevin Maxwell (2) – 03:17
Tim Young (1) – 14:25

|2-3-2 =00:29 – Don Marcotte (2)
07:07 – Keith Crowder (1)
08:05 – Keith Crowder (2)

|goalie2-1 =Don Beaupre 34 saves / 40 shots

|goalie2-2 =Rogie Vachon 14 saves / 20 shots
Marco Baron 9 saves / 12 shots

|date3 =April 11

|score3 =3–6

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-mns/1981/04/11/1980030183#game=1980030183,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =03:36 – Brad Palmer (1)
04:57 – Al MacAdam (3)
12:00 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (3)
18:33 – Steve Payne (6)

|3-1-2 =Mike O'Connell (1) – sh – 19:47

|3-2-1 =18:05 – sh – Greg Smith (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =18:34 – en – Steve Payne (7)

|3-3-2 =Bobby Lalonde (1) – sh – 11:10
Bobby Lalonde (2) – sh – 15:42

|goalie3-1 =Gilles Meloche 36 saves / 39 shots

|goalie3-2 =Rogie Vachon 39 saves / 44 shots

|series = Minnesota won series 3–0

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The Islanders won the season series earning six of eight points in the year's four-game regular season series.

The Islanders eliminated the Oilers in six games; the Islanders also scored a power play goal in every game of this series. The Islanders' special teams dominated game one, as New York scored three times on the power play and added a shorthanded goal in an 8-2 Islanders win. Denis Potvin's hat trick and five point night in game two led the Islanders to a 6–3 victory. Wayne Gretzky scored his second hat trick of the playoffs in game three as the Oilers won the game by a score of 5–2. The Islanders won game four in overtime as Ken Morrow scored at 5:41 to give New York a 5–4 win. When Edmonton won game five 4–3, the Oilers' victory marked the only time in the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs that the Islanders lost a game on home ice. Bob Nystrom's third goal of the playoffs in game six became the eventual series-clinching goal for the Islanders as New York won the game 5–2.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Edmonton Oilers

|team2=New York Islanders

|stadium2=Northlands Coliseum

|stadium1=Nassau Coliseum

|date1 =April 16

|score1 =2–8

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-nyi/1981/04/16/1980030211#game=1980030211,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =03:14 – Bob Nystrom (1)
19:15 – pp – Butch Goring (1)

|1-2-1 =Wayne Gretzky (4) – pp – 08:06

|1-2-2 =02:46 – John Tonelli (1)
03:33 – Hector Marini (2)
04:30 – pp – Denis Potvin (1)
14:17 – pp – Clark Gillies (3)

|1-3-1 =Matti Hagman (2) – 12:27

|1-3-2 =07:15 – Clark Gillies (4)
10:50 – sh – Denis Potvin (2)

|goalie1-1 =Andy Moog 14 saves / 20 shots
Gary Edwards 4 saves / 6 shots

|goalie1-2 =Billy Smith 26 saves / 28 shots

|date2 =April 17

|score2 =3–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-nyi/1981/04/17/1980030212#game=1980030212,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Glenn Anderson (2) – pp – 06:11

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Risto Siltanen (2) – pp – 06:05
Glenn Anderson (3) – 12:23

|2-2-2 =02:26 – pp – Denis Potvin (3)
04:47 – pp – Butch Goring (2)
09:44 – pp – Denis Potvin (4)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =03:47 – pp – Denis Potvin (5)
07:59 – Mike Bossy (5)
17:41 – sh-en – Bryan Trottier (7)

|goalie2-1 =Andy Moog 23 saves / 28 shots

|goalie2-2 =Billy Smith 19 saves / 22 shots

|date3 =April 19

|score3 =2–5

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-edm/1981/04/19/1980030213#game=1980030213,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =02:16 – sh – Wayne Gretzky (5)
16:44 – pp – Wayne Gretzky (6)

|3-2-2 =Mike Bossy (6) – pp – 12:30

|3-3-1 =03:24 – Matti Hagman (3)
06:59 – Wayne Gretzky (7)
16:25 – Jari Kurri (4)

|3-3-2 =Clark Gillies (5) – 10:33

|goalie3-1 =Andy Moog 28 saves / 30 shots

|goalie3-2 =Billy Smith 22 saves / 26 shots
Roland Melanson 7 saves / 8 shots

|date4 =April 20

|score4 =5–4

|ot4 =1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-edm/1981/04/20/1980030214#game=1980030214,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =03:02 – pp – Paul Coffey (4)
05:19 – Jari Kurri (5)

|4-1-2 =Denis Potvin (6) – pp – 07:57
Bob Nystrom (2) – 16:11

|4-2-1 =10:46 – Mark Messier (1)

|4-2-2 =Bryan Trottier (8) – pp – 08:59
John Tonelli (2) – 13:52

|4-3-1 =07:00 – pp – Brett Callighen (3)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|4-4-1 =No scoring

|4-4-2 =Ken Morrow (1) – 05:41

|goalie4-1 =Andy Moog 33 saves / 38 shots

|goalie4-2 =Roland Melanson 29 saves / 33 shots

|date5 =April 22

|score5 =4–3

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-nyi/1981/04/22/1980030215#game=1980030215,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =Doug Hicks (1) – 06:00
Glenn Anderson (4) – pp – 18:51

|5-1-2 =12:56 – pp – Bryan Trottier (9)
16:31 – Mike Bossy (7)

|5-2-1 =Brett Callighen (4) – 18:44

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Matti Hagman (4) – 15:19

|5-3-2 =18:25 – pp – Mike Bossy (8)

|goalie5-1 =Andy Moog 29 saves / 32 shots

|goalie5-2 =Billy Smith 18 saves / 22 shots

|date6 =April 24

|score6 =5–2

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-edm/1981/04/24/1980030216#game=1980030216,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Hector Marini (3) – 04:54

|6-2-1 =00:39 – pp – Glenn Anderson (5)

|6-2-2 =Anders Kallur (1) – 13:12
Bob Nystrom (3) – 15:45

|6-3-1 =05:31 – Mark Messier (2)

|6-3-2 =Duane Sutter (1) – 09:16
Mike McEwen (3) – pp – 12:38

|goalie6-1 =Andy Moog 21 saves / 26 shots

|goalie6-2 =Billy Smith 21 saves / 23 shots

|series = New York won series 4–2

}}

This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams. St. Louis won the season series winning all four games of this year's regular season series.

The Rangers eliminated the Blues in six games. Bernie Federko's three point night in Game one led St. Louis to a 6–3 victory. The Rangers overcame a one-goal deficit in the third period of Game two by scoring three goals in a span of 2:46, winning the game by a score of 6–4 and evening the series at one game each.{{cite news|title=RANGERS RALLY TO BEAT BLUES, 6-4; HEDBERG SCORES ON PENALTY SHOT|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/18/sports/rangers-rally-to-beat-blues-6-4-hedberg-scores-on-penalty-shot.html|date=April 17, 1981|access-date=August 25, 2014|last1=Clarity|first1=James F.}} Anders Hedberg's go ahead goal in third period of Game two was just the second successful penalty shot in Stanley Cup playoff history.{{cite web|title=Penalty Shots In Stanley Cup History|url=http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2013/05/penalty-shots-in-stanley-cup-history.html|date=May 28, 2013|access-date=August 25, 2014}} The Rangers dominated the second period of Game three scoring four goals on fifteen shots taking a three-goal lead into the third period. New York hung on to win the game 6–3. Steve Baker allowed just one goal on 34 shots in Game four leading the Rangers to a 4–1 victory and a commanding 3–1 series lead. With the Blues trailing 3–2 in the second period of Game five Jorgen Pettersson scored his third goal of the playoffs tying the game at 3; he then scored a power play goal in the third period giving the Blues a 4–3 victory. The Blues trailed in game six 4–0 before scoring three goals in 1:50, however they were never able to get on equal terms losing the game 7–4 and series 4–2.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New York Rangers

|team2=St. Louis Blues

|stadium2=Madison Square Garden

|stadium1=Checkerdome

|date1 =April 16

|score1 =3–6

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-stl/1981/04/16/1980030221#game=1980030221,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Lance Nethery (2) – 07:25

|1-1-2 =11:15 – pp – Bernie Federko (5)
14:55 – Brian Sutter (3)
17:39 – Blair Chapman (2)

|1-2-1 =Lance Nethery (3) – 01:34

|1-2-2 =08:56 – Mike Crombeen (3)
16:42 – Bernie Federko (6)
19:42 – Mike Zuke (4)

|1-3-1 =Jere Gillis (1) – 05:39

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Steve Baker 22 saves / 28 shots

|goalie1-2 =Mike Liut 28 saves / 31 shots

|date2 =April 17

|score2 =6–4

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-stl/1981/04/17/1980030222#game=1980030222,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Barry Beck (2)– sh – 03:07

|2-1-2 =01:22 – Jorgen Pettersson (2)
02:16 – Larry Patey (1)
18:06 – pp – Brian Sutter (4)

|2-2-1 =Dean Talafous (2) – 16:24

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Jere Gillis (2) – 07:30
Anders Hedberg (4) – ps – 08:29
Mike Allison (2) – 10:16
Ron Duguay (6) – 19:13

|2-3-2 =15:04 – Brian Sutter (5)

|goalie2-1 =Steve Baker 25 saves / 29 shots

|goalie2-2 =Mike Liut 24 saves / 30 shots

|date3 =April 19

|score3 =3–6

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-nyr/1981/04/19/1980030223#game=1980030223,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =00:40 – Ron Greschner (2)

|3-1-2 =Wayne Babych (2) – pp – 02:47

|3-2-1 =05:13 – pp – Ulf Nilsson (6)
06:41 – Barry Beck (3)
13:49 – pp – Mike Allison (3)
17:56 – Steve Vickers (1)

|3-2-2 =Bill Stewart (1) – 15:35

|3-3-1 =02:23 – Lance Nethery (4)

|3-3-2 =Tony Currie (3) – 00:24

|goalie3-1 =Steve Baker 14 saves / 17 shots

|goalie3-2 =Mike Liut 25 saves / 31 shots

|date4 =April 20

|score4 =1–4

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-nyr/1981/04/20/1980030224#game=1980030224,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =06:14 – Anders Hedberg (4)
18:37 – Ron Duguay (7)

|4-1-2 =Tony Currie (4) – pp – 07:40

|4-2-1 =09:01 – pp – Steve Vickers (2)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =03:24 – Steve Vickers (3)

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Steve Baker 33 saves / 34 shots

|goalie4-2 =Mike Liut 24 saves / 28 shots

|date5 =April 22

|score5 =3–4

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-stl/1981/04/22/1980030225#game=1980030225,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =Ron Greschner (3) – 06:35
Ulf Nilsson (7) – pp – 10:06

|5-1-2 =14:17 – pp – Brian Sutter (6)

|5-2-1 =Carol Vadnais (1) – 02:54

|5-2-2 =08:25 – Larry Patey (2)
14:55 – Jorgen Pettersson (3)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =06:09 – pp – Jorgen Pettersson (4)

|goalie5-1 =Steve Baker 26 saves / 30 shots

|goalie5-2 =Mike Liut 34 saves / 37 shots

|date6 =April 24

|score6 =4–7

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-nyr/1981/04/24/1980030226#game=1980030226,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|6-1-1 =03:27 – Steve Vickers (4)
05:49 – Anders Hedberg (6)
16:10 – sh – Ron Duguay (8)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =01:59 – Barry Beck (4)
17:03 – Lance Nethery (5)

|6-2-2 =Bernie Federko (7) – 02:16
Rick Lapointe (2) – 03:14
Bernie Federko (8) – 04:06

|6-3-1 =04:31 – Peter Wallin (1)
14:54 – Ulf Nilsson (8)

|6-3-2 =Ed Kea (1) – 06:00

|goalie6-1 =Steve Baker 12 saves / 16 shots

|goalie6-2 =Mike Liut 13 saves / 20 shots

|series = New York won series 4–2

}}

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with Buffalo sweeping the only previous meeting in two games in the 1977 Stanley Cup preliminary round. Minnesota won the season series earning five of eight points in this year's four-game regular season series.

The North Stars defeated the Sabres in five games. Game one required overtime as the teams exchanged the lead throughout regulation time. Minnesota winger Steve Payne ended the game just 22 seconds into the first overtime period; to date this is still the quickest playoff overtime goal in North Stars/Stars franchise history and tied for the tenth fastest in league history.{{cite web|url= https://records.nhl.com/records/playoff-team-records/overtime/all-overtime-playoff|title= All-Time Overtime Games, Playoff History|access-date=July 28, 2020}} Steve Christoff and Dino Ciccarelli each scored twice for the North Stars in game two as Minnesota took a 2–0 series lead with a 5–2 victory. Buffalo goaltender Don Edwards made 43 saves in a losing effort in game three as the Sabres lost by a score of 6–4. Minnesota forced overtime in game four after trailing by three goals in the second period; the Sabres extended the series with an overtime win as Craig Ramsay scored at 16:32 of the first overtime period. Don Beaupre made 36 saves for Minnesota in game five as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Semifinals for the second consecutive season.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Minnesota North Stars

|team2=Buffalo Sabres

|stadium2=Met Center

|stadium1=Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

|date1 =April 16

|score1 =4–3

|ot1 =1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-buf/1981/04/16/1980030231#game=1980030231,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Brad Palmer (2) – sh – 09:40

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =05:13 – pp – Andre Savard (4)
11:28 – Lindy Ruff (3)

|1-3-1 =Al MacAdam (4) – 01:46
Steve Payne (8) – 11:58

|1-3-2 =14:46 – Craig Ramsay (1)

|1-4-1 =Steve Payne (9) – 00:22

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Gilles Meloche 29 saves / 32 shots

|goalie1-2 =Don Edwards 22 saves / 26 shots

|date2 =April 17

|score2 =5–2

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-buf/1981/04/17/1980030232#game=1980030232,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =09:17 – pp – Tony McKegney (3)

|2-2-1 =Steve Christoff (1) – pp – 14:47
Steve Christoff (2) – 18:17

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Dino Ciccarelli (4) – 04:01
Bobby Smith (2) – 09:59
Dino Ciccarelli (5) – en – 19:35

|2-3-2 =02:01 – Tony McKegney (4)

|goalie2-1 =Gilles Meloche 25 saves / 27 shots

|goalie2-2 =Don Edwards 21 saves / 25 shots

|date3 =April 19

|score3 =4–6

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-mns/1981/04/19/1980030233#game=1980030233,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =06:41 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (6)
12:17 – Brad Palmer (3)
13:14 – Al MacAdam (5)

|3-1-2 =Alan Haworth (3) – pp – 18:10

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Gilbert Perreault (1) – 11:13
Ric Seiling (2) – 19:40

|3-3-1 =08:46 – Kevin Maxwell (2)
09:09 – Neal Broten (1)
19:22 – en – Tim Young (2)

|3-3-2 =Derek Smith (1) – pp – 18:16

|goalie3-1 =Gilles Meloche 31 saves / 35 shots

|goalie3-2 =Don Edwards 43 saves / 48 shots

|date4 =April 20

|score4 =5–4

|ot4 =1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-mns/1981/04/20/1980030234#game=1980030234,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Jean-Francois Sauve (1) – 09:39

|4-2-1 =07:29 – Dino Ciccarelli (7)
10:16 – pp – Steve Christoff (3)
19:46 – pp – Steve Payne (10)

|4-2-2 =Gilbert Perreault (2) – 02:04
Alan Haworth (4) – pp – 06:35

|4-3-1 =18:54 – Bobby Smith (3)

|4-3-2 =John Van Boxmeer (1) – 04:58

|4-4-1 =No scoring

|4-4-2 =Craig Ramsay (2) – 16:32

|goalie4-1 =Gilles Meloche 33 saves / 38 shots

|goalie4-2 =Don Edwards 46 saves / 50 shots

|date5 =April 22

|score5 =4–3

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-buf/1981/04/22/1980030235#game=1980030235,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =Ken Solheim (1) – 15:36

|5-1-2 =05:06 – pp – Jean-Francois Sauve (2)

|5-2-1 =Kent-Erik Andersson (1) – 15:14
Brad Maxwell (2) – 18:01

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Al MacAdam (6) – 00:18

|5-3-2 =02:03 – Bob Hess (1)
18:18 – Tony McKegney (5)

|goalie5-1 =Don Beaupre 36 saves / 39 shots

|goalie5-2 =Don Edwards 29 saves / 33 shots

|series = Minnesota won series 4–1

}}

This was the second and most recent playoff meeting between these two teams, with Philadelphia sweeping the Atlanta Flames in their only previous meeting in four-game sweep in the 1974 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

The Flames defeated the Flyers in seven games. Philadelphia goaltender Rick St. Croix made 35 saves as the Flyers took game one 4–0. After exchanging goals in the first period of game two, the Flames scored three times in the second period and held on late to even the series with a 5–4 victory. Willi Plett gave Calgary the lead early in the third period of game three and Pat Riggin made 47 saves in the Flames 2–1 win. Calgary needed two goals in third period of game four from Randy Holt to secure their third straight one goal victory in the series. Philadelphia forced a sixth game in the series with a commanding 9–4 win in game five; Brian Propp recorded a natural hat trick in the first period for the Flyers. Forward Ken Linseman's second goal in game six for Philadelphia held up as the game-winner as the Flyers avoided elimination with a 3–2 triumph. The Flames struck three times on the power-play in game seven as they ended the series with a 4–1 victory. With the win Calgary became the first relocated team in league history to advance to the third round of the playoffs in their inaugural season in their new location (this feat was later surpassed by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996).

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Calgary Flames

|team2=Philadelphia Flyers

|stadium2=Stampede Corral

|stadium1=Spectrum

|date1 =April 16

|score1 =0–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-phi/1981/04/16/1980030241#game=1980030241,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =03:30 – pp – Paul Holmgren (3)
08:41 – Bill Barber (6)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =10:44 – Paul Holmgren (4)
19:26 – Terry Murray (2)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Rejean Lemelin 24 saves / 28 shots

|goalie1-2 =Rick St. Croix 35 saves / 35 shots

|date2 =April 17

|score2 =5–4

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-phi/1981/04/17/1980030242#game=1980030242,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Paul Reinhart (1) – pp – 12:34
Kent Nilsson (3) – 18:02

|2-1-2 =05:49 – pp – Bill Barber (7)
16:16 – pp – Rick MacLeish (2)

|2-2-1 =Ken Houston (2) – pp – 05:58
Willi Plett (4) – 10:45
Jamie Hislop (1) – pp – 17:08

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =13:37 – pp – Behn Wilson (2)
17:08 – Tom Gorence (3)

|goalie2-1 =Pat Riggin 42 saves / 46 shots

|goalie2-2 =Pete Peeters 17 saves / 22 shots

|date3 =April 19

|score3 =1–2

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-cgy/1981/04/19/1980030243#game=1980030243,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =05:25 – Don Lever (2)

|3-1-2 =Rick MacLeish (3) – pp – 09:54

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =02:26 – Willi Plett (5)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Pat Riggin 47 saves / 48 shots

|goalie3-2 =Rick St. Croix 23 saves / 25 shots

|date4 =April 20

|score4 =4–5

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-cgy/1981/04/20/1980030244#game=1980030244,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =04:38 – Jamie Hislop (2)

|4-1-2 =Paul Holmgren (5) – pp – 19:43

|4-2-1 =06:38 – Jim Peplinski (1)
07:10 – Don Lever (3)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =10:00 – Randy Holt (1)
14:44 – Randy Holt (2)

|4-3-2 =Rick MacLeish (4) – 07:21
Bobby Clarke (2) – 09:23
Bill Barber (8) – 15:55

|goalie4-1 =Pat Riggin 28 saves / 32 shots

|goalie4-2 =Rick St. Croix 23 saves / 28 shots

|date5 =April 22

|score5 =4–9

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-phi/1981/04/22/1980030245#game=1980030245,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =Phil Russell (2) – 14:56

|5-1-2 =01:08 – pp – Rick MacLeish (5)
04:39 – Brian Propp (4)
09:06 – Brian Propp (5)
12:48 – Brian Propp (6)
15:57 – Bill Barber (9)

|5-2-1 =Ken Houston (3) – pp – 08:31

|5-2-2 =10:16 – Glen Cochrane (1)
18:21 – pp – Tim Kerr (1)

|5-3-1 =Bobby Gould (1) – 01:41
Bob MacMillan (5) – pp – 16:31

|5-3-2 =03:38 – Ron Flockhart (1)
11:04 – pp – Bill Barber (10)

|goalie5-1 =Pat Riggin 26 saves / 35 shots

|goalie5-2 =Rick St. Croix 23 saves / 27 shots

|date6 =April 24

|score6 =3–2

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-cgy/1981/04/24/1980030246#game=1980030246,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =16:13 – Guy Chouinard (2)

|6-2-2 =Ken Linseman (3) – 03:35
Bobby Clarke (3) – 03:51
Ken Linseman (4) – 18:34

|6-3-1 =13:49 – pp – Ken Houston (4)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Rejean Lemelin 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie6-2 =Rick St. Croix 34 saves / 36 shots

|date7 =April 26

|score7 =4–1

|won7 =1

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-phi/1981/04/26/1980030247#game=1980030247,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|7-1-1 =Willi Plett (6) – pp – 03:03
Ken Houston (5) – pp – 08:33

|7-1-2 =No scoring

|7-2-1 =Kevin LaVallee (1) – pp – 13:00

|7-2-2 =13:49 – Bill Barber (11)

|7-3-1 =Bob MacMillan (6) – 06:09

|7-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie7-1 =Pat Riggin 31 saves / 32 shots

|goalie7-2 =Rick St. Croix 21 saves / 25 shots

|series = Calgary won series 4–3

}}

This was the third playoff meeting between these two rivals. Both teams have split their previous two meetings. They last met in the 1979 Stanley Cup Semifinals where the Rangers won in six games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New York Rangers

|team2=New York Islanders

|stadium2=Madison Square Garden

|stadium1=Nassau Coliseum

|date1 =April 28

|score1 =2–5

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-nyi/1981/04/28/1980030311#game=1980030311,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Anders Hedberg (7) – pp – 12:10

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Ed Hospodar (2) – 03:34

|1-2-2 =00:16 – Duane Sutter (2)
04:50 – pp – Mike McEwen (4)
06:47 – John Tonelli (3)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =05:45 – John Tonelli (4)
15:23 – Billy Carroll (2)

|goalie1-1 =Steve Baker 25 saves / 30 shots

|goalie1-2 =Billy Smith 18 saves / 20 shots

|date2 =April 30

|score2 =3–7

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-nyi/1981/04/30/1980030312#game=1980030312,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =Doug Sulliman (1) – 01:57
Dean Talafous (3) – 08:18
Anders Hedberg (8) – pp – 16:39

|2-1-2 =00:48 – Wayne Merrick (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =08:11 – sh – Butch Goring (3)
10:21 – pp – Mike Bossy (9)
12:44 – Butch Goring (4)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =12:59 – pp – Clark Gillies (6)
14:27 – sh – Anders Kallur (2)
17:47 – Mike Bossy (10)

|goalie2-1 =Steve Baker 22 saves / 29 shots

|goalie2-2 =Billy Smith 17 saves / 20 shots

|date3 =May 2

|score3 =5–1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-nyr/1981/05/02/1980030313#game=1980030313,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Mike Bossy (11) – pp – 14:36
Bob Bourne (3) – 18:33

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Ken Morrow (2) – 15:31
Bob Nystrom (4) – 19:55

|3-3-1 =05:13 – Peter Wallin (2)

|3-3-2 =Wayne Merrick (3) – 14:54

|goalie3-1 =Steve Baker 26 saves / 31 shots

|goalie3-2 =Billy Smith 24 saves / 25 shots

|date4 =May 5

|score4 =5–2

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-nyr/1981/05/05/1980030314#game=1980030314,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =John Tonelli (5) – 01:02
Mike Bossy (12) – pp 13:46
Mike Bossy (13) – pp 17:11

|4-2-1 =13:39 – pp – Ron Greschner (4)
17:22 – pp – Barry Beck (5)

|4-2-2 =Butch Goring (5) – sh – 01:29

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Duane Sutter (3) – 10:49

|goalie4-1 =Steve Baker 18 saves / 23 shots

|goalie4-2 =Billy Smith 27 saves / 29 shots

|series = New York Islanders won series 4–0

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Minnesota North Stars

|team2=Calgary Flames

|stadium2=Met Center

|stadium1=Stampede Corral

|date1 =April 28

|score1 =4–1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-cgy/1981/04/28/1980030321#game=1980030321,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =Craig Hartsburg (1) – pp – 15:00

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Tim Young (3) – 04:38
Gordie Roberts (1) – sh – 19:48

|1-2-2 =15:12 – Jim Peplinski (2)

|1-3-1 =Al MacAdam (7) – sh – 00:12

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Gilles Meloche 35 saves / 36 shots

|goalie1-2 =Pat Riggin 40 saves / 44 shots

|date2 =April 30

|score2 =2–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-cgy/1981/04/30/1980030322#game=1980030322,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =05:11 – Pekka Rautakallio (1)
08:35 – Guy Chouinard (3)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Curt Giles (1) – 04:24
Steve Christoff (4) – pp – 10:34

|2-3-2 =06:25 – Kevin LaVallee (2)

|goalie2-1 =Gilles Meloche 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie2-2 =Pat Riggin 31 saves / 33 shots

|date3 =May 3

|score3 =4–6

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-mns/1981/05/03/1980030323#game=1980030323,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =06:43 – Bobby Smith (4)
16:08 – Brad Maxwell (3)

|3-1-2 =Ken Houston (6) – 03:23

|3-2-1 =09:00 – pp – Steve Payne (11)
12:37 – pp – Brad Palmer (4)

|3-2-2 =Bob Murdoch (1) – 02:00
Bobby Gould (2) – 06:54
Bill Clement (2) – 17:40

|3-3-1 =04:24 – Steve Christoff (5)
19:37 – en – Bobby Smith (5)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Gilles Meloche 30 saves / 34 shots

|goalie3-2 =Pat Riggin 25 saves / 30 shots

|date4 =May 5

|score4 =4–7

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-mns/1981/05/05/1980030324#game=1980030324,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 =03:01 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (8)
13:18 – pp – Steve Christoff (6)
16:32 – Bobby Smith (6)

|4-1-2 =Pekka Rautakallio (2) – pp – 09:26

|4-2-1 =02:42 – Dino Ciccarelli (9)
03:56 – Dino Ciccarelli (10)
10:51 – Brad Palmer (5)

|4-2-2 =Jamie Hislop (3) – 01:31

|4-3-1 =08:44 – sh – Kevin Maxwell (3)

|4-3-2 =Bobby Gould (3) – 10:22
Mike Dwyer (1) – 10:37

|goalie4-1 =Don Beaupre 29 saves / 33 shots

|goalie4-2 =Rejean Lemelin 21 saves / 27 shots
Pat Riggin 16 saves / 17 shots

|date5 =May 7

|score5 =1–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-cgy/1981/05/07/1980030325#game=1980030325,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =18:54 – pp – Bob MacMillan (7)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =00:55 – Bob MacMillan (8)

|5-3-1 =Craig Hartsburg (2) – pp – 16:02

|5-3-2 =03:54 – pp – Willi Plett (7)

|goalie5-1 =Gilles Meloche 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie5-2 =Pat Riggin 33 saves / 34 shots

|date6 =May 9

|score6 =3–5

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/cgy-vs-mns/1981/05/09/1980030326#game=1980030326,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|6-1-1 =13:52 – pp – Al MacAdam (8)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =11:36 – Dino Ciccarelli (11)

|6-2-2 =Willi Plett (8) – pp – 02:57

|6-3-1 =05:59 – pp – Steve Payne (12)
14:09 – sh – Brad Palmer (6)
18:40 – Brad Palmer (7)

|6-3-2 =Ken Houston (7) – pp – 15:07
Don Lever (4) – 19:20

|goalie6-1 =Gilles Meloche 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie6-2 =Pat Riggin 30 saves / 35 shots

|series = Minnesota won series 4–2

}}

{{Main|1981 Stanley Cup Finals}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The Islanders made their second consecutive and second overall appearance in the Finals; they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers the previous year in six games. Minnesota made their first Finals appearance in their fourteenth season after entering the league in 1967. The Islanders won this year's four-game regular season series earning six of eight points.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Minnesota North Stars

|team2=New York Islanders

|stadium2=Met Center

|stadium1=Nassau Coliseum

|date1 =May 12

|score1 =3–6

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-nyi/1981/05/12/1980030411#game=1980030411,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =Anders Kallur (3) – 02:54
Bryan Trottier (10) – sh – 14:38
Anders Kallur (4) – sh – 15:25

|1-2-1 =13:04 – pp – Kent-Erik Andersson (2)

|1-2-2 =Billy Carroll (3) – 09:58

|1-3-1 =03:08 – Steve Payne (13)
15:14 – Dino Ciccarelli (12)

|1-3-2 =Wayne Merrick (4) – 00:58
Wayne Merrick (5) – 13:15

|goalie1-1 =Gilles Meloche 17 saves / 23 shots

|goalie1-2 =Billy Smith 23 saves / 26 shots

|date2 =May 14

|score2 =3–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-nyi/1981/05/14/1980030412#game=1980030412,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|2-1-1 =03:38 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (13)

|2-1-2 =Mike Bossy (14) – pp – 04:33
Bob Nystrom (5) – 14:39
Denis Potvin (7) – 17:48

|2-2-1 =09:15 – Brad Palmer (8)

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =00:30 – Steve Payne (14)

|2-3-2 =Denis Potvin (8) – pp – 08:00
Ken Morrow (3) – 11:57
Mike Bossy (15) – 16:22

|goalie2-1 =Don Beaupre 32 saves / 38 shots

|goalie2-2 =Billy Smith 25 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =May 17

|score3 =7–5

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-mns/1981/05/17/1980030413#game=1980030413,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|3-1-1 =Steve Christoff (7) – pp – 03:25
Steve Payne (15) – 14:09
Bobby Smith (7) – pp – 16:30

|3-1-2 =14:47 – Mike Bossy (16)

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =04:10 – Bob Nystrom (6)
07:16 – pp – Butch Goring (6)
11:51 – Butch Goring (7)

|3-3-1 =Steve Payne (16) – 01:11
Dino Ciccarelli (14) – 13:35

|3-3-2 =02:05 – Mike Bossy (17)
06:34 – Butch Goring (8)
19:16 – en – Bryan Trottier (11)

|goalie3-1 =Gilles Meloche 22 saves / 28 shots

|goalie3-2 =Billy Smith 23 saves / 28 shots

|date4 =May 19

|score4 =2–4

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyi-vs-mns/1981/05/19/1980030414#game=1980030414,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|4-1-1 = Craig Hartsburg (3) – pp – 11:34

|4-1-2 =03:47 – Gord Lane (1)

|4-2-1 =Al MacAdam (9) – 05:15

|4-2-2 =07:37 – pp – Mike McEwen (5)

|4-3-1 =Steve Payne (17) – 12:26
Bobby Smith (8) – pp – 18:12

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Don Beaupre 33 saves / 35 shots

|goalie4-2 =Billy Smith 30 saves / 34 shots

|date5 =May 21

|score5 =1–5

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mns-vs-nyi/1981/05/21/1980030415#game=1980030415,game_state=final,game_tab=boxscore

|5-1-1 =16:06 – Steve Christoff (8)

|5-1-2 =Butch Goring (9) – pp – 05:12
Wayne Merrick (6) – 05:37
Butch Goring (10) – 10:03

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =Bob Bourne (4) – 19:21

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =Mike McEwen (6) – 17:06

|goalie5-1 = Don Beaupre 28 saves / 33 shots

|goalie5-2 = Billy Smith 24 saves / 25 shots

|series = New York won series 4–1

}}

• 1980–81 NHL season
• List of NHL seasons
• List of Stanley Cup champions

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=Total Stanley Cup |editor-last=Diamond |editor-first=Dan |year=2000 |publisher=Total Sports Canada |isbn=1-892129-07-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/totalstanleycupo0000unse }}

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{{succession box |

before = 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs |

after = 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs |

title = Stanley Cup playoffs |

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{{Stanley Cup playoffs}}

{{1980–81 NHL season by team}}

playoffs

Category:Stanley Cup playoffs