The 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs have officially arrived. The Carolina Hurricanes are the oddsmakers’ favorites to lift the trophy this year, but their recent postseason struggles combined with the parity at the top of the league–seven teams finished with between 109 and 114 points–makes this a potentially wide-open race.
In the United States, every NHL playoff game will be televised nationally on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT or TBS. But if you don’t have cable or you’re looking to cut the cord, we’ve found several ways you can watch a live stream of the NHL playoffs online.
The Best Way to Watch the NHL Playoffs Live Stream
If you want to watch a live stream of every NHL playoff game from now through the Stanley Cup Finals, and you want to do it for as cheap as possible, then Sling TV is going to be your No. 1 option.
The “Sling Orange” channel bundle includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 (which simulcasts ABC games), TNT and TBS–every single channel you need for the playoffs–and costs just $40 per month. You could even add on the $11-per-month “Sports Extra” for NBA TV, and you’d have everything you need to watch both the NHL and NBA playoffs, and it’d still be cheaper than any other live-TV streaming service.
Some other options have free trials, and some have more channels, but it’s clear that Sling is the top choice for our intended purpose in this case.
Is There a Free NHL Playoffs Live Stream?
Maybe you’re not totally locked in to every game of the playoffs, and you’re just here at some point to tune in for a single game or a week’s worth of games, then we would suggest trying out YouTube TV or DirecTV Stream, which both include all the channels you need to watch every NHL playoff game.
Both of these are more expensive long-term options than Sling (YouTube TV’s “Base Plan” is $58 per month for your first three months, while DirecTV Stream’s “Entertainment” plan is $80 per month), but they both come with a free five-day trial. As such, you could sign up, watch a couple of games and then cancel without ever having to pay anything.
You could also try out Fubo‘s “Pro” channel package, which has ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. It’s a tier below those options since it doesn’t include TBS or TNT, but it comes with a seven-day trial, so it’s a fine option if there’s a certain game on the ESPN channels you’re trying to watch for free.
Watch the NHL Playoffs Live Stream on Max
The B/R Sports add-on through Max (formerly HBO Max) includes every NBA, NHL and MLS game that is televised on TBS, TNT or truTV.
What’s great here is that while Max costs $10 per month, the B/R Sports add-on–which will eventually cost an extra $10 per month–is currently included in the regular Max subscription for free.
Of course, this won’t get you every NHL playoff game, but it’s a really cheap way to watch a good amount of games. It’s also nice timing with the coinciding NBA playoffs, which will have a lot of TNT games.
How to Watch NHL Playoffs Live Stream from Abroad
All of these streaming services are US-only, but a virtual private network (VPN) can help get you around that problem if you’re currently abroad. With a VPN, you’re able to hide your location and connect to a digital server in another country, which lets you bypass location-restrictions and stream content from other countries.
Our recommendation is NordVPN, which is No. 1 on our lists of both the best VPN services or the best VPN deals. It doesn’t limit bandwidth speeds, it’s really easy to use and it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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