The Buffalo Sabres entered the playoffs as the Adams Division champions, the Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions, and the second seed overall earning 113 points during the regular season, losing the tie-breaker to Philadelphia while winning the same tie-breaker over Montreal. The Chicago Black Hawks were seeded seventh in the Quarterfinals as the second lowest remaining seed in the playoffs and qualified for the Quarterfinals by defeating the Boston Bruins in the Preliminary round. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Buffalo won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.