There will be no mysteries when Tampa Bay and Florida meet in the first round of the playoffs after facing off eight times this season and twice in the past week. Same deal for Montreal and Toronto, who have played 10 times since mid-January.
"I don't want to say it takes kind of some of the fun out it, but it does because you know a lot more what to expect," Lightning Coach Jon Cooper said.
A strange NHL regular season has given way to a one-of-a-kind playoff tournament for the Stanley Cup. It will feature an opening two rounds of all divisional play for the first time in almost 30 years, and re-seed the final four to crown a champion for the first time in league history.
"It's just another thing about our year that's incredibly unique," Vegas General Manager Kelly McCrimmon said. "You could see matchups that you would generally only see in a Stanley Cup Final situation, so that's going to add another layer of uniqueness to an already unique season."
It's so unique that by the time Calgary and Vancouver finish their regular seasons, some first-round playoff series will be two games old. A total of 57 games were postponed this season -- 51 for virus-related reasons -- so the playoffs open a few days later than planned when Washington hosts Boston tonight.
After expanding to 24 teams to complete the 2020 season, the playoff field is back to the traditional 16 with four from each temporarily realigned division. The first two rounds are a return to the divisional playoff format the NHL used from 1982-93, and things should be even spicier after a season of all divisional play.
"There's really no secrets," said Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour, one of six head coaches in the playoffs who played in that old format. "It's going to be too much going on, both teams trying to do the same things and we're each in each other's way, so something's going to give."
Cooper thinks Game 1 of each series will better resemble a Game 2 or 3 since teams won't need any time to get familiar with each other. They've had at least eight chances to get acquainted over the past four months.
"Bad blood's already there, typically if you've played a team eight times and both teams are in the playoffs," Bruins Coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Instead of sort of a buildup over time where gradually you get to Game 4 and all of a sudden now the nastiness starts, you'll just see it sooner."
Nashville GM David Poile believes that familiarity will also breed better series. There's no love lost in any of the eight first-round matchups.
"There's been a lot to, I guess, not like about this year, but one of the things is playing these same teams and building up these rivalries," Poile said. "I think it's going to make for good hockey."
There will likely be different styles of hockey across the divisions: Nashville-Carolina and Tampa Bay-Florida in the Central; Boston-Washington and the New York Islanders-Pittsburgh in the East; St. Louis-Colorado and Minnesota-Vegas in the West; and Montreal-Toronto and Winnipeg-Edmonton in the North. For one, there are still no fans allowed in arenas in Canada, while every arena in the U.S. will have a crowd of at least 4,000 to start the playoffs.
"By this time, I think we're pretty used to it with no fans," Winnipeg forward Nate Thompson said. "In the bubble [last summer], every team had to create their own momentum, their own excitement."
There's no bubble this time, and the NHL is even relaxing pandemic protocols for each team that has 85% of its traveling party fully vaccinated. Even after he and the Lightning won the Cup in quarantine as bubble hockey champions, Tampa Bay center Yanni Gourde said "it's a completely different vibe" this year and is excited to get back to sharing the playoffs with family.
At a glance
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND
SATURDAY’S GAMES
All times Central
Boston at Washington, 6:15 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh, 11 a.m.
Minnesota at Vegas, 2 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Florida, 6:30 p.m.
