These yield the following playoff matchups:
#1 SJ vs #8 COL
#2 DAL vs #7 EDM
#3 DET vs #6 NAS
#4 STL vs #5 LA
#1 OTT vs #8 BUF
#2 TB vs #7 TOR
#3 NYR vs #6 NJ
#4 PIT vs #5 MTL
In the West, CHI was #8 last year and finished #11 this year, while MIN dropped from #6 to #12. They are replaced by EDM who jumped from #14 to #7, and STL who went from #10 to #4. LA remains a consistent #5 for the second year in a row, and remarkably, they have the exact same record at 43-30-1-8 as last year, which merits recognition.
In the East, NYI dropped from #7 to #10 and was replaced by BUF leaping from #11 to #8. Montreal is the Los Angeles of the East, staying put at #5. However, they also finished with 3 more points than last season despite Ovechkin's untimely demise. Seeds #1-3 are also identical, although that's perhaps not unexpected.
More news on scheduling will follow. Last year it seems like EHM put a long in-game delay before generating the playoff schedule. I'll see if that's still the case this year.
