NHL bracket locked in

The National Hockey League playoff field is set, and all eight first-round series begin between Saturday, April 18, and Monday, April 20. (nhl.com) The Eastern Conference opens with Buffalo Sabres-Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning-Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes-Ottawa Senators, and Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers. The Western Conference matchups are Colorado Avalanche-Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars-Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights-Utah Mammoth, and Edmonton Oilers-Anaheim Ducks. (nhl.com) Carolina hosts Ottawa at 3 p.m. Eastern on Saturday in the first game of the postseason, followed by Minnesota at Dallas at 5:30 p.m. and Philadelphia at Pittsburgh at 8 p.m. Sunday brings four more openers, and Edmonton-Anaheim starts Monday at 10 p.m. Eastern. (nhl.com) Colorado enters with the Presidents’ Trophy after posting the league’s best regular-season record, which gives the Avalanche home ice in the West. Carolina finished with the best record in the East and opens at home as the Metropolitan Division champion. (nhl.com) Buffalo’s return is one of the bracket’s biggest changes from last spring. The Sabres won the Atlantic Division and ended a 14-season playoff drought, while six teams in this year’s field missed the 2025 postseason. (sportingnews.com) The defending champion Florida Panthers are not in the bracket, so the Stanley Cup will go to a new winner for the first time since 2023. ESPN also notes the field mixes recent contenders with returning teams such as Buffalo, Boston and Montreal. (espn.com) Several series carry built-in history before a puck drops. Penguins-Flyers is the first playoff meeting between the Pennsylvania rivals since 2018, and Lightning-Canadiens matches two Atlantic teams that both finished with 106 points. (sportingnews.com) (espn.com) The format is unchanged: 16 teams, four rounds, and every series is best-of-seven. Division winners and wild cards shape the bracket in the first two rounds, and home ice in the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final goes to the team with the better regular-season record. (nhl.com) Now the regular season math is over. The bracket is fixed, the television windows are posted, and the chase for 16 wins starts Saturday afternoon in Raleigh. (nhl.com)