As playoff races were raging down the stretch, Commissioner Gary Bettman pointed out that the NHL in years past has had first-round matchups decided on the final day of the season. Needing until the final day is true once again,

Connor McDavid called the Pacific Division path to the playoffs “a bit of a pillow fight right now.” The same race down the stretch in the NHL's Eastern Conference is anything but. No team has clinched a berth,

The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan division with a 53-22-7 record for 113 points. That matched them with the Senators, who earned the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference at 44-27-11 for 99 points. The winner of this series will face either the Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers in the second round.