Commissioner Gary Bettman announced yesterday that when hockey comes back, the NHL will jump right into an expanded 24-team tournament to decide the winner of the Stanley Cup. That means the season is over for seven teams.
The top four teams in each conference will play a tournament to determine seeds for the second round. As the fifth seed, therefore, the Penguins will play a first-round best-of-five against the Montreal Canadiens. The Pens announced they will offer refund options for tickets for the six remaining regular season home games that were canceled.
The playoffs will use only two hub cities, one in the east and one in the west. Pittsburgh is among the ten cities the NHL is considering. The others are Columbus, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Vancouver
The players’ union still has to approve the plan and health and safety protocols also need to be developed.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens
Season series: Penguins won two of three.
No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 11 New York Rangers
Season series: Rangers won all four.
No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers
Season series: Islanders won all three.
No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Season series: Split two games.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
No. 5 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks
Season series: Blackhawks won two of three.
No. 6 Nashville Predators vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes
Season series: Split two games.
No. 7 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 10 Minnesota Wild
Season series: Wild won two of three.
No. 8 Calgary Flames vs. No. 9 Winnipeg Jets
Season series: Jets won only meeting in overtime.
The teams that did not make the playoffs automatically enter the draft lottery. In order of the best lottery odds, they are Detroit, Ottawa, Ottawa again because of a trade with San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, New Jersey, and Buffalo.
The Penguins say first-year defenseman Jon Lizotte has re-signed with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. An undrafted free agent from St. Cloud State, Lizotte ascended to the top defensive pairing in his first year and had no goals and seventeen assists.
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