Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators 2026 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview

The NHL’s playoff format, quite deliberately, is set up for series repeats. In some instances, that’s a good thing; imagine a world in which Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin didn’t spend their primes battling it out each spring. In other instances — and this where we glance in the direction of Los Angeles and Edmonton — it is, perhaps, less of a good thing.Advertisement