A look at key storylines in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs
CBC
The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup inside the NHL's 2020 post-season bubble, then repeated last July following a pandemic shortened campaign accented by one-and-done divisions based on geography.
Despite some COVID-19 challenges, the league managed to pull off an 82-game schedule in 2021-22 and is now set to return to its usual playoff format.
The Canadian Press takes a look at some of the storylines with the league's second season primed to start Monday night:
The Florida Panthers secured their first Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best regular-season record after putting up 122 points.
The award, however, hasn't meant much in recent years once the playoffs roll around.
Of the 35 winners since the trophy was first handed out in 1985-86, just eight have gone on to raise a Cup banner.
In 2013, Chicago was the last to hoist hockey's silver mug, while the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings are the only other club to finish atop the heap in the salary cap era.
But it will be first things first for the Panthers against the Washington Capitals in the opening round as they look for the franchise's first series victory since making the final in the team's third season of existence in 1995-96.
Toronto's playoff failures are well-documented.
The team from hockey's biggest market hasn't won a playoff round since 2004 -- prior to the league instituting the cap, two years before Twitter was launched and a pair of lockouts ago.
Recent heartache has included seven-game losses to the Boston Bruins in 2018 and 2019, a crushing bubble setback in the 2020 qualifying round at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and last spring's stunning collapse after leading the underdog Montreal Canadiens 3-1.
The Leafs' firepower up front led by two-time Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner gets most of the attention. But a rebuilt blue-line and how a re-energized Jack Campbell navigates the crease will likely determine success or failure.
The pressure-packed road won't be easy, starting in the first round against a Lightning roster eager to show it still has gas left in the tank after finishing third in the Atlantic Division behind Florida and Toronto.
Tampa is looking to become the first club to win three straight Cups since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980 to 1983.
