Three Conference Playoff Format Example 4
This fourth example of the format showcases another rare scenario that is important to make note of:
Here, the crossover between Central and Eastern is unusual, since #7 Florida should draw #11 Columbus, but doing so would leave #9 Minnesota as the only Central team left to meet #8 Pittsburgh, which can’t happen because of the Eastern time zone/Eastern crossover rule. Thus, Florida draws Minnesota instead, and Pittsburgh draws Columbus:
With a victory for Central conference teams in both crossover matchups, we now have the unusual scenario of 4 Central teams surviving to the 2nd round. Had Columbus lost, it would have bracketed the Eastern Conference and set up one of its 4 remaining teams automatically earning a Stanley Cup Finals appearance:
Since the crossover scenario calls for a Central/Eastern matchup, and Columbus is the only Central team from the Eastern time zone remaining, Columbus must cross over with an Eastern Conference team:
This scenario shows one of the only possible ways for an entire Conference to be eliminated after the second round. Only the Western Conference can have this happen, when it only has 3 teams make the playoffs, or the Central, if it has only 4 make the playoffs, and has 2 of its teams lose in crossover matchups in the first 2 rounds:
If Columbus had defeated Boston in the 2nd round, it would have led to a 50% chance of an all-Central Conference Stanley Cup Final. Instead, the scenario was an assured Central-Eastern Final:
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