Time-Zone-Grouping Format Example 3

One final example, in which #18 Boston makes the playoffs ahead of #16 Winnipeg and #17 St. Louis, due to the limit of 6 teams that can earn a playoff spot between the Mountain and Central time zones:
Since there is a single crossover between the Mountain and Central groups, #1 Nashville draws #15 Calgary. If #14 Chicago finished one spot lower, they would be Nashville’s opponent instead, and Calgary would be Minnesota’s:
The Eastern time zone group is even, so its teams can only draw each other as opponents:
The Pacific group is also even, not involved in any crossovers, and only contains two teams. This is a somewhat common scenario that can lead to unfair matchups in this format, since the two teams can be in any position in the standings, fair or not, but it is tolerated for the sake of limiting time zone travel:
#5 Columbus, eligible to play only Eastern teams, draws #13 Montreal:
#6 Detroit, eligible to play only Eastern teams, draws #12 Toronto:
#7 Minnesota, eligible to play only Central teams since the one Mountain crossover has been fulfilled, draws #14 Chicago:
#8 Edmonton, eligible to play only Mountain teams since the one Mountain crossover has been fulfilled,
draws #11 Colorado:
The final two teams, #9 Philadelphia and #10 Buffalo, draw each other:
Assume the greyed out teams have lost their first round series, so we now have the 8 teams moving on to the second:

In the second round, there are two crossovers involving the Mountain teams, of which there are only two, so #8 Edmonton and #15 Calgary cannot play against one another. The Eastern group is still even, thus #2 NY Rangers draw #13 Montreal:
#3 Vegas draws #15 Calgary, as they are in position to draw the lower of the two Mountain teams. If Chicago had been
ahead of Vegas, or Calgary ahead of Edmonton, the matchups would shift to Vegas-Edmonton and Chicago-Calgary:
#6 Detroit draws #10 Buffalo, as they are only eligible to play Eastern opponents:
The last two remaining teams, #8 Edmonton and #14 Chicago, fulfill the Mountain-Central crossover:
The faded out teams have lost in the second round, so now the four remaining teams match up against each other:
With two remaining teams in the Mountain and Eastern time zones, there are no crossovers in the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals, each pair of teams draw each other:
The winners of these two series meet in the Stanley Cup Finals:
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