Carolina had an excellent regular season and became the best club in their division, capturing the team that finished fourth in the table as their opponents. “Hurricanes”, of course, are considered the favorite in the series, but still anything can happen in the playoffs, so there is no point in thinking ahead. However, in the opening match Reed Brindamore’s wards proved their superiority over the Predators and gained a fairly confident victory with a score of 5:2. If the first and second periods were held in equal struggle, then already in the third twenty minutes the team took advantage of their moments and issued two goals, literally prejudging the outcome of the confrontation.
Washington ended the season on the rise, with just one defeat to Philadelphia in five games (2:4). The team showed excellent results throughout the year and repeatedly occupied the first line in the table, but still finished the season in second position with 77 points, like the leader. The playoffs started quite well for Capitals. The team played at the home arena, where they defeated Boston (3:2 overtime). Due to injury, they had to change the main goalkeeper, but this did not affect the game. True, in the return leg the Capitals lost 3:4 in overtime.
