Western Conference playoff matchups officially set

First, the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference postseason matchups were set in stone. And thanks to the victory tonight by the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, we now know the Western Conference postseason matchups. 

Colorado's victory officially crowned them as the winners of the Central Division, and they'll be taking on the second year Seattle Kraken in what will be their first ever playoff appearance. Colorado will be facing a few familiar faces, as former Avalanche players Philipp Grubauer and Andre Burakovsky, the latter of whom was part of last year's Cup winning team, now play for Seattle. 

For the second consecrative season, it will be the Edmonton Oilers facing the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. The Oilers became the first NHL team since 1996 to feature three different players who eclipsed the 100-point mark in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, while this will be the first postseason for Los Angeles without goaltender Jonathan Quick between the pipes since 2002. 

Speaking of Quick, he and his new Vegas Golden Knights teammates are taking on the Winnipeg Jets, who grabbed the last remaining playoff spot in the Western Conference. This will be their first playoff matchup since the 2018 Western Conference Finals that saw Vegas advance in their inaugural season to within three wins of the Stanley Cup. It also marks the postseason debut of former 2015 No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel. 

And for the first time since 2016, it will be the Dallas Stars taking on the Minnesota Wild. The Stars took down the Wild in their opening round postseason series that year, the first time that the two had faced one another beyond the regular season. It was especially ironic, given that the original Minnesota North Stars left the State of Hockey to become the Dallas Stars in 1993, while Minnesota regained an NHL expansion franchise in the Wild in 2000.