The first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs was a wonderful appetizer to the remaining courses, the first of which begins on Saturday with the Boston Bruins hosting the New York Islanders at 8 p.m. ET.
As a reminder, this season's first and second rounds are intradivisional. Once the postseason division champs are crowned, the "final four" will be rebracketed based on their regular-season records, with No. 1 taking on No. 4 and No. 2 facing No. 3. The winners of those series will square off in the Stanley Cup Final.
How will the matchups play out? Let's take an in-depth look at each second-round matchup and make our picks for which teams will advance.
Note: Emily Kaplan previewed the East and Central, while Greg Wyshynski handled the West (and will also preview the North, once that series is set). Advanced stats are from Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey.
More: Check out the full NHL postseason schedule here.
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