2021 Stanley Cup playoffs - Wikipedia
Due to cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the league temporarily realigned this season into four divisions with no conferences. Consequently, the first two rounds of the playoffs will feature intradivisional matchups, with the higher seeded teams receiving home-ice advantage in those rounds. In the Stanley Cup Semifinals, the four remaining teams (one from each division) will be reseeded based on their regular season records; the remaining team with the best regular season record will face the lowest ranked remaining team, and the two other remaining teams will face each other in the other series, with the second-best ranked team earning home-ice advantage.
The Canadian teams that qualified for the playoffs will play in their home arenas in the opening round. It is not yet known whether the team advancing to the Stanley Cup Semifinals from the North Division will be allowed to play games in their home arena in the final two rounds. The league has applied for a national-interest exemption with the Public Health Agency of Canada. Should this be granted, the North Division winner will be allowed to play games in their arena after the Second Round. If the application is denied, the last remaining North Division team will play home games in a neutral NHL city somewhere in the U.S.
