Upstart Sabres, Flyers upend Eastern Conference playoff mix that also includes Lightning, Hurricanes

“It’s a crazy feeling,” Dahlin said. “I’ve been grinding here for a long time, and I finally get playoffs. It’s special. It’s something I’ve tried to do here for a long time. And now it’s finally real.”

Ending the NHL’s longest postseason drought, the Sabres’ return to the playoffs — and as first-time Atlantic Division champions — reflects a changing of the guard in the Eastern Conference.

Though familiar fixtures remain in Tampa Bay and Carolina, this year’s eight-team mix doesn’t include two-time defending Cup champion Florida or perennial contender Toronto. All three New York City-area teams were shut out of postseason play for the first time.

In their place are upstarts such as the Philadelphia Flyers, who last qualified in 2020. Montreal and Ottawa are making a second straight appearance following lengthy postseason lapses.

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins return after a three-year absence. The Boston Bruins are back after a one-year hiatus, making a 24-point jump under first-year coach Marco Sturm.

“I never thought, to be honest with you, about getting 100 points because I know how hard it is to get that amount in this league,” said Sturm whose team opens against Buffalo. “It’s a hard league, and that just says it all.”

The teams to beat

— The Tampa Bay Lightning remain the East’s model of consistency, qualifying for a ninth consecutive season out of the rugged Atlantic Division.

“Does it battle test you?" asked Jon Cooper, a two-time Cup winner. "Yes. But also, there’s no easy road. I don’t think anybody’s hiding anything from anybody.”

The Lightning open against Montreal in a meeting of two teams that finished with 106 points, and rematch of Tampa Bay beating the Canadiens in five games in the 2020 Cup final. The challenge for Tampa Bay is advancing past the first round for the first time since losing the final to Colorado in 2022.

— Carolina ran away with the Metropolitan Division title and top spot in the East, going 53-22-7 to clinch its eight consecutive playoff berth.

Competitive as they’ve been, the Hurricanes have yet to reach the Cup final since winning in 2006. They open against Ottawa, which was 10 points out of contention on Jan. 30 before going on a 24-8-6 run to clinch a spot.

“Everyone’s in the playoffs, and everyone’s in a sense the same seed,” Carolina forward Seth Jarvis said. “It’s cool to be No. 1, but I don’t think it’s changed anything within our group. Just have a little more confidence, maybe.”

— The Sabres are confident after making a remarkable turnaround from last in the East in early December to first place by going 39-9-4.

“The only way you get experience is to do what we did in the regular season and get there,” coach Lindy Ruff said, dismissing concern over the Sabres lacking playoff experience. “They handled all the pressure situations. When we needed to win games, the group came up.”

The underdogs

— The Flyers overcame youth and inconsistencies to become the last East team to clinch a berth. They did so courtesy of a 14-4-1 run, becoming the NHL’s first team to make it after being 10 points out of contention with 22 or fewer games remaining.

“We really try to block it out, I’m not going to lie. There’s a lot of negativity, sarcasm. We kind of grew together,” first-year coach Rick Tocchet said. “We believed. It’s hard, because you have to have that thick skin.”

— The Senators aren’t backing down in the face of playing Carolina, seeking to build off losing to Toronto in six games in the first round last year.

— The Bruins have been transformed since their 2019 run to the final. General manager Don Sweeney believes in how the team came together to bounce back from last season's swoon.

“To get to 100 points is a pretty good testament to what this team put together over the course of the year, but it wasn’t easy,” Sweeney said. “It was nerve-racking, but our guys embraced it and they got it done.”

Storylines to watch

— In his fourth season as Canadiens coach, Martin St. Louis faces a familiar foe in Tampa Bay. St. Louis spent 13 seasons with the Lightning and was a member of the franchise’s 2004 Cup-winning team. He becomes the second player to have his number retired and face his former team in the playoffs as a coach. Chicago coach Brian Sutter was the only other to do so when the Blackhawks faced the St. Louis Blues in 2002.

— Crosby joins Evgeni Malkin in making their 16th playoff appearance together. They've won the Stanley Cup three times, most recently in 2016 and '17. The Penguins haven’t won a series since eliminating the Flyers in six games in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.

“I think after some seasons not being able to do it, I think we appreciate it even more,” the 38-year-old Crosby said.

Predictions

First round: Carolina beats Ottawa in five games; Pittsburgh beats Philadelphia in six; Montreal beats Tampa Bay in seven; Buffalo beats Boston in seven.

Second round: Carolina beats Pittsburgh in six; Buffalo beats Montreal in six.

Conference final: Carolina beats Buffalo in seven.

AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard, in Raleigh, North Carolina; Dan Gelston, in Philadelphia; Will Graves in Pittsburgh; Rob Maaddi, in Tampa, Florida and Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl