Stanley Cup playoffs: Five storylines that will define the first round 

2. Where have all the goalies gone? 

Goaltending issues are rampant. 

Vegas' opening-night starter, Adin Hill, finished an injury-riddled campaign 93rd among 98 goalies in MoneyPuck's Goals Saved Above Expected metric. Ottawa's Linus Ullmark, who played better after returning from a midseason sabbatical, finished 91st in that metric. At least three teams will start goalies in this postseason who finished negative in that metric. That number could rise. 

There are questions about who the starter is for Los Angeles, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. Montreal, Carolina, Edmonton and Colorado are likely to start untested playoff netminders. In Buffalo, the goaltending has been good, but it's also been closer to a committee approach, lacking a clear-cut favorite.

Only Boston, Tampa, Philadelphia, Dallas and Utah have total clarity in net. Of those five, Philadelphia's Dan Vladar and Utah's Karel Vejmelka are untested in the postseason. Dallas arguably has better goaltending from backup Casey DeSmith than starter Jake Oettinger. 

3. Do the long shots stand a chance?

There are six teams that are +3000 or worse in FanDuel's odds to win the Stanley Cup. This includes Pittsburgh (+3000), Utah (+3000), Philadelphia (+3500), Boston (+4000), Anaheim (+4500) and Los Angeles (+6000). 

The Penguins have the most favorable path because they play Philadelphia in the first round. Plus, there's a chance they'd miss Carolina (+600) altogether in the second round because the Canes have an uncharacteristically difficult first-round matchup against Ottawa (+1400). 

Another point for the long shots: Utah, Philadelphia and Boston will have goaltending advantages against most opponents.

4. The upstarts who aren't upstarts

The Penguins are part of a group of teams that don't fit neatly into the upstart category. Pittsburgh walks in with at least three future Hall of Famers (centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang), a potent offense and one of the easiest first-round matchups. 

Meanwhile, the beginning of a sea change in the NHL has resulted in the arrival of three long-time rebuilders to the postseason: Buffalo, Montreal and Ottawa. The latter two made the playoffs last season, but were dispatched quickly in the first round by superior opponents. All might qualify as upstarts in some years, but these teams present more as favorites this spring.

5. The playoff format's victims

The NHL's bizarre playoff format resulted in some unsurprisingly bizarre matchups. 

Carolina, top seed in the Eastern Conference, is rewarded with the fifth-best team in the conference (Ottawa) by record, rather than the eighth (Philadelphia). The third- (Tampa) and fourth-best teams (Montreal) in the Eastern Conference by record will meet in the opening round. Out west, the second-best team in the conference by record (Dallas) will face the third-best team in the conference by record (Minnesota) in the opening round. 

No. 4 Ottawa vs. No. 1 Carolina opens the playoffs Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.