Carolina Hurricanes (1-0-0) @ Nashville Predators (0-1-0)
The 2020–2021 NHL season, with its exclusively intradivisional schedule as a result of the pandemic, in many ways resembled an ACC football schedule. You know, the one where N.C. State plays rivals from time immemorial like Syracuse and Boston College every blessed year but only gets graced with a game against Duke, 30 minutes up the road, a couple times a decade.
Going back to a normal schedule meant that the Carolina Hurricanes’ regular dose of teams they don’t see all too often would revert back to its normal occasional occurrence, and you might be able to go more than two weeks without seeing the same opponent.