In this unique NHL season the schedule is filled with multiple series, pitting two teams against each other in the same building multiple times. It’s something that rarely happens in the NHL in a typical year, where the schedule usually consists of teams traveling from city to city to play one game at a time, and hosting a sequence of clubs on their homestands.
The format is more akin to a playoff round, where (good) coaches are constantly adjusting to the events on the ice, exploiting weaknesses on opposing teams and shoring up their own with replacement players or tweaked strategies.