The Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights are already assured of a top-four Western Conference seed heading into their opening round-robin game on Monday afternoon at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
But don't expect either team to approach the contest as a tune-up for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Both Vegas coach Peter DeBoer and Dallas coach Rick Bowness made it clear that they regard their three round-robin games, which also include meetings with defending Stanley Cup champ St. Louis and Colorado, with a playoff mentality even though it isn't win-or-go-home like the qualifying series.
"To us, the playoffs started today," Bowness told reporters following practice on Saturday.