The @NHL has announced 2021 #StanleyCup Playoffs First Round schedule scenarios based on the potential results of tonight’s Kings-Avalanche game. https://t.co/2WDzROW7cj pic.twitter.com/VrNrYUP1bt
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 13, 2021
In the context of last summer’s crammed-in bubble playoffs, where players were being forced to live a hotel life inside a confined zone and an extra play-in series was needed to determine the final 16 teams, you could understand/rationalize a few back-to-backs as an imperfect but necessary solution in a difficult situation. But a back-to-back simply shouldn’t happen in the playoffs this Spring, especially when one team is on the road for both games and the other is at home sleeping in their own beds in between games.