The Vegas Golden Knights accomplished so many incredible things in their first NHL season, one of which was winning the Pacific Division over teams like the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks.
That division title was extremely beneficial in the first two rounds of the playoffs as it guaranteed the Golden Knights home ice advantage in both the team's first and second round series.
Things changed in the Western Conference Final, though, as the Golden Knights started the series against the Jets on the road in Winnipeg and some fans on Twitter were confused by this:
We know the hardcore hockey fans out there know the answer, but some might not know why the first two games are in Winnipeg even though the Jets didn't win their division.
Don't worry if you don't know, though, because we've got the answer to clear things up!
When the NHL playoff format changed due to realignment, what team gets home ice in what round also changed.
As you can see, the team with the better regular season record gets home ice in the Conference and Stanley Cup Final. Winnipeg had a better regular season record (114 points compared to Vegas' 109), so therefore they get home ice for the series.
In the old format, however, the Division winners took the top three spots in the standings, so if the Jets and Golden Knights were to have met in that format, Vegas would have had home ice because they would have been the higher seed.
Winning your division should mean more than just two rounds of guaranteed home ice advantage (in this case), but that's an argument for another day.
Vegas was going to have to win on the road eventually in order to win the series, so why not get that out of the way early, right?
(H/T: NHL.com)
