Folks, the first round picture in the Western Conference has become a lot clearer. By virtue of several series ending on Friday, the Calgary Flames will meet either the Dallas Stars or St. Louis Blues in the first round.

By virtue of the #11 seed Arizona eliminating #6 Nashville and #12 Chicago beating #6 Edmonton, the Flames will be either the best or second best team advancing from the qualifying round. As a result, they’ll face either the worst or second worst round robin team. (And they avoid match-ups with Vegas or Colorado, at least in the first round.)

The Flames’ seeding within the four advancing teams will be determined by the result of the series between Vancouver (#7) and Minnesota (#10) – Vancouver leads the series 2-1 and can eliminate Minnesota in Friday night’s late game.

The other side of the equation, the round robin seeding, will be determined by a Sunday meeting between Dallas and St. Louis.

The best-of-seven first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs are expected to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday in Edmonton (Western games) and Toronto (Eastern games).