A couple of Western Conference rivals will renew hostilities for the first time in a decade, while the Battle of Pennsylvania will be a battle for a berth in the Stanley Cup final as the conference finals are set in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In the East, the Penguins get the matchup that some accused them of trying to avoid in the first round as they take on the surging Philadelphia Flyers.
With captain Sidney Crosby sitting out, Pittsburgh dropped a 2-0 decision in Philly on the last day of the regular season. The Penguins, who would have clinched first in the conference and an opening game against the Flyers in Round 1, were suspected of throwing their last game in Philly in favour of an easier, less-physical matchup against the struggling Ottawa Senators.
"We knew what was going on," said Senators head coach Bryan Murray at the time. "They wanted to play Ottawa. That was fairly obvious from the drop of the puck."
Penguins coach Michel Therrien was quick to blow off the notion. "First of all, it's so ridiculous that I don't want to even comment," he said before the start of the playoffs. "He's (Murray) got a lot of experience. If he thinks that's going to motivate his team, good for him."
A lot of the players were also amused by the accusations. "There's stuff said all the time," said Crosby at the time. "I don't think we're worried about it. We trust the character and pride in this room."
Flyers coach John Stevens chose to take the high road on Sunday when he approached with the question. "They've made good work of their situation," he said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Ottawa was banged up. I thought their series with the Rangers would go a little longer."
The two teams have not met in the postseason since 2000, when the Flyers took a six-game Eastern semifinal against Jaromir Jagr and the Penguins. That series was best remembered for a five-overtime Flyers' win in Game 4, with Keith Primeau scoring the winner. Pittsburgh last made the conference final in 2001, when they dropped a five-game series to the New Jersey Devils.
It also marks the first time that both teams are meeting in the postseason with the Prince of Wales Trophy on the line.
The Western Conference has the President's Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings facing the Dallas Stars for the first time in the playoffs since their 1998 matchup.
While the postseason is a tough marathon for every team, the Stars head into their final four matchup after arguably the most difficult run on paper. Dallas came out victorious after a six-game matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in the first round, and almost blew a 3-1 series lead against a San Jose Sharks team that many picked to be a Cup favourite in June.
"Nobody gave us a chance against Anaheim, and nobody gave us a chance against San Jose," Stars coach Dave Tippett said after Sunday's quadruple-overtime win. "The guys in there just believe in each other."
By contrast, it's easy to argue that the Red Wings didn't face as many challenges as their Western Conference Final opponent. The Wings were expected to eliminate the eighth-seeded Nashville Predators and did just that, while the Colorado Avalanche, once considered to be an intense and hated postseason rival were swept cleanly - including a lopsided 8-2 victory in Game 4.
The only real obstacle the Wings have faced so far was Dominik Hasek's struggles against Nashville in Round 1, which was quickly resolved after Chris Osgood took the goaltending reins. Osgood has yet to lose a game in this year's playoffs, going 6-0 since taking over for The Dominator.
"Ozzie has been great for us," coach Mike Babcock told the Detroit Free Press on Sunday. "He's been a steadying influence. He's playing with a lot of confidence. But we're collectively playing at a high level of intensity and execution."
Up front, Johan Franzen is the feel-good story on offence, pushing aside some of Gordie Howe's scoring records and getting early Conn Smythe Trophy consideration in the process.
In March, his six game-winning goals bested the franchise record of five established by Howe in 1952, and on Thursday night, he scored three goals in the Red Wings' series-clinching rout the Avalanche, giving him nine to edge Howe's mark of eight goals in a best-of-seven series.
"Our inability to get consistent scoring from our secondary lines was a big part of our problem when we had difficulty getting out of the first round in previous years," general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press. "But what (Franzen) has done has been nothing short of incredible."
The 'final four' matchups also have the potential to set up a couple of great rematches in the Stanley Cup Final.
A Dallas-Pittsburgh showdown would put both franchises against one another for the first time since 1991, when Mario Lemieux and the Penguins beat out Mike Modano and the Minnesota North Stars in six games. A Flyers-Red Wings matchup would be a rematch from 1997, when Detroit swept Philadelphia in four games to win their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.