Yeah I always toss cold water on people who try to find parallels between this year and either 86 or 93. Those were flukes that could never happen in today's NHL simply because of the reseeding formula in the playoffs. In both 86 and 93 it wasn't about who the Habs beat but about who they avoided having to play at all. In 86 they avoided the Nordiques who had beaten them in the playoffs the season before when Hartford upset them. The Whalers then very nearly upset the Habs, going to OT of Game 7. Then, instead of the Caps or Flyers in the Conference Finals we got the Rangers who were thoroughly mediocre. Then Calgary upset the Oilers, went 7 hard games against the Blues and lost to us in 5 games. That's a ton of good fortune in one playoff. No Nordiques, no Flyers, no Oilers. Despite a mediocre regular season only in the finals did we not have home ice advantage and the Flames only finished a point or two ahead of us that year.
In 93 we came back against Quebec but once again we were spared. No Bruins in the second round. We got the upstart Sabres, who we beat in 4 straight and then the Isles upset the defending champs in Pittsburgh. The west was weak. Any eastern team would have easily beaten the Leafs or Kings. Once again we had home ice in rounds 2, 3 and 4.
This season we are only in the third round at all because of the Covid format. We only had to beat the Leafs (who make a habit of beating themselves, and the frauds from Winnipeg) Now we have to play a team that knows its business and if by some miracle we get into the finals we'll be playing another team we shouldn't be able to beat.