Toronto Maple Leafs superstar and quasi-fashion icon Auston Matthews is looking forward to ditching the traditional pregame suit and tie when the NHL officially returns.

As part of the CBA, players are ordered to wear a suit and tie on game days "unless otherwise specified by the head coach or general manager." The NHL is the only major professional sports league in North America that follows such a strict dress code.

However, a relaxed dress code is one of the small rule changes the NHL and NHLPA agreed to for the league's return-to-play plan, and Matthews believes players will be able to showcase their personalities better.

"I'm really looking forward to it, honestly," Matthews told TSN's Kristen Shilton on Sunday. "It'll be a pretty cool opportunity for guys to express themselves like other leagues are able to. At times, hockey can kind of fall behind as far as that stuff goes."

Matthews has been outspoken about his fashion interests throughout his professional career, even appearing in GQ Magazine in 2018.

The Maple Leafs, the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference, are matched up against the Columbus Blue Jackets in their best-of-five play-in series, which is slated to begin Aug. 2 in Toronto.

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Marc-Andre Fleury is welcoming the opportunity to compete for the Vegas Golden Knights' starting role with Robin Lehner.

The club hasn't yet settled on who might start once the playoffs begin.

"(Peter DeBoer) is the coach. Whatever he decides, I'm good with," Fleury told NHL.com's Danny Webster. "At the end of the day, all that matters is winning, that's why we're all here. Playoffs come and you have to be selfless and do what is right for the team. I just want to win, it doesn't matter how it is ... We'll see how it goes."

Fleury has been the Golden Knights' No. 1 goalie since their inaugural season in 2017, but Vegas acquired Lehner - who posted better numbers across the board this season - in a surprise move at the trade deadline.

Lehner only made three appearances with Vegas before the shutdown, winning each of them with a .940 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average.

"It's a great luxury for us," DeBoer said. "I'm not going to be afraid to play either. I don't know what that'll look like. Maybe it'll be one guy starting the majority, or we'll go back and forth. I'm going to keep an open mind on this because of the situation and the fact we have two great goalies."

During the 2016 playoffs with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Fleury was replaced by Matt Murray when the club won the Stanley Cup. He was the backup again when they repeated in 2017.

As the third seed in the Western Conference, Vegas is set to participate in a round robin with the rest of the top four teams to determine their rank in the traditional 16-team playoff bracket. The Golden Knights have an exhibition versus the Arizona Coyotes on July 30, then kick off their round-robin schedule Aug. 3 against the Dallas Stars.

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Rod Brind'Amour understands the importance of face coverings when it comes to reducing the spread of the coronavirus.

"This whole wear one (or) don't wear one (debate) makes no sense to me," the Carolina Hurricanes head coach told reporters, including The Athletic's Sara Civian, on Sunday.

"If someone tells me something is going to help, I'm going to do it. I've never heard a good argument against it."

Hurricanes players, coaches, and executives posed for a team photo Saturday, with everyone present wearing masks.

CDC director Robert Redfield has called cloth face coverings "one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus - particularly when used universally within a community setting."

A widespread WHO-funded investigation published in June supported that claim, with data from 172 individual studies demonstrating that masks reduce the risk of transmission.

COVID-19 cases have continued to surge across the U.S., most notably in Florida and Arizona.

North Carolina set new single-day records for cases (2,481) and tests (35,169) Saturday, the state's department of health and human services revealed, according to The News and Observer's Virginia Bridges. The state also recorded 23 related deaths. Nearly 98,000 people in North Carolina have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 1,629 deaths as of Saturday.

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Sidney Crosby sat out the Pittsburgh Penguins' practice Sunday after departing a Saturday scrimmage early.

Here's how the team's lines looked without Crosby on the ice:

The superstar forward left in the second of two 25-minute periods during Saturday's intrasquad session and didn't return. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan reminded reporters afterward that new league rules prohibit the club from commenting on injuries or illnesses.

Crosby ranked second on the team behind Evgeni Malkin with 1.15 points per game this season. The Pittsburgh captain produced 47 points in 41 contests and trailed only Jake Guentzel in average ice time among Penguins forwards.

Pittsburgh is scheduled to play an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Flyers on July 28 before facing the Montreal Canadiens in the play-in round beginning Aug. 1.

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs are impossible to predict in a normal year, so who knows what may transpire with 24 teams in the fold this summer.

Playoff hockey in the midst of a pandemic will be different - no fans, no home-ice advantage, and an extra round - but if you can bank on one thing to remain the same, it would be upsets. All 24 teams entering the expanded playoffs in Toronto and Edmonton will be coming off four months of rest, which could create chaos in the league's bracket experiment.

While we may not know what exactly lies ahead, here we predict three teams that have what it takes to go on a surprise run this postseason.

New York Rangers

Opponent: Carolina Hurricanes
2019-20 record: 37-28-5 (.564)
Key stat: 4-0 vs. Hurricanes this season

The No. 11 Rangers were surging before the shutdown, and by no means will be an easy out despite coming into the tournament as the second-lowest seed in the Eastern Conference. Led by MVP candidate Artemi Panarin and dynamic pivot Mika Zibanejad, New York boasts one of the league's most dangerous top lines. However, the club's true X-factor lies in goal.

Russian phenom Igor Shesterkin put the Rangers on his back after making his highly anticipated NHL debut, winning 10 of 12 starts while posting a .932 save percentage. It will be weird seeing the Blueshirts competing in the playoffs without Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes, but the club rallied around Shesterkin in the regular season and will likely turn to the 24-year-old again in the qualifying round to quell Carolina's possession-heavy offense.

Carolina is one of the deepest teams in the East but were one of two clubs (along with Tampa Bay) to vote against the 24-team format before it was finalized - potentially due to the fact they were winless against the Rangers in 2019-20. The regular-season series wasn't particularly close, either, with New York outscoring Carolina 17-9 across four contests.

Minnesota Wild

Opponent: Vancouver Canucks
2019-20 record: 35-27-7 (.558)
Key stat: Led league in xGA (107.12)

The No. 10 Wild have struggled to find any playoff success for much of the past decade, but Minnesota has potential to be a dark horse in the expanded postseason. The Wild were mediocre for much of the campaign, but they quietly put together a 16-10-4 record (a near 100-point pace over 82 games) after the calendar flipped to 2020, and were 8-4 under new head coach Dean Evason.

Minnesota was able to find success by shutting down its opponents, boasting the league's stingiest defense by way of expected goals against. On top of a rock-solid blue line, the Wild discovered a spark when they turned to backup Alex Stalock in goal, who usurped Devan Dubnyk and posted a .920 save percentage over his final 18 starts of the season.

Also working in Minnesota's favor is the stark contrast in experience between the two teams. The Canucks are a young, explosive bunch hoping to take a big step as a franchise and make some noise in the playoffs for the first time with their up-and-coming core. As exciting as the opportunity is, most of Vancouver's key players haven't tasted playoff hockey yet, whereas the Wild - a veteran group that can rely on the likes of Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, and Eric Staal - should be able to temper expectations and keep their composure once the stakes get higher.

Montreal Canadiens

Opponent: Pittsburgh Penguins
2019-20 record: 31-31-9 (.500)
Key stat: 2nd in NHL with 54.01 xGF%

The Canadiens-Penguins matchup, on paper, is easily the most lopsided series on our list. That said, watch out for the 12th-seeded Montreal team in a shortened series with minimal margin for error. Montreal is lucky to be in the playoffs after losing more games than they won in the regular season, but the Habs shouldn't be taken lightly this summer.

First, the Canadiens were one of the best possession teams in the league by numerous metrics, ranking second in five-on-five Corsi (54.43) and expected goals (54.01) this past season. Despite the strong underlying numbers, Montreal's lack of finishing talent - which is far inferior to Pittsburgh's - hindered its offensive results.

To stifle the Penguins' offensive advantage, the Canadiens have Carey Price, whose inclusion in the postseason picture reportedly irked numerous teams during the planning stages due to his ability to take over a shortened series. Price is far removed from his MVP form, but is still regarded as the best goalie in the world by many of his peers and perhaps will benefit from a lengthy rest. It's not completely unreasonable to imagine he's able to outplay one of Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry in three of five contests.

Finally, Montreal enters this postseason with nothing to lose. The Penguins' annual expectations are Stanley Cup or bust, so all the pressure to perform is on them. The Canadiens, on the other hand, aren't expected to go anywhere this postseason, and are a sneaky good long shot team.

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