I disagree somewhat.
There will always be 1st round upsets.
There will always be a team that finished too high by getting lucky or too low from injuries.
But the fact that both 5 seeds got knocked out is decent proof that home ice IS important.
The 4-5 matchup is normally one of the best matchups in the first rorund, the 2 teams with the closest records... this year we had Toronto/Ottawa and Colorado/Dallas... GREAT matchups... and both 4's won... thats why you play for home ice IMHO.