NHL Releases Playoff Schedule

On Friday night the NHL and NHLPA voted to accept the new CBA/Return to Play protocols and unveiled their Qualifying Round schedule.

With the NHL Regular Season getting cut short, the NHL expanded their postseason to 24 teams (12 in each conference). The bottom-8 teams in each Conference will play in a best-of-5 series to determine who makes it the traditional portion of the playoffs. The top-4 teams in each Conference will play three Round Robin games to determine the seeding for the remainder of the postseason.

Below is the schedule for each of the eight play-in series, round-robin and other key dates that were released on Friday.

Western Conference

(No.5) Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks (No.12)

Game 1 – Saturday, August 1st
Game 2 – Monday, August 3rd
Game 3 – Wednesday, August 5th
Game 4 – Friday, August 7th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Saturday, August 8th (if necessary)

(No.6) Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes (No.11)

Game 1 – Sunday, August 2nd
Game 2 – Tuesday, August 4th
Game 3 – Wednesday, August 5th
Game 4 – Friday, August 7th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Sunday, August 9th (if necessary)

(No.7) Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild (No.10)

Game 1 – Sunday, August 2nd
Game 2 – Tuesday, August 4th
Game 3 – Thursday, August 6th
Game 4 – Friday, August 7th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Sunday, August 9th (if necessary)

(No.8) Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets (No.9)

Game 1 – Saturday, August 1st
Game 2 – Monday, August 3rd
Game 3 – Tuesday, August 4th
Game 4 – Thursday, August 6th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Saturday, August 8th (if necessary)

Round Robin

Sunday, August 2nd – St. Louis vs. Colorado
Monday, August 3rd – Dallas vs. Vegas
Wednesday, August 5th – Colorado vs. Dallas
Thursday, August 6th – Vegas vs. St. Louis
Saturday, August 8th – Vegas vs. Colorado
Sunday, August 9th – Dallas vs. St. Louis

Eastern Conference

(No.5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens (No.12)

Game 1 – Saturday, August 1st
Game 2 – Monday, August 3rd
Game 3 – Wednesday, August 5th
Game 4 – Friday, August 7th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Saturday, August 8th (if necessary)

(No.6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers (No.11)

Game 1 – Saturday, August 1st
Game 2 – Monday, August 3rd
Game 3 – Tuesday, August 4th
Game 4 – Thursday, August 6th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Saturday, August 8th (if necessary)

(No.7) New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers (No.10)

Game 1 – Saturday, August 1st
Game 2 – Tuesday, August 4th
Game 3 – Wednesday, August 5th
Game 4 – Friday, August 7th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Sunday, August 9th (if necessary)

(No.8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (No.9)

Game 1 – Sunday, August 2nd
Game 2 – Tuesday, August 4th
Game 3 – Thursday, August 6th
Game 4 – Friday, August 7th (if necessary)
Game 5 – Sunday, August 9th (if necessary)

Round Robin

Sunday, August 2nd – Philadelphia vs. Boston
Monday, August 3rd – Washington vs. Tampa Bay
Wednesday, August 5th – Tampa Bay vs. Boston
Thursday, August 6th – Washington vs. Philadelphia
Saturday, August 8th – Boston vs. Washington
Sunday, August 9th – Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay

Key Dates

July 13th – Training Camps Open
July 26th – Travel to Hub City
July 28-30th – Exhibition Games
August 1st – Stanley Cup Qualifying Round Begins
August 10th – Phase 2 of NHL Draft Lottery (Lafrenière Sweepstakes)
August 11th – First Round Begins
August 25th – Second Round Begins
September 8th – Conference Finals Begin
September 22nd – Stanley Cup Final Begins
October 4th – Last Possible Day of NHL Final
October 9-10th – 2020 NHL Draft