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The puck drops on the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN with 13 first round games will play out over the first four days on ESPN and ESPN2, beginning Monday, April 17.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports will drop the puck on its Sports Emmy-nominated coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with up to 28 First Round games, starting Tuesday, April 18, and will continue with a 15-game slate over five days (Apr. 20-24).
TNT and TBS will combine to televise up to 56 games during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, culminating with TNT’s first-ever presentation of the Stanley Cup Final.
Eastern Conference
- The Boston Bruins enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the most successful regular season in NHL history, setting single-season records for wins and points. Led by 60-goal scorer David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, the Bruins – this season’s Presidents’ Trophy winner – face a Florida Panthers team that made a late season push to secure the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. While Florida played nowhere near their Presidents’ Trophy caliber from a season ago, Matthew Tkachuk still had an MVP-like season with 109 points.
- For first round matchup between the Metropolitan Division-winning Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders: the Hurricanes, led by Martin Necas and Sebastian Aho, earned a playoff berth for the fifth-consecutive season and now own their sixth division title in franchise history, while the Islanders earned the top Eastern Conference wild card spot behind the play of goalie Ilya Sorokin and Brock Nelson, who led the team in points, goals and assists.
- Toronto faces a formidable and familiar foe in its first-round series versus Tampa Bay. The Lightning ousted the Maple Leafs in seven games during the opening round in 2022, en route to a third consecutive Eastern Conference crown in June.Led by the trio of Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander, the Leafs – winners of four-straight to close out their regular season – hope to finally break the team’s first-round playoff curse when they take the ice against Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning, who came back to beat them in seven last year.
- Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and the New York Rangers are set to collide with Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils in the seventh all-time “Hudson River Rivalry” postseason series – the first since the 2012 Conference Finals. The Devils finished second in the Metropolitan Division ahead of the Rangers but have a record of 1-1-1 against them in regular season play.
Western Conference
- The defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche and winners of three-consecutive Central Division crowns will attempt to repeat their playoff performance from a year ago behind the play of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen when they host the Seattle Kraken, who are headed to the postseason for the first time in only their second NHL season.
- The Winnipeg Jets face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time after meeting in the 2018 Western Conference Final. Led by Jack Eichel and Chandler Stephenson, the Golden Knights hope to repeat their 2018 performance against the Jets that led them to their historic Stanley Cup Final berth in their inaugural season.
- The Dallas Stars and team points, goals and assists leader Jason Robertson head into the playoffs on a six-game winning streak when they play the Minnesota Wild and its points leader, Kirill Kaprizov, who is listed as day-to-day.
- the Los Angeles Kings face off against the Edmonton Oilers and the all-star duo of Connor McDavid, who became the first player in 27 years to reach 150 points in a season, and 128-point scorer Leon Draisaitl, for the second time in as many seasons in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While the teams spilt their regular-season matchups, the Oilers have gone on to become one of the hottest teams heading into the postseason – winning nine straight and 14 of their last 15 regular season games.
The following are the scheduled game start times (all times Eastern; start times subject to change), respective networks for playoff action:
Monday, April 17, 2023
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Metropolitan Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[WC1] New York Islanders @ [M1] Carolina Hurricanes
Announcers: Mike Monaco, AJ Mleczko, Dom Mooren
7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Atlantic Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[WC2] Florida Panthers @ [A1] Boston Bruins
9:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Central Division
[#3] Minnesota Wild @ [#2] Dallas Stars
10:00 p.m. on ESPN
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Pacific Division
[#3] Los Angeles Kings @ [#2] Edmonton Oilers
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
7:00 p.m. on TBS
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Metropolitan Division
[#3] New York Rangers @ [#2] New Jersey Devils
7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Atlantic Division
[#3] Tampa Bay Lightning @ [#2] Toronto Maple Leafs
9:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Pacific Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[WC2] Winnipeg Jets @ [P1] Vegas Golden Knights
10:00 p.m. on ESPN
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 1
Central Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[WC1] Seattle Kraken @ [C1] Colorado Avalanche
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Metropolitan Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[WC1] New York Islanders @ [M1] Carolina Hurricanes
Announcers: Mike Monaco, AJ Mleczko, Dom Mooren
7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Atlantic Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[WC2] Florida Panthers @ [A1] Boston Bruins
9:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Central Division
[#3] Minnesota Wild @ [#2] Dallas Stars
10:00 p.m. on ESPN
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Pacific Division
[#3] Los Angeles Kings @ [#2] Edmonton Oilers
Thursday, April 20, 2023
7:00 p.m. on ESPN
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Atlantic Division
[#3] Tampa Bay Lightning @ [#2] Toronto Maple Leafs
7:30 p.m. on TBS
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Metropolitan Division
[#3] New York Rangers @ [#2] New Jersey Devils
9:30 p.m. on ESPN
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Central Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[WC1] Seattle Kraken @ [C1] Colorado Avalanche
10:00 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 2
Pacific Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[WC2] Winnipeg Jets @ [P1] Vegas Golden Knights
Friday, April 21, 2023
7:00 p.m. on TBS
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Metropolitan Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[M1] Carolina Hurricanes @ [WC1] New York Islanders
7:30 p.m. on TNT
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Atlantic Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[A1] Boston Bruins @ [WC2] Florida Panthers
9:30 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Central Division
[#2] Dallas Stars @ [#3] Minnesota Wild
10:00 p.m. on TNT
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Pacific Division
[#2] Edmonton Oilers @ [#3] Los Angeles Kings
Saturday, April 22, 2023
4:00 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Pacific Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[P1] Vegas Golden Knights @ [WC2] Winnipeg Jets
7:00 p.m. on TBS
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Atlantic Division
[#2] Toronto Maple Leafs @ [#3] Tampa Bay Lightning
8:00 p.m. on ABC
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Metropolitan Division
[#2] New Jersey Devils @ [#3] New York Rangers
10:00 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 3
Central Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[C1] Colorado Avalanche @ [WC1] Seattle Kraken
Sunday, April 23, 2023
1:00 p.m. on TNT
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Metropolitan Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[M1] Carolina Hurricanes @ [WC1] New York Islanders
3:30 p.m. on TNT
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Atlantic Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[A1] Boston Bruins @ [WC2] Florida Panthers
6:30 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Central Division
[#2] Dallas Stars @ [#3] Minnesota Wild
9:00 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Pacific Division
[#2] Edmonton Oilers @ [#3] Los Angeles Kings
Monday, April 24, 2023
7:00 p.m. on ESPN
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Metropolitan Division
[#2] New Jersey Devils @ [#3] New York Rangers
7:30 p.m. on TBS
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Atlantic Division
[#2] Toronto Maple Leafs @ [#3] Tampa Bay Lightning
9:30 p.m. on ESPN
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Pacific Division winner/Conference best record vs. lowest Wild Card
[P1] Vegas Golden Knights @ [WC2] Winnipeg Jets
10:00 p.m. on TBS
Western Conference Quarterfinal Game 4
Central Division winner vs. highest Wild Card
[C1] Colorado Avalanche @ [WC1] Seattle Kraken
