The National Hockey League has officially released the schedule for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, setting the stage for the postseason to begin this weekend.
The postseason will begin Saturday, with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference series at 3 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, the reigning champions Florida Panthers will stay home for the playoffs after failing to clinch a postseason berth, thus paving the way for the coronation of a new champion by mid-June.
“The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin Saturday when the Carolina Hurricanes host the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of their best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series,” the NHL wrote in its announcement.
Carolina enters the series as the Metropolitan Division champion, while Ottawa qualified as the second Eastern wild card.
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Later Saturday, the Minnesota Wild will face the Dallas Stars at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Philadelphia Flyers at 8 p.m. ET.
Sunday’s schedule features four additional Game 1 matchups, including the Los Angeles Kings visiting the Colorado Avalanche, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins facing the Buffalo Sabres, and the Utah Mammoth traveling to play the Vegas Golden Knights.
The final Game 1 matchup will take place Monday, when the Edmonton Oilers host the Anaheim Ducks at 10 p.m. ET in their Pacific Division series.
In the East, the Hurricanes-Senators, Canadiens-Lightning, Flyers-Penguins, and Bruins-Sabres series are the first-round matchups.
Out West, there will be first-round matchups between Kings-Avalanche, Wild-Stars, Mammoth-Golden Knights, and Ducks-Oilers.
At the start of the season, the NHL already announced that June 21 will be the last possible date of competition for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
