Last night the NHL announced the schedule for the Eastern Conference’s first postseason games. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will open their series at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday, April 21st at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN in the United States and on Sportsnet and TVAS north of the border.
As for the rest of the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders will kick things off on Saturday at 5 p.m. Following that, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs will tussle at 8 p.m. at TD Garden. The series between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals will begin after the Panthers game, with puck drop sometime shortly after 3 p.m. on Sunday.
The Cats went 2-1 against the Bolts during the regular season. Florida won the season-opener 3-2 at Amalie Arena on December 27; pounded the Lightning 9-2 in Sunrise on February 17; and dropped a 5-3 decision on home ice on March 16.
AHL: Bears 4, Checkers 3
Wilmer Skoog scored twice and Mitchell Vande Sompel also lit the lamp, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Charlotte Checkers fell 4-3 on the road to the Hershey Bears last night. Mackie Samoskevich assisted on all three goals for the Checkers. Skoog’s brace tied him with the Samoskevich for the team lead in goals with 21. Will Lockwood had two assists and Magnus Hellberg took the loss, finishing with 22 saves on 26 shots. The two teams will go again on Saturday at Giant Center. Charlotte will need at least three points over its final two games to have any chance of moving up to third place in the Atlantic Division. As of right now it looks like the Checkers will face the Hartford Wolf Pack in the first round of the playoffs.
Goodbye, Desert Dogs
The Arizona Coyotes skated to an emotional 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Mullett Arena in what was most likely the final game in franchise history before the players and hockey operations are relocated to Salt Lake City during the offseason. My heart breaks for every Coyotes fan (and anyone else associated with the franchise that will be impacted) out there. May your team return in the not too distant future.