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WATCH LIVE: Sabres host Flyers on Wednesday Night Hockey

By James O'BrienNov 21, 2018, 7:27 PM EST

NBC’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Wednesday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers at the Buffalo Sabres at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports App by clicking here.

PROJECTED LINES

FLYERS

Claude Giroux — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny

Oskar Lindblom — Nolan Patrick — Jakub Voracek

James van Riemsdyk — Jordan Weal — Wayne Simmonds

Dale Weise — Scott Laughton — Jori Lehtera

Ivan Provorov — Robert Hagg

Shayne Gostisbehere — Christian Folin

Travis Sanheim — Radko Gudas

Starting goalie: Alex Lyon

[WATCH LIVE – 7:30 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

SABRES

Jeff Skinner — Jack Eichel — Jason Pominville

Tage Thompson — Vladimir Sobotka — Sam Reinhart

Conor Sheary — Casey Mittelstadt — Kyle Okposo

Zemgus Girgensons — Johan Larsson — Evan Rodrigues

Jake McCabe — Rasmus Ristolainen

Rasmus Dahlin — Zach Bogosian

Nathan Beaulieu — Casey Nelson

Starting goalie: Carter Hutton

Flyers win first seed in East; Lightning lose game and Hedman to injury

Flyers top seed first spot East; Lightning lose Hedman to injury
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By James O'BrienAug 8, 2020, 10:56 PM EDT
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Talk about getting hot at the right time(s). After slipping into the East’s top four, the Flyers surged all the way to the first seed in the conference, pushing the Lightning to the second spot with Philly’s 4-1 win. This completed a lousy day for the Lightning, who also saw key defenseman Victor Hedman leave the game in frustration with an injury.

With this result, the top-seed Flyers will face the Canadiens in a battle of teams who took advantage of this odd NHL Return to Play format. Meanwhile, the Lightning will face the winner of Game 5 between the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

Flyers win first seed in East; Lightning more worried about Hedman than second spot

Here’s footage of what looked like an ankle (or at least a “lower-body”) injury for Hedman. You can see Hedman’s furious anger in leaving with whatever injury, too:

Seems ominous.

As you may remember, Hedman didn’t seem 100-percent when his Lightning got swept in the First Round by the Blue Jackets during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With Steven Stamkos missing time (including this round-robin game against the Flyers), the Lightning face some health uncertainty heading into the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Again, for the Flyers, it was another promising game. They’ve carried over a hot finish to the 2019-20 regular season straight through the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

  • Nicolas Aube-Kubel began the Lightning – Flyers game on fire by scoring the first two goals. Aube-Kubel did his part in arguing for opportunities with the Flyers.
  • Speaking of trying to earn opportunities, Shayne Gostisbehere looked sharp in getting some game action. Could his offense justify the risks his defensive flaws sometimes present? That remains to be seen, but he did his part on Saturday.

Updated NHL Round-robin standings; Some matchups now set for 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs

EAST
Top seed: Flyers (3-0-0, 6 points) Philadelphia will face Canadiens in First Round
Second seed: Lightning (2-1-0, 4 points) Tampa Bay will face winner of Game 5 CBJ – TOR
Capitals (0-1-1, 1 point)
Bruins (0-2-0, 0 points)

WEST
Top Seed: Golden Knights (3-0-0, 6 points); Vegas faces Blackhawks in First Round
Second Seed: Avalanche (2-0-1, 5 points); Colorado faces Coyotes in First Round
Blues (0-2-0, 0 points)
Stars (0-2-0, 0 points)

SUNDAY‘S NHL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Round-robin: Bruins vs. Capitals, 12 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Round-robin: Stars vs. Blues, 3 p.m. ET – NBC
Game 5: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN

MORE:
• 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule

—

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

NHL Return to Play: Round-robin standings, scenarios

nhl round robin scenarios
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By Adam GretzAug 8, 2020, 7:30 PM EDT
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While the 16 teams in the qualifying round play for the right to move on, the No. 1 seeds in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference are still up for grabs in the round-robin format of the NHL’s return to play.

The round-robin schedule resumes on Saturday with a pair of games (Lightning vs. Flyers and Golden Knights vs. Avalanche) and here we take a look at the impact those games can have on the standings.

Below is a look at the current round-robin standings and everything at stake on Saturday.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Current standings (tiebreaker is regular-season points percentage)

Philadelphia Flyers (3-0-0, 6 points)

Tampa Bay Lightning (2-1-0, 4 points)
Washington Capitals (0-1-1, 1 point)
Boston Bruins (0-2-0, 0 points)

Sunday, Aug. 2: Flyers 4, Bruins 1 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Lightning 3, Capitals 2 (SO) (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 6: Flyers 3, Capitals 1 (recap)
Saturday, Aug. 8: Flyers 4, Lightning 1
Sunday, Aug. 9: Bruins vs. Capitals, 12 p.m. ET – NBCSN

• Philadelphia will play Montreal in the First Round.
• Winner of BOS/WSH will be #3 seed; the loser will be #4

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Standings (tiebreaker is regular-season points percentage)

Vegas Golden Knights (3-0-0, 6 points)
Colorado Avalanche (2-1-0, 4 points)
St. Louis Blues (0-2-0, 0 points)
Dallas Stars (0-2-0, 0 points)

Sunday, Aug. 2: Avalanche 2, Blues 1 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Golden Knights 4, Stars 3 (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Avalanche 4, Stars 0
Thursday, Aug. 6: Golden Knights 6, Blues 4 (recap)
Saturday, Aug. 8: Golden Knights 4, Avalanche 3 (OT) (recap)
Sunday, Aug. 9: Stars vs. Blues, 3 p.m. ET – NBC

• Vegas will play Chicago, while Colorado will play Arizona in the First Round.
• Winner of STL/DAL will be #3 seed; the loser will be #4

MORE:
• 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule

—
Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

NHL schedule for 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers in league’s Return to Play

By Sean LeahyAug 8, 2020, 7:00 PM EDT
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It’s time to focus on the NHL games, including the 2020 NHL playoffs schedule. The 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers began on Saturday, Aug. 1 in the hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto.

The top four teams in both conference will play a three-game round robin for seeding in the First Round. The Stanley Cup Qualifiers will be best-of-5 series with the losing teams being entered into Phase 2 of the NHL Draft Lottery.

Below is a full 2020 NHL playoffs schedule of both the round-robin and the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

EASTERN CONFERENCE (Scotiabank Arena)

Round-robin [Standings, scenarios]

Sunday, Aug. 2: Flyers 4, Bruins 1 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Lightning 3, Capitals 2 (SO) (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 6: Flyers 3, Capitals 1 (recap)
Saturday, Aug. 8: Flyers 4, Lightning 1 (recap)
Sunday, Aug. 9: Bruins vs. Capitals, 12 p.m. ET – NBCSN

(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens (MTL won series 3-1)

Saturday, Aug. 1: Canadiens 3, Penguins 2 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Penguins 3, Canadiens 1 (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Canadiens 4, Penguins 3 (recap)
Friday, Aug. 7: Canadiens 2, Penguins 0 (recap)

(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (11) New York Rangers (CAR won series 3-0)

Saturday, Aug. 1: Hurricanes 3, Rangers 2 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Hurricanes 4, Rangers 1 (recap)
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Hurricanes 4, Rangers 1 (recap)

(7) New York Islanders vs. (10) Florida Panthers (NYI won series 3-1)

Saturday, Aug. 1: Islanders 2, Panthers 1 (recap)
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Islanders 4, Panthers 2 (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Panthers 3, Islanders 2 (recap)
Friday, Aug. 7: Islanders 5, Panthers 1 (recap)

(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (9) Columbus Blue Jackets (Series tied 2-2)

Sunday, Aug. 2: Blue Jackets 2, Maple Leafs 0 (recap)
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Maple Leafs 3, Blue Jackets 0 (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 6: Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT) (recap)
Friday, Aug. 7: Maple Leafs 4, Blue Jackets 3 (OT) (recap)
Sunday, Aug. 9: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

WESTERN CONFERENCE (Rogers Place)

Round-robin [Standings, scenarios]

Sunday, Aug. 2: Avalanche 2, Blues 1 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Golden Knights 4, Stars 3 (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Avalanche 4, Stars 0
Thursday, Aug. 6: Golden Knights 6, Blues 4 (recap)
Saturday, Aug. 8: Golden Knights 4, Avalanche 3 (OT) (recap)
Sunday, Aug. 9: Stars vs. Blues, 3 p.m. ET – NBC

(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (12) Chicago Blackhawks (CHI won series 3-1)

Saturday, Aug. 1: Blackhawks 6, Oilers 4 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Oilers 6, Blackhawks 3 (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Blackhawks 4, Oilers 3 (recap)
Friday, Aug. 7: Blackhawks 3, Oilers 2 (recap)

(6) Nashville Predators vs. (11) Arizona Coyotes (ARZ won series 3-1)

Sunday, Aug. 2: Coyotes 4, Predators 3 (recap)
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Predators 4, Coyotes 2 (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Coyotes 4, Predators 1 (recap)
Friday, Aug. 7: Coyotes 4, Predators 3 (OT) (recap)

(7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (10) Minnesota Wild (VAN won series 3-1)

Sunday, Aug. 2: Wild 3, Canucks 0 (recap)
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Canucks 4, Wild 3 (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 6: Canucks 3, Wild 0 (recap)
Friday, Aug. 7: Canucks 5, Wild 4 (OT) (recap)

(8) Calgary Flames vs. (9) Winnipeg Jets (CGY won series 3-1)

Saturday, Aug. 1: Flames 4, Jets 1 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Jets 3, Flames 2 (recap)
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Flames 6, Jets 2 (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 6: Flames 4, Jets 0 (recap)

————

Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Flyers-Lightning stream: NHL Return to Play round-robin game

Flyers-Lightning stream
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By Sean LeahyAug 8, 2020, 7:00 PM EDT
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NBC’s coverage of the NHL’s Return to Play continues with Saturday’s round-robin matchup between the Flyers and Lightning. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Watch the Flyers-Lightning stream on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

A year after becoming the first Presidents’ Trophy winner to be swept in the opening round of the playoffs, Tampa has an opportunity to earn the top seed in the East. The winner of this game will become the #1 seed in the East; the loser will be the second seed.

Teams will be re-seeded after each round of the playoffs, so the #1 seed will play whichever remaining team had the lowest points percentage from the regular season: either Montreal or the winner of the Maple Leafs-Blue Jackets series. The #2 seed will play either the Maple Leafs/Blue Jackets or Islanders.

The Lightning finished second in the Eastern Conference, their third straight season finishing in the top-two in the East. Philadelphia earned the fourth seed after winning nine of their final 10 regular season games before the pause.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

WHAT: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
WHERE: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto
WHEN: Saturday, August 8, 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Flyers-Lightning stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

Current standings (tiebreaker is regular-season points percentage)

Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-0, 4 points)
Philadelphia Flyers (2-0-0, 4 points)
Washington Capitals (0-1-1, 1 point)
Boston Bruins (0-2-0, 0 points)

Sunday, Aug. 2: Flyers 4, Bruins 1 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 3: Lightning 3, Capitals 2 (SO) (recap)
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 6: Flyers 3, Capitals 1 (recap)
Saturday, Aug. 8: Flyers vs. Lightning, 8 p.m. ET – NBC (livestream)
Sunday, Aug. 9: Bruins vs. Capitals, 12 p.m. ET – NBCSN

• Winner of TB/PHI will be #1 seed; the loser will be #2
• Winner of BOS/WSH will be #3 seed; the loser will be #4

• Carolina will face either Boston or Washington in First Round.

MORE:
• 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule