NHL Playoffs 2014: Schedule, Predictions, Odds, TV Info for Entire First Round

Chris Szagola

After a wild end to the regular season, the 2014 NHL playoffs schedule begins on Wednesday, April 16, as 16 of the best teams in the league go to war for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup trophy.

With the Eastern Conference stacked with viable championship contenders and the Western Conference boasting some of the most talented offensive and defensive players in the sport, the dream matchups the postseason produces will have hockey fans excited.

Here is all the vital viewing information, complete schedule, odds and everything else hard-core and casual NHL fans need to enjoy the first-round action.

Must-Watch Series: New York vs. Philadelphia

When the New York Rangers (45-31-6, 96 points) square off against the Philadelphia Flyers (42-30-9, 93 points) in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, this will be the most hotly contested opening series of the year.

Videos you might like

These two Metropolitan Division rivals don’t like each other.

Despite not meeting in the postseason since 1997, these two franchises have faced off each season in heated competition. Both fanbases have learned to hate each other as well, and there is absolutely no love lost between the teams and the cities.

While there will be plenty of bad blood on and off the ice in this series, Rangers alternate captain Marc Staal told Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News about his team keeping the focus on winning games:

I think because we needed to, to be honest. You get down to that stretch there the last month, and we knew we had to string some wins together to get into the playoffs. I think when our best was needed, we gave it, and we’ve been giving it for a while now.

Philadelphia is spreading the same message around its locker room, and several players and coaches shared their opinions via the team’s official Twitter account:

New York made the biggest trade at the 2014 deadline by acquiring veteran forward Martin St. Louis, and the offense has responded. Now that the team has depth with stars like St. Louis, Rick Nash and Brad Richards, the offense is one of the most dangerous in the league.

Add in one of the best goalies in the NHL with Henrik Lundqvist, and the Flyers will be forced to come together as a team and upset their division rivals.

Led by captain Claude Giroux, the Philadelphia offense struggled to start the season but ended up finishing strong by ranking eighth overall in the league with an average of 2.8 goals per game and ranking seventh on the power play.

While the matchup against Lundqvist won’t be easy, Flyers goaltender Steve Mason has proved to be the steady backstop the franchise desperately needed. Philadelphia boasts the better overall defense, and that will ultimately be the difference in the matchup.

As well as New York has played in 2014, the Flyers finished the regular season strong and will advance to the second round.

Prediction: Philadelphia wins series 4-2

*All stats and information via NHL.com.

Follow @Donald_Wood