NHL Playoffs 2015: TV, Live Stream Schedule and Stanley Cup Bracket Predictions

There's no time for a sports hangover, folks. Sure, there was soccer, the NFL draft, the Kentucky Derby, the NBA playoffs and the megafight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on Saturday.

But buckle up because the NHL playoffs have three games on the docket for Sunday.

So get ready to spend the day on the couch, again, for some awesome NHL action. It's your duty as a sports fan, and it's going to be great.

Schedule

Time (ET)	Matchup	Watch	Prediction
6 p.m.	Tampa Bay at Montreal	NBCSN	MTL wins, 3-2
8:30 p.m.	Minnesota at Chicago	NBCSN	CHI wins, 2-1
10 p.m.	Calgary at Anaheim	CNBC	ANA wins, 3-1

All games can be streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra and the NBC Sports Live Extra app.

Preview

It took the Tampa Bay Lightning two overtime periods to knock off the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series, with 21-year-old forward Nikita Kucherov playing the role of hero by scoring the game-wining goal.

Now, the higher-seeded Canadiens are in a must-win situation, lest they go back to Tampa Bay down 2-0.

It's hard to imagine the Habs letting Game 2 slip past them. A loss against the dangerous Lightning would all but end this series, and the Canadiens were too good all season long not to respond.

While I generally feel both series in the Eastern Conference are quite even, I think there are clear favorites in the West. The Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks will move on.

Chicago is just so deadly, deep and experienced. It doesn't really have any major weaknesses. Even in net, the Blackhawks can call on backup Scott Darling to be the hero for a few games if Corey Crawford disappoints—like in Round 1 against the Nashville Predators.

In Game 1 on Friday, the Blackhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, though the Wild managed to claw back to even in the second period before the Blackhawks—as they have done to Minny in the past two postseasons—broke their hearts once again to win 4-3.

But the Wild won't go down without a fight.

“We have a lot of confidence in this group,” goalie Devan Dubnyk told reporters. “We understand that’s a tough opponent. If we continue to play our game like we did in the second period we’re going to give ourselves a chance.”

They'll give themselves a chance, sure, but Chicago is going to take a 2-0 lead in this series. It just has the Wild's number at this point.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Anaheim appears to have the Calgary Flames' number after Game 1 of their series, as they won decisively by a score of 6-1. The Flames have had a heck of a season, but the Ducks were bigger, more skilled and just plain better to open this series.

The Ducks' top line, led by former Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry, just dismantled the Flames, and at some point, you have to wonder if the glass shoe the Flames have been wearing for much of this season will finally stop fitting.

The Ducks just appear to be the more talented team.

The Flames are scrappy and resilient, and they'll make things interesting. But they won't win Game 2.