NHL Playoffs 2015: Full Dates and TV Schedule for Conference Finals Round

The quest for the Stanley Cup continues into the conference-finals round on Saturday, as the 2015 NHL playoffs return in gripping fashion with a high-flying matchup.

The New York Rangers are fresh off their Game 7 overtime win over the Washington Capitals, and they face a relatively quick turnaround—considering Anaheim and Chicago have been home for well over a week—as the Tampa Bay Lightning are in town for Game 1.

Don't get used to the matinee game times over the weekend. After the daytime games on Saturday and Sunday, there will only be nighttime contests for the rest of the round. With that said, here's a look at the schedule and a closer glance at Saturday's game.

2015 NHL Playoffs Schedule

Game	Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Game	Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
1	Sat., May 16	Tampa Bay at N.Y. Rangers	1 p.m.	NBC
2	Mon., May 18	Tampa Bay at N.Y. Rangers	8 p.m.	NBCSN
3	Wed., May 20	N.Y. Rangers at Tampa Bay	8 p.m.	NBCSN
4	Fri., May 22	N.Y. Rangers at Tampa Bay	8 p.m.	NBCSN
5*	Sun., May 24	Tampa Bay at N.Y. Rangers	8 p.m.	NBCSN
6*	Tues., May 26	N.Y. Rangers at Tampa Bay	8 p.m.	NBCSN
7*	Fri., May 29	Tampa Bay at N.Y. Rangers	8 p.m.	NBCSN
1	Sun., May 17	Chicago at Anaheim	3 p.m.	NBC
2	Tues., May 19	Chicago at Anaheim	9 p.m.	NBCSN
3	Thurs., May 21	Anaheim at Chicago	8 p.m.	NBCSN
4	Sat., May 23	Anaheim at Chicago	8 p.m.	NBC
5*	Mon., May 25	Chicago at Anaheim	9 p.m.	NBCSN
6*	Wed., May 27	Anaheim at Chicago	8 p.m.	NBCSN
7*	Sat., May 30	Chicago at Anaheim	8 p.m.	NBCSN

Game 1: Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

It's only fitting that in order to return to the Stanley Cup Final, the Rangers will have to go through their former captain.

After including Ryan Callahan in a trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning to acquire veteran Martin St. Louis, it seemed like only a matter of time before his Lightning would get a crack at New York in the postseason. Alas, it's come with a spot in the Stanley Cup Final on the line.

Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Callahan missed the late end of the Montreal series with an emergency appendectomy. But he's set to return for Game 1, and he told New York Post's Howie Kussoy that he's likely to play.

With Callahan's leadership and effort helping to turn around the Lightning culture, it's not hard to see why the Rangers have so much respect for their former captain. But Marc Staal assured fans that won't matter at all when the puck is dropped, relayed by the Rangers' Twitter account:

The fateful trade from last season is well worth analyzing, but it is only a small part of this matchup. St. Louis has regressed into a minimal factor, while Callahan doesn't have a goal in these playoffs.

The same can't be said of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and what he has on his plate over the next four to seven games.

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

One of the NHL's best netminders doesn't figure to have an easy go of things in this series, going head-to-head with a Lightning crew that topped the NHL with 262 goals during the season. Once led exclusively by Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay now has plenty of goal scorers to carry the torch alongside him.

Without Lundqvist, the Rangers wouldn't have come close to battling back from 3-1 down against the Capitals. With him, they're four wins away from making history, as ESPN's John Buccigross noted:

After winning the Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the regular season, the Rangers have eyed the opportunity to end a more than 20-year drought without a Stanley Cup. They haven't made things easy for themselves, with each of their 12 postseason games thus far being decided by a single goal.

Meanwhile, more than half of the Lightning's victories this postseason have been multi-goal wins. One of the two is going to have to give over the coming series.