NHL Playoff Schedule 2015: Updated Conference Finals Bracket and Outlook

The 2015 NHL playoffs are doomed for a conference final round that goes the distance, with both series tied at 2-2 heading toward telling Game 5 action.

While the Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning held the early momentum in their respective series, it's beginning to creep back to the opponent. It's officially a best-of-three series both ways for the right to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, meaning only six total wins separate any of these teams from lifting the Cup.

As Sunday night's Game 5 in New York looms, let's take a look at the full updated schedule and outlook for each conference.

2015 NHL Playoffs Schedule: Conference Final

Game	Date	Matchup (Series Tied 2-2)	Time (ET)	TV
Game	Date	Matchup (Series Tied 2-2)	Time (ET)	TV
1	Sat., May 16	Rangers win 2-1	-	-
2	Mon., May 18	Lightning win 6-2	-	-
3	Wed., May 20	Lightning win 6-5 (OT)	-	-
4	Fri., May 22	Rangers win 5-1	-	-
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	Ducks win 4-1	-	-
2	Tues., May 19	Blackhawks win 3-2 (3OT)	-	-
3	Thurs., May 21	Ducks win 2-1	-	-
4	Sat., May 23	Blackhawks win 5-4 (2OT)	-	-
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

Western Conference

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The Anaheim Ducks have gotten the best of the Chicago Blackhawks in every single regulation game of this Western Conference Final. The problem is, there's only been two of them.

Two contests thus far in four games of a whirlwind series have gone to overtime, and each made it multiple overtime periods before the Blackhawks pulled out victories. The first came in a triple-overtime thriller in Game 2 in Anaheim, before eking out a Game 4 double-overtime win off Antoine Vermette's stick.

After Sunday night's marathon ended, the two teams had played a whopping 14 periods in the last three games. That makes rest the No. 1 priority for both teams, as Adam Proteau of THN.com quipped:

For all their sudden-death success, to say things have been rough for Chicago in non-overtime games would be putting it lightly. The Blackhawks were routed in Game 1 before being virtually shut down by Frederik Andersen in Game 3 at home. 

As stated by the Blackhawks' Bryan Bickell, perhaps his team would benefit by just skipping the regulation time, as the Chicago Sun-Times' Mark Lazerus noted:

There's no doubting that the typical offensive firepower of Chicago has been stifled by the Ducks' strong defense, as the Blackhawks scored just over one goal per three periods prior to Game 4. But Sunday night's game proved the first time that they truly got the best of Andersen, who has been outplaying opposing netminder Corey Crawford. 

Whether the Blackhawks' reign over the Western Conference continues or the Ducks begin to usurp them will depend heavily on Game 5, where Chicago might hope to force another overtime contest as Anaheim aspires to not let that happen. 

Eastern Conference

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

In somewhat surprising fashion, the two best goaltenders of these playoffs are trading off poor performances to even the Eastern Conference Final through four games.

Henrik Lundqvist's struggles came first in net for the New York Rangers, who dropped two of the first three games. While defensive sluggishness played a big part in the Rangers conceding 12 goals through two games, Lundqvist gave up a handful of soft ones himself.

While Lundqvist got his act together as the series shifted to Tampa Bay, Lightning goalie Ben Bishop—who entered the series 8-0 all-time against the Rangers and began strong—began falling apart in the home stand. He's allowed 10 goals in his last 43 shots faced over the last two games.

So things are knotted up with three games left to decide who gets a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, and the result of Game 5 will be pivotal as usual, as ESPN's John Buccigross noted:

The Lightning's star-studded line led by Tyler Johnson started the series on fire, as Johnson himself produced a hat trick followed by his line scoring four combined goals in Game 3. But as the Rangers' defense has begun pulling itself together, the Lightning's opportunities have begun to diminish.

Tampa Bay is still generating traffic to the net and getting great scoring chances, but the Rangers are simply  doing now what they expected to do all along—rely on sound defense and stellar goaltending to stop it.

As the Lightning showed early in the series, they're capable of topping that at their best. But without a bounce-back from Bishop and a return to form for the team's most productive line, their early-series success won't return.