NHL Playoffs 2016: Dates, Live Stream Schedule and Stanley Cup Bracket

The Philadelphia Flyers were not suffering from a hangover after earning their way into the playoffs following a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.

They proved that in their 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday. While that game didn't mean anything to the Flyers since they were locked into the No. 2 wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs, it meant something to the Islanders.

If New York had won, the Islanders would have jumped over the New York Rangers into third place in the Metropolitan Division. But the loss means they are the No. 1 wild-card team, and they will meet the Atlantic Division champion Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs.

The playoffs will get underway April 13, and the NHL announced the dates and times of each matchup late Sunday night.

The Rangers, who beat the Detroit Red Wings in the regular-season finale, will meet the Penguins in the first round. Pittsburgh (8-2-0 in their last 10 games) was the hottest team in the league at the end of the regular season, but it will have to show it can beat a team that has eliminated it from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Conference	Higher Seed	Lower Seed
Eastern	Washington (Metropolitan-1)	Philadelphia (WC-2)
Eastern	Pittsburgh (Metropolitan-2)	N.Y. Rangers (Metropolitan-3)
Eastern	Florida (Atlantic-1)	N.Y. Islanders (WC-1)
Eastern	Tampa Bay (Atlantic-2)	Detroit (Atlantic-3)
Western	Dallas (Central-1)	Minnesota (WC-2)
Western	St. Louis (Central-2)	Chicago (Central-3)
Western	Anaheim (Pacific-1)	Nashville (WC-1)
Western	Los Angeles (Pacific-2)	San Jose (Pacific-3)

The playoff games can be live streamed on NHL.TV.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will meet the Detroit Red Wings, who are in the playoffs for the 25th consecutive season. While the Lightning have home-ice advantage, the Red Wings may be able to rebound and get the win over the team that eliminated them last year.

While the Lightning have superior talent and went to the Stanley Cup Final last year against the Chicago Blackhawks, they will not have superstar Steven Stamkos in the playoffs after a blood clot forced him out of the lineup.

The Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals will face the Flyers in the first round. While Washington had a dominant regular season and appears to be the best team in the Eastern Conference by a fairly wide margin, don't be shocked if the surprisingly loose Flyers push hard and win a couple of games in that series.

The Anaheim Ducks had to fly to Washington to play the Capitals in a makeup game to end the regular season, and they made the most of that trip, beating Washington 2-0 in the finale Sunday night.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

That victory gave the Ducks their fourth consecutive Pacific Division championship. They edged out the Los Angeles Kings by a point.

The Kings may be kicking themselves after blowing a 3-0 lead to the Winnipeg Jets in their final regular-season game Saturday night. The Kings ended up losing 4-3 in a shootout, and they will have to face a tough San Jose Sharks team in the first round of the playoffs.

The Ducks will face the Nashville Predators, who earned the No. 1 wild-card spot in the Western Conference. While the Ducks will have to do a lot of traveling in the first round, the Predators don't appear to be the same type of threat as the Sharks.

The Dallas Stars defeated the Predators in their regular-season finale Saturday night, and they earned the Central Division title. The Stars will face the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs.

The Stars edged out the St. Louis Blues by two points, and that gives the Blues a tough first-round matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.

The Blues have had problems getting out of the first round in recent years, and they will have to be at their best if they are going to do it this year.

No team has proven itself more playoff worthy than the Blackhawks, who have won three Stanley Cups since 2010.