NHL Playoffs 2016: Schedule, Odds and Predictions for Friday's Round 1 Games

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a familiar position against the St. Louis Blues.

After dropping the first game of their playoff series Wednesday night 1-0 in overtime, the Blackhawks are in come-from-behind mode against their arch-rivals.

Two years ago, the Blackhawks met the Blues in the first round and dropped the first two games of the series. Both went to overtime. Chicago managed to climb out of that 0-2 hole and win the series.

Joel Quenneville's team does not panic when it loses a game or two in a playoff series. The Blackhawks have won three Stanley Cups since 2010, and they know how to handle adversity. Still, they don't want to tempt fate by falling into a 2-0 hole once again.

The Blackhawks will get back defenseman Duncan Keith for Game 2 of the series. Keith, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy a year ago for his outstanding play during Chicago's championship run, will return after being hit with a suspension for a stick-swinging incident in a late-season game.

A minor adjustment may be all that the Blackhawks need to square the series. The Blues' only goal in Game 1 came as the puck deflected off the skate of Trevor Van Riemsdyk and made its way under goalie Corey Crawford's pads.

Game	Time (ET)	Series Standing	Odds	Prediction
Detroit at Tampa Bay	7 p.m.	TB, 1-0	TB -155; Det. +140	Detroit
N.Y. Islanders at Florida	7:30 p.m.	NYI, 1-0	No line	N.Y. Islanders
Chicago at St. Louis	8 p.m.	St. L, 1-0	St. L -118; Chi. +107	St. Louis
Nashville at Anaheim	10:30 p.m.	First game	Ana. -166; Nash. +150	Anaheim

Jonathan Toews told Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune that his team needed to be more decisive on the offensive end. 

“We could move the puck a little bit quicker,” Toews said. “Take our shots and take our chances when we have them and try to generate off the second efforts. I think that's how we’re going to score goals in the series. Pucks were lying around. We just didn’t quite find them.”

St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said his team would also have to do more. He said he was hoping for a more physical effort from his team in Game 2 (h/t Chicago Tribune).

The two teams will square off Friday night at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis at 8 p.m. (ET).

The Detroit Red Wings will try to even up their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning after dropping the opener of the series 3-2.

The Red Wings appeared to be in good shape early in the second period when Mike Green and Justin Abdelkader scored goals just over two minutes apart to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. However, the Lightning tied it up at the 9:29 mark of the second period when Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the game.

The Lightning appeared to take the lead when defenseman Victor Hedman scored off the rush in the third period, but that goal was waved off because the play was offsides. However, Alex Killorn scored (h/t CBS Sports) the go-ahead goal that proved to be the winner when he deflected a Tyler Johnson pass behind Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard at the 8:52 mark of the third period.

Despite the loss, the Red Wings are not in bad shape in this series. The Lightning don't have Steven Stamkos (blood clot) or Anton Stralman (fractured leg), and those absences could have a negative impact during a seven-game series.

The Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators will be the last two teams to get their first-round series started when they meet Friday night in Game 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The Ducks were perhaps the league's most disappointing team in the first half of the season, but they played stellar hockey throughout the second half of the season, and when they won the regular-season finale at Washington Sunday night, they passed the Los Angeles Kings and won the Pacific Division crown.

They are facing the Predators, who earned the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Ducks feature a tough, physical and hard-hitting style, and they combine that with solid skating and leadership from Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

While the Predators had an impressive second half of the season, the Ducks would appear to be just a bit faster, stronger and more talented.

That should give the Ducks the advantage in the opener and throughout the series.