NHL Playoffs 2017: Updated 1st-Round Schedule, Dates, Times and Predictions

The Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets are both on life support after dropping the first three games of their respective playoff series, but the Montreal Canadiens have rebounded nicely to going behind, with two consecutive wins over the New York Rangers.

The Wild skated hard and put quite a bit of pressure on St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen, but Minnesota dropped a 3-1 road decision Sunday to fall behind by a 3-0 margin. The Blue Jackets built a quick 3-1 lead, but the Pittsburgh Penguins fought back and recorded a 5-4 overtime win, as rookie Jake Guentzel scored the game-winner to cap off his hat trick. The Pens have a convincing 3-0 advantage.

The Canadiens picked up where they left off after winning Game 2 at home in overtime, but the Rangers were no-shows on their home ice. They rarely engaged the Habs, and New York might have been blown out if goalie Henrik Lundqvist had not been spectacular. The Canadiens won the game 3-1, and they dominated from a territorial perspective. Montreal leads the series 2-1.

A look at the entire first-round schedule can be found on NHL.com.

The Ottawa Senators will try to follow the lead of the Habs by rebounding with a second straight win after losing their series opener to the Boston Bruins.

The series resumes Monday night at TD Garden, and the Senators should be able to start well after Dion Phaneuf scored the overtime game-winner in Game 2.

Matchup	Series Standings	Time (ET)	Odds	Prediction
Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins	Series tied, 1-1	7 p.m.	Boston -172; Ottawa +155	Ottawa
Washington Capitals at Toronto Maple Leafs	Series tied, 1-1	7 p.m.	Washington -155; Toronto +140	Washington
Chicago Blackhawks at Nashville Predators	Nashville leads, 2-0	9:30 p.m	Nashville -117; Chicago +106	Chicago
Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames	Anaheim leads, 2-0	10 p.m.	Calgary -120; Anaheim +109	Calgary

The Senators mounted a third-period comeback to tie the undermanned Bruins, and Phaneuf's game-winner came early in overtime. The Bruins will hope home ice can help them, but after a relatively healthy season, they have lost defensemen Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo, Collin Miller and Adam McQuaid to injury over the past four games.

Carlo and Miller appear to be the closest to returning, per Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com, but the loss of Krug has been significant because of his excellent skating ability and his talent in the offensive zone.

Charlie McAvoy, who was a star for Boston University this year, has joined the team and been impressive in his first two games.

LM Otero/Associated Press

The Bruins could also have No. 2 center David Krejci back for this game, and that would take quite a bit of the burden off of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. If the slick Krejci is back, head coach Bruce Cassidy seems likely to put high-scoring David Pastrnak back on his line.

The Senators got a big lift from defenseman Erik Karlsson in Game 2, and he used his speed and puck-handling ability to set up Derick Brassard for the game-tying goal. If Karlsson can continue to overcome his previous foot injury, the Sens may be able to steal a game in Boston.

The Bruins are 29-50 favorites, according to OddsShark, while the Sens are 31-20.

The Toronto Maple Leafs return home after squaring their series with the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals with a double overtime victory Saturday night. The Caps are 13-20 favorites on the road, as oddsmakers don't expect this talented team to be shaken after losing on home ice.

Washington should be in excellent shape, with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk and goalie Braden Holtby, but the Maple Leafs are a young and talented team that is not likely to feel the pressure of playoff competition.

Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated Press

Rookies Auston Matthews, Michael Nylander and Mitch Marner are fast, skilled and explosive, and the Maple Leafs should have a good chance if they don't have to chase the game early.

Perhaps the most shocking development of the playoffs thus far is the Nashville Predators' back-to-back victories over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

Chicago has won the Stanley Cup three times since 2010, and they came into the playoffs as slight favorites over the Capitals to win the Stanley Cup once again this year. However, Pekka Rinne has blanked Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the rest of the Blackhawks in both games.

The Hawks must try to get back into the series by winning in Nashville. They have been through enough to turn things around on the road, but the fact is they were badly outplayed in their Game 2 5-0 loss, and they are going to have to produce a much better effort.

The oddsmakers have taken notice of how well Nashville has played to this point. The Preds are 17-20 favorites, while the Blackhwks are 53-50 underdogs.

The last game of the Monday night schedule features the Calgary Flames hosting the Anaheim Ducks. While Calgary has not been able to win in Anaheim, California, in its past 29 games there, in Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Mikael Backlund, the Flames have the offense to turn things around at the Saddledome.

The Flames are 5-6 favorites to earn their first win of the series.

Predictions

The Bruins may regret letting the Senators back in the series when they were close to starting off with back-to-back road wins. The injuries on the blue line will hurt the Bruins, and Ottawa's 1-3-1 trapping defense will frustrate the home team. Look for the underdog Sens to regain home-ice advantage with a victory in Boston.

The Caps will get all they can handle from the pesky Leafs for two periods, but Washington is too experienced and hungry to let this game slip away. Washington takes charge in the third period and wins the game.

Even if the Predators play their best game, it's difficult to see Chicago losing yet again. Once the Blackhawks get their first goal, they should relax a bit and get back into the series with a road victory.

The Flames will take out their frustrations of suffering through two late losses in Anaheim and pound the Ducks. Look for Calgary to score early and often to turn this game into a rout.