NHL Playoff Bracket 2020: TV, Live-Stream Info for Wednesday 1st-Round Schedule

Wednesday's schedule was already packed with first-round Stanley Cup playoffs action. Now, after a five-overtime game Tuesday, there will be even more to watch on the second day of the opening round.

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in the five-OT thriller, the fourth-longest game in Stanley Cup playoffs history, in Toronto on Tuesday, which caused the first game of the Carolina Hurricanes-Boston Bruins series to be pushed back to Wednesday morning. It will be the first of five Game 1 matchups taking place as the rest of the opening-round series get underway.

The Bruins and Hurricanes played in last year's Eastern Conference Final, with Boston sweeping the series in four games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. But this year's series could be more competitive, as Carolina has momentum after sweeping the New York Rangers in the qualifying round.

Here's a look at Wednesday's schedule, followed by some of the key storylines heading into the day's matchups.

Wednesday schedule

Game 1: No. 5 Carolina Hurricanes at No. 4 Boston Bruins, 11 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 1: No. 6 New York Islanders at No. 3 Washington Capitals, 3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 1: No. 7 Arizona Coyotes at No. 2 Colorado Avalanche, 5:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 1: No. 8 Montreal Canadiens at No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 1: No. 5 Vancouver Canucks at No. 4 St. Louis Blues, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

All games can be streamed at NBC Sports Live.

Can the Capitals get past their former head coach?

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

In 2018, Barry Trotz led the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Then, the two sides parted ways. Trotz left to become the head coach of the Islanders, while Washington hired Todd Reirden to be its new head coach.

Last season, Trotz led the Islanders to a first-round playoff series sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but then Carolina swept them in the second round. Meanwhile, the Caps lost to the Hurricanes in the first round of last year's postseason, so they're still seeking their first playoff series win since Trotz's departure.

It's possible that could come for the Caps against Trotz himself, as they prepare to take on their former leader in the first round of this year's postseason. Washington went 1-2 in its round-robin seeding games to become the No. 3 seed, while the New York won a qualifying-round series against the Florida Panthers in four games.

"That group has a lot of pedigree," Trotz said of the Capitals, according to Andrew Gross of Newsday. "They've got a lot of star power and they've won a championship. They're well-equipped in a lot of areas. So, the biggest challenge is to play them even and play them hard and they'll do the same because I know a lot about that team."

One interesting matchup will be to see New York's scoring attack going up against Washington goaltender Braden Holtby. Although Holtby struggled during the regular season, the Capitals will rely on the 30-year-old veteran with Ilya Samsonov out for the rest of the season because of injury. Holtby is set to become a free agent this upcoming offseason, so this could be an important postseason for him to prove himself.

Will Canadiens or Coyotes continue their runs as underdogs?

Nick Wass/Associated Press

This year, the qualifying round gave more teams the opportunity to reach the postseason, a direct result of the four-and-a-half-month hiatus the coronavirus pandemic caused. Had that not happened, it's possible teams like the Canadiens and Coyotes may not have even reached the playoffs.

Instead, Montreal and Arizona are both set to play first-round series after pulling off upsets in the qualifying round. And while both will continue to be underdogs, it's possible one could get hot and make an improbable run through the postseason.

The Canadiens were the No. 12 seed in the Eastern Conference in the qualifying round, beating the No. 5-seeded Penguins in four games. Now, they'll look to upset the Flyers, who went 3-0 during their round-robin seeding games to secure the No. 1 seed.

In the Western Conference, the Coyotes were the No. 11 seed and upset the No. 6-seeded Nashville Predators in four games. Arizona also now faces a tough task in going up against No. 2-seeded Colorado, which went 2-1 in round-robin seeding games with its only loss being an overtime defeat to Vegas.

If either of these teams makes a deep run, it would be one of the biggest surprises in Stanley Cup playoffs history, considering each started as either a No. 11 or No. 12 seed. But both are currently playing well, so perhaps one could stay hot and bring more surprises along the way.

Blues begin their run to try to defend as champions

Hannah Foslien/Associated Press

The defending Stanley Cup champions will begin their path to repeating Wednesday, as the Blues are set to open their first-round series against the Canucks. And although St. Louis played well during the regular season, tallying 94 points (most in the Western Conference), the team went 0-3 during its round-robin seeding games to fall to the No. 4 seed.

So, there could be some adversity on the way for St. Louis, beginning with a tough matchup against the Canucks, who beat the Minnesota Wild in four games in the qualifying round. But if the Blues can return to the level of play they showed during the regular season, they could be poised for another deep postseason run.

And the Blues appear confident that they can do it again.

"I think any team in this league, it's going to be tough to win in four games against us," Blues left winger David Perron said, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

A strong start could be important for the Blues, though, as they try to bounce back from their tough showing in the round-robin seeding contests. But every postseason series St. Louis played last season went either six or seven games, so this is an experienced group that knows what it takes to win a competitive postseason matchup.