NHL Playoff Bracket 2020: Matchups, Predictions and Friday's Round 1 Schedule

The Vegas Golden Knights are going to be difficult to beat this postseason. Despite being a young franchise, they are proving to be a perennial contender in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

After going 3-0 during their round-robin seeding games to secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history, the Golden Knights have jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the No. 8-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the opening round. And Vegas' offense has been unstoppable, tallying at least four goals in each of its first five games this postseason.

The Blackhawks were one of the surprise stories of the qualifying round, as they upset the Edmonton Oilers as a No. 12 seed. The Montreal Canadiens (No. 12 seed) and Arizona Coyotes (No. 11) are also underdogs in the first round, but they are not off to strong starts, either, as they both lost their Game 1 matchups Wednesday and will be looking to bounce back Friday.

Here's a look at Friday's schedule, followed by updated predictions for each of the first-round series.

Friday Schedule

Game 2: No. 7 Arizona Coyotes at No. 2 Colorado Avalanche, 2 p.m. ET, NHL Network

Game 2: No. 8 Montreal Canadiens at No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers, 3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 2: No. 5 Vancouver Canucks at No. 4 St. Louis Blues, 6:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network

Game 2: No. 6 New York Islanders at No. 3 Washington Capitals, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 3: No. 3 Dallas Stars at No. 6 Calgary Flames, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Latest Series Predictions

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers over No. 8 Montreal Canadiens in five games.

No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning over No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets in seven games.

No. 3 Washington Capitals over No. 6 New York Islanders in six games.

No. 5 Carolina Hurricanes over No. 4 Boston Bruins in seven games.

It's only fitting that a series that has started as competitively as the Tampa Bay Lightning-Columbus Blue Jackets matchup would go seven games, right? Through two games, the series is tied 1-1. Tampa Bay won a five-overtime marathon 3-2 on Tuesday, and Columbus responded with a 3-1 victory Thursday.

That improved the Blue Jackets' playoff record against the Lightning to 5-1, as they swept them in the first round of last year's postseason. But Tampa Bay should fare better as the series progresses and it finds ways to generate more offense. If Steven Stamkos (lower-body injury) returns, that would give the Lightning an immediate boost in that area.

The Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes series is also likely to go seven games, as each of their first two meetings have been decided by one goal. Boston won 4-3 in double overtime in Wednesday's Game 1, and Carolina responded with a 3-2 victory in Thursday's Game 2.

After getting swept by the Bruins in last year's Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes could get a confidence boost from finally earning a playoff win over one of the NHL's top teams. And although Boston won the Presidents' Trophy during the regular season, Carolina is proving it can keep up with it.

"Every time something seemed to go against us, we felt like we bounced back," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said, according to NHL.com's Wes Crosby. "It just evens the series. It's nothing to get overly excited about, but at least it gets us back to square one."

Another series that should remain competitive in the Eastern Conference is the Washington Capitals-New York Islanders matchup. After falling into a two-goal hole in Wednesday's Game 1, New York scored four unanswered goals to come from behind for a 4-2 victory.

The Islanders, who are led by former Capitals coach Barry Trotz, are likely going to give the Caps a challenge. But Washington has the talent to get back in the series, potentially as soon as Friday's Game 2.

Western Conference

No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights over No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks in four games.

No. 2 Colorado Avalanche over No. 7 Arizona Coyotes in five games.

No. 6 Calgary Flames over No. 3 Dallas Stars in six games.

No. 4 St. Louis Blues over No. 5 Vancouver Canucks in six games.

This won't be the first time in recent memory that the St. Louis Blues are going to be tested in a playoff series. Although they won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history last year, all four of their postseason series went either six or seven games.

But first, St. Louis needs to get back into the series. Vancouver notched a 5-2 win in Game 1. That means the Blues are 0-4 this postseason after losing all three of their round-robin games to fall to the No. 4 seed despite tallying the most points in the Western Conference during the regular season.

However, St. Louis' players don't seem to be concerned about their recent struggles heading into Friday's Game 2 against Vancouver.

"We got a bunch of gamers on this team that like to show up in big-time situations, which is what I think we're going to see here," Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

Don't be surprised to see the Blues even the series at 1-1 and go on to advance to the next round to begin another deep postseason run.

The other Western Conference playoff series that should remain competitive is between the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames. After the Flames won 3-2 in Tuesday's Game 1, the Stars bounced back with a 5-4 victory in Thursday's Game 2.

Although Dallas has the momentum during the quick turnaround for Friday's Game 3, Calgary's defense is better than what it showed in Game 2. Prior to that contest, the Flames had allowed a maximum of two goals in four of their first five games this postseason, led by strong performances from veteran goaltender Cam Talbot.

In Game 2 against Dallas, Talbot had 31 saves but allowed five goals. He should bounce back, relying on his experience to play better moving forward while providing leadership along the way.