NHL Playoffs 2020: Schedule Guide for Friday's Stanley Cup Round 2 Games

In the opening round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, none of the eight series went a full seven games. In the second round, things are going a bit differently.

Of the four second-round series, three will be decided with a Game 7 matchup, two of which are set to take place Friday. This year's Western Conference Final teams will be known by the end of the night as the Colorado Avalanche face the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights take on the Vancouver Canucks.

Both of these Western Conference series had teams jump out to 3-1 leads, as the Golden Knights and Stars were both in control early. However, the Canucks and Avalanche each notched victories in Games 5 and 6 to force respective Game 7 matchups.

Here's everything you need to know heading into Friday's action.

Friday Schedule

Game 7: No. 3 Dallas Stars at No. 2 Colorado Avalanche, 4 p.m. ET, USA Network

Game 7: No. 5 Vancouver Canucks at No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights, 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Friday Preview

Will Avalanche Complete Comeback Against Stars?

Through the first five games of the Colorado-Dallas series, there was a lot of offense. And that was to be expected as both teams have strong attacks and have been putting up a lot of goals during the postseason. But in Wednesday's Game 6, a third-string goaltender put a stop to the scoring frenzy.

Facing elimination for the second game in a row, the Avalanche notched a 4-1 win to force a Game 7 as Michael Hutchinson started in the net and collected 27 saves. It was the first time in the series that either team scored fewer than two goals in a game, and Hutchinson was only in the net because Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz were both deemed unfit to play.

"He calms things down for us," Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon said, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "Galvanizes the team, for sure. We feel very confident when our goalie is playing like that."

If the Avalanche can limit the Stars' offensive production, they've shown that they're capable of putting up enough goals to win. A big reason for that is MacKinnon, who has nine goals and 16 assists in 14 games this postseason.

At one point, it seemed likely that Dallas was going to win this series, because it held a 3-1 lead and seemed to show no signs of slowing down offensively. Now, it faces a must-win situation in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Friday.

Colorado has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series, so it will be looking to do so for the first time as it tries to reach the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2002. It's also been a while since Dallas has made the conference final, with its last appearance coming in 2008. One of those droughts will end Friday.

Can Demko Help Canucks Complete Upset?

Things weren't looking good for Vancouver after it fell behind 3-1 in its second-round series against Vegas. Not only were the Canucks one loss from elimination, but they found out that goaltender Jacob Markstrom had been deemed unfit to play. That meant rookie goaltender Thatcher Demko would be put into action.

As it turns out, Vancouver perhaps should have given Demko more opportunities earlier. He had 42 saves in a 2-1 win in Tuesday's Game 5, then he followed that up by collecting 48 saves in a 1-0 victory in Thursday's Game 6. Not bad for the first two playoff starts of the 24-year-old's career.

And Demko isn't just doing this against any team. The Golden Knights won eight of their first nine games this postseason and had scored at least four goals in eight of their first 12 games prior to Game 5 against the Canucks.

"Thatcher's been our MVP both nights," Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes said, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "He's standing on his head back there, making some amazing saves to keep us in games."

Per AP, Demko became the third rookie goaltender in NHL history to notch a Game 6 shutout and force a Game 7. Now the question will be: Can he produce a third straight strong performance?

Despite being a young franchise, Vegas has already experienced postseason success, as it reached the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season in 2018 and has never missed the playoffs. But Vancouver upset the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in the opening round and has already overcome adversity just by forcing a Game 7.

It will be exciting to see whether the Golden Knights' offense can finally break through against Demko or whether the Canucks will continue their impressive run and reach the conference finals for the first time since 2011.