NHL Playoff Bracket 2020: Upcoming Stanley Cup TV and Live-Stream Schedule

The Western Conference Finals matchup for this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs is now set. The top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights will take on the No. 3-seeded Dallas Stars with a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals on the line.

To get there, both Vegas and Dallas had to win Game 7 contests on Friday. The Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 to win their series, while the Stars edged the Avalanche 5-4 in overtime to advance. Dallas is in the conference finals for the first time since 2008, while Vegas has made it for the second time in the franchise's first three seasons.

In the Eastern Conference, the No. 2-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the conference finals with a five-game series win over the No. 4-seeded Boston Bruins. That series concluded Monday, but they won't know their next opponent until Saturday night when the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers are set to face the No. 6-seeded New York Islanders in a Game 7 matchup.

Here's a look at the upcoming schedule, followed by a preview of Saturday's Flyers-Islanders contest, the final game of the second round.

Upcoming Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 5

Game 7: No. 6 New York Islanders at No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC

Sunday, Sept. 6

Game 1: No. 3 Dallas Stars at No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

Games can be streamed live at NBC Sports Live

Saturday Preview

The Flyers have momentum on their side entering Saturday's Game 7 against the Islanders. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, Philadelphia has evened it back up. And it did so in thrilling fashion.

In Tuesday's Game 5, the Flyers won 4-3 in overtime. Then, they notched a 5-4 victory in double OT in Game 6 on Thursday. All three of their victories in the series have gone to overtime. But that's what it's taken for Philadelphia to get back in the series against New York, the lowest-seeded team still alive in the playoffs.

"We wanted to have a chance," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said, according to Field Level Media (h/t ESPN). "If someone had asked me at the beginning of this series against such a strong opponent—one game, winner-take-all, I would have taken that."

The Islanders got off to a strong start in the postseason. They defeated the Florida Panthers in four games in a best-of-five qualifying-round series. Then, they upset the Washington Capitals in five games in the opening round.

But New York's most impressive stretch might have come at the beginning of the series against Philadelphia. While jumping out to a 3-1 lead, it allowed only three total goals over its trio of victories.

In Game 7, the Islanders will look to do a better job of shutting down the Flyers' offense. They'll also need to put their past two losses behind them.

"We've just got to go through a little adversity," New York coach Barry Trotz said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "One thing that you do as a team is you fight adversity and you grow. You grow as a group. So this is part of our process."

Trotz guided the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2018. Now, he's looking to lead the Islanders to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1993. And after they missed out on their first two opportunities to finish off the Flyers, they have one final chance to do so.

Philadelphia hasn't reached the conference finals since 2010 when it reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

After the first round of the playoffs didn't have a series go a full seven games, the second round has provided an exciting conclusion, with three Game 7 matchups in two days. And if the past two games in the series are any indication, the final meeting between the Flyers and Islanders should be another thrilling one.