NHL Playoff Bracket 2020: Known Schedule Details for Stanley Cup Final

When the 2019-20 NHL season resumed in August, there were 24 teams playing in the Canadian hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta. With a qualifying round added to the postseason, there were eight more teams than usual hoping to end the playoffs by capturing the Stanley Cup.

Now, there are only four teams that could do so, and some of those have better chances of winning the trophy than others.

For example, the New York Islanders have some work to do to keep their championship hopes alive. They're trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Final and likely need to win Game 3 to avoid their season coming to an end. Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars are tied 1-1 in the Western Conference Final.

It's possible the conference finals round could end as early as Monday, if the Lightning sweep the Islanders and either the Golden Knights or Stars win in five games. However, it's also possible that the round won't be complete until Sept. 19, were Tampa Bay and New York go a full seven games.

Until this round is over, it won't be known when the Stanley Cup Final will begin. But we'll soon find out, along with which teams will be playing for the trophy.

Here's a look at the conference finals picture, followed by Stanley Cup odds and a breakdown of the contenders.

Conference Finals Outlook

Eastern Conference

No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 6 New York Islanders

Game 1: Tampa Bay won 8-2
Game 2: Tampa Bay won 2-1
Game 3: Friday at 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
Game 4: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, NBC
Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 6 (if necessary): Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 7 (if necessary): Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC

Western Conference

No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 3 Dallas Stars

Game 1: Dallas won 1-0
Game 2: Vegas won 3-0
Game 3: Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 4: Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC
Game 5: Monday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 6 (if necessary): Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 7 (if necessary): Sept. 18 at 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Stanley Cup Odds

Tampa Bay Lightning -109 (bet $109 to win $100)

Vegas Golden Knights +165 (bet $100 to win $165)

Dallas Stars +700

New York Islanders +2200

Odds obtained via DraftKings.

It's not a surprise that the Lightning have emerged as a heavy Stanley Cup favorite. They've been on a roll this postseason, winning 12 of their first 15 games. They defeated both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins in five games and then jumped out a 2-0 lead against the Islanders.

Last year, Tampa Bay became the first No. 1 seed to get swept by a No. 8 seed in the first round when it lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets in four games. This year's postseason has gone much differently, and it's possible it will end with the Lightning winning the second Stanley Cup in franchise history and their first since 2004.

Tampa Bay is two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015.

The Lightning have been playing without captain Steven Stamkos (lower-body injury), and in Wednesday's Game 2, they lost center Brayden Point to an unspecified injury, which is a situation that will have to be monitored moving forward. However, they still have 2019 NHL MVP Nikita Kucherov, who scored the game-winning goal with 8.8 seconds remaining to put Tampa Bay ahead 2-0 in the conference finals.

"In the end, if you want to go anywhere and you want to go deep, your best players need to be your best players," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "And I think that clearly was shown [Wednesday]."

While Tampa Bay is in control in the Eastern Conference Final, things are tied up in the West through two games. And while Vegas has the second-best odds to win the Stanley Cup, it still needs to defeat Dallas in order to have a chance to win its first Cup.

The Stars got off to a strong start in the series, relying on their defense to make a first-period goal from John Klingberg stand in Game 1 and holding on for a 1-0 victory. However, they've now gone 117 minutes, 24 seconds without scoring, as they were blanked by the Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 2.

Vegas got off to a hot start this postseason, winning eight of its first nine games. It went through a bit of a rough patch, losing three of four after its Game 1 loss to Dallas, with its only win during that stretch being the Game 7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks that it needed to move past the second round.

But the Golden Knights may be back on track now after goaltender Robin Lehner notched his fourth shutout of the postseason and their offense scored a trio of second-period goals in the Game 2 win.

Anything can happen in the playoffs, and New York and Dallas have played well enough in the postseason that neither can be counted out. However, it won't be surprising to see Tampa Bay and Vegas going head-to-head for the Stanley Cup this year.