Dates and TV Schedule for Entire 2020 NHL Conference Finals Playoff Round

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights headed into the NHL's conference finals as the favorites to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. One of those teams may quickly take care of business. The other, not so much.

While the Lightning jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Final, the Golden Knights trail the Dallas Stars 2-1 in the West after the Stars notched a 3-2 victory in overtime in Thursday's Game 3.

However, these are best-of-seven series, and anything could still happen. Teams have come back from deficits before, so Vegas and New York aren't yet out of the running.

Here's a look at the full schedule for the remainder of the conference-finals round, followed by a breakdown of the current playoff picture.

Remaining Conference Finals Schedule              

Friday, Sept. 11

Game 3: No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning at No. 6 New York Islanders, 8 p.m. ET, USA Network

Saturday, Sept. 12

Game 4: No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights at No. 3 Dallas Stars, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

Sunday, Sept. 13

Game 4: No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning at No. 6 New York Islanders, 3 p.m. ET, NBC

Monday, Sept. 14

Game 5: No. 3 Dallas Stars at No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Tuesday, Sept. 15

Game 5 (if necessary): No. 6 New York Islanders at No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Wednesday, Sept. 16

Game 6 (if necessary): No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights at No. 3 Dallas Stars, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Thursday, Sept. 17

Game 6 (if necessary): No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning at No. 6 New York Islanders, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Friday, Sept. 18

Game 7 (if necessary): No. 3 Dallas Stars at No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights, 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Saturday, Sept. 19

Game 7 (if necessary): No. 6 New York Islanders at No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC

Conference Finals Outlook

No team has been on more of a roll than the Lightning of late, and they have continued their strong postseason play at the start of the Eastern Conference Final. They're 12-3 in the playoffs, and if they win Friday's Game 3, they will put the Islanders in a 3-0 hole, a deficit that only four teams have overcome in Stanley Cup playoffs history.

Tampa Bay is also doing this while facing some adversity. Captain Steven Stamkos has missed the entire postseason with a lower-body injury. In Game 2 against New York, Brayden Point, the leading points scorer who's still active this postseason, left in the second period and could miss Game 3.

Despite that, the Lightning pulled out a 2-1 win in Game 2, with Nikita Kucherov scoring the game-winning goal with 8.8 seconds remaining.

"In the end it was gutty," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said, according to Field Level Media (h/t ESPN). "That's what that effort was. It was just gutty."

The Lightning are looking to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015 and win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history (the first came in 2004). Meanwhile, the Islanders haven't reached the Stanley Cup Final since 1984 and haven't won the Cup since winning four straight between 1980 and 1983.

But if New York is going to continue its underdog postseason run (it upset the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers in the previous two rounds), a Game 3 win could be a necessity.

In the Western Conference Final, the Stars may be orchestrating an upset of their own. Their offense finally broke through in Thursday's Game 3 after they scored only one goal in Game 1 (a 1-0 win) and were blanked in Game 2 (a 3-0 loss).

Dallas took a 2-1 series lead when right winger Alexander Radulov scored the game-winning goal 31 seconds into overtime of Game 3. If the Stars can win Game 4, they will have be one victory away from their first Stanley Cup Final since 2000.

As for the Golden Knights, they were one of the hottest teams to start the postseason, winning eight of their first nine games. However, they have lost four of their past six games. They avoided a second-round elimination with a Game 7 win over the Vancouver Canucks, but they trail the Stars three games into the conference final.

In its third season, Vegas is seeking its second Stanley Cup Final appearance and its first Cup. It may need to start generating more offense again to extend its postseason run. The Golden Knights haven't scored more than three goals in any of their past six games after scoring at least four five times earlier this postseason.