NHL Playoffs 2021: Updated Stanley Cup Semifinals Bracket and Predictions

The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to win the Stanley Cup for the second straight season. The other three teams remaining in the playoffs? They're each trying to prevent that from happening.

Although the Vegas Golden Knights are the highest seeded team still in the postseason (they were the No. 2 seed in the West Division), they've never won the Cup in their franchise's brief history. But that could soon change, as Vegas has an experienced team that is no stranger to deep playoff runs.

As for the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens, they're each trying to end Stanley Cup droughts. The Isles won four straight Cups from 1980-83 and haven't won since. The Habs last captured the Cup in 1993, which was also the last time that a team from Canada won it.

Here's the schedule for the upcoming Stanley Cup semifinal matchups, followed by predictions for both series.

Semifinals Bracket, Schedule

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

No. 2 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 4 Montreal Canadiens

Game 1: Monday at 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 2: Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 3: Friday at 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
Game 4: June 20 at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 5 (if necessary): June 22 at 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 6 (if necessary): June 24 at 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
Game 7 (if necessary): June 26 at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 4 New York Islanders

Game 1: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, NBC
Game 2: Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 3: Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
Game 4: June 19 at 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
Game 5 (if necessary): June 21 at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 6 (if necessary): June 23 at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 7 (if necessary): June 25 at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Golden Knights Will Quickly Get Back to Stanley Cup Finals

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The Golden Knights are in only their fourth season as an NHL franchise, and this is already the third time they've been one of the final four teams in the playoffs. However, they haven't made it past this point since their inaugural season, when they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018.

But Vegas should have a strong chance to get back there this year. It's already been tested with a pair of tough matchups this postseason, pulling out a seven-game series win over the Minnesota Wild and notching a six-game series victory against the Colorado Avalanche.

The West Division was highly competitive, and the Wild and Avs proved to be strong competition. Now, the Golden Knights will face the Canadiens, who have been the biggest surprise of the postseason thus far.

Despite tallying only 59 points in the regular season (the fewest of any team to reach the playoffs), Montreal has made an impressive run through the playoffs. It overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first round to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, and then it swept the Winnipeg Jets in the second round. So the Habs enter their series against the Golden Knights on a seven-game winning streak.

But Vegas knows it must continue to improve. And it may not have even played its best hockey of the postseason just yet.

"I've always believed that to win in the playoffs as you go along, you have to keep getting better," Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. "It's hard to win. Nothing has been easy for us in either series that we've played. It's only going to get tougher as we move on here to the semifinals."

Led by center William Karlsson (four goals and seven assists), Vegas has eight players who have tallied at least seven points in the playoffs. With goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in net, the Golden Knights have the experience in the back to pull out a strong defensive game at any point.

While the Canadiens have had an impressive run, it will end here. The Golden Knights have talent all around and were greatly tested in the West, and now they'll start to play even better as the goal of their first Stanley Cup gets closer in sight.

Prediction: Vegas wins in five games

Lightning Will Take Down Islanders in Competitive Series

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Because the NHL featured only divisional games during the regular season and first two rounds of the playoffs, the Lightning and Islanders haven't played yet this year. The last time the two teams faced off was at this same point last season, when Tampa Bay defeated New York in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Islanders will be hoping for a different result after knocking off the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins in the first two rounds of the playoffs. New York fell behind 2-1 in each of those series, before rallying back with three straight wins to advance.

Meanwhile, the Lightning haven't had much trouble this postseason and appear to be peaking at the right time. With forwards Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos both returning from injuries to open the playoffs, Tampa Bay got a boost that led it to a six-game series win over the Florida Panthers and a five-game series victory against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Kucherov (five goals and 13 assists) and Stamkos (five goals and eight assists) have led the way offensively for the Lightning this postseason. And they'll now look to repeat what happened last year by defeating the Islanders to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

"Whether we played each other last week or last month or three months ago, it doesn't really matter," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "We know what to expect from them, and they know what to expect from us."

That could mean bad things for the Islanders. As well as they've played this season, they're facing an experienced Lightning team that knows what it takes to win at this point in the playoffs.

It's not going to be easy for Tampa Bay, and it may be in store for a long series. But the Lightning will again find a way to get it done.

Like last year's meeting between the two teams, Tampa Bay will win in six games. While New York will keep things competitive early, the Lightning will reel off a couple of wins in a row to capture the series and continue their quest to repeat as champions.

Prediction: Tampa Bay wins in six games