NHL Playoffs 2021: Full Dates and TV Schedule for Semifinal Round

The Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens opened their semifinal series on Monday, with Vegas taking an early 1-0 series lead.

Vegas opened the scoring with a Shea Theodore goal in the first period and didn't look back. The Knights won 4-1.

"The first goal was huge, and at the right time too in the first period for us with how we were playing," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said.

The win marked the fifth in a row for Vegas this postseason.

Like Vegas, the New York Islanders took an early series lead over the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. New York notched a 2-1 victory on Sunday. That game wasn't as lopsided, and Lightning coach Jon Cooper named mental errors as the deciding factor.

"Some of our decisions were poor. That's what happens when you get this deep into the playoffs. You have to have everything working in unison, and we just weren't there tonight," Cooper said, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.

The Islanders-Lightning series will pick back up on Tuesday.

2021 NHL Semifinal Round Schedule

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

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 2: Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Game 3: Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, USA Network

Game 4: Saturday 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

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Tuesday Preview

Normally, this round of the postseason would be considered the Conference Finals, but there will be no conference championships awarded in 2021. The NHL realigned to a four-division format for the season, largely due to travel restrictions amid the pandemic.

"There are going to be things we always will remember about this season, and one of them is that we never handed the [conference] trophies out," NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said, per Wyshynski.

Of course, the ultimate prize is still up for grabs for the remaining four teams.

Tampa will look to correct its mistakes heading into Game 2, and it should be eager to clean things up in a hurry. Falling behind 0-2 in a series with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line could be disastrous.

This is familiar territory for the Lightning, as Tampa battled the Islanders in last year's semifinal round. They ultimately won that series 4-2 and went on to defeat the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Avoiding unnecessary turnovers could be the key to rebounding this time around.

"Too many times we mismanaged the puck with it on our stick. We'll look at that and continue to work toward being higher percentage," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com.

The Islanders, meanwhile, will look to continue outplaying an opponent they tangled with a year ago.

"Both teams are pretty well the same as they were last year. Systematically, we're pretty similar," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post.

New York is hoping for a different end result this time around. The Islanders last appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1984, when they lost to the Edmonton Oilers.