Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Previews, stats, schedule, bracketESPN staffApr 24, 2026, 07:00 AM ETMultiple Authors
tamil yogi
Momentum is a funny thing in any postseason, and that’s been the case in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Each series being contested on Friday sits at 1-1 leading into Game 3 — and a win here is more important than you might think.
When a best-of-seven series has been 1-1 after two games in Stanley Cup playoff history, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the series 66% of the time.
Read on for previews of Friday’s three games, a best bet for Friday, scores and highlights from Thursday’s games, and updated playoff stat leaders.
Read more:
Full schedule
Playoff Central
Stanley Cup odds
Top 50 player rankings
Lapsed fan’s guide
Friday’s schedule
Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
7 p.m. ET (TNT) | Series tied 1-1
Both of the games in this series have been decided in overtime, with the Canadiens winning Game 1 and the Lightning winning Game 2.
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This is the fifth time in the current playoff format (since 2014) that a series required overtime in the first two games, joining Bruins-Capitals in 2021, Capitals-Blue Jackets in 2018, Capitals-Maple Leafs in 2017 and Blues-Blackhawks in 2014.
For Tampa Bay, their Game 2 OT win was the club’s first playoff OT victory since Game 6 of the 2022 first round against the Maple Leafs, and snapped a seven-game OT losing streak.
With a goal, an assist and a fight in Game 2, Brandon Hagel became the first player in Lightning history to have a “Gordie Howe hat trick” in the playoffs.
Montreal’s Lane Hutson became the first Canadiens defenseman age 22 or younger with a power-play goal in the playoffs since P.K. Subban in the 2011 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Bruins.
Vegas Golden Knights at Utah Mammoth
9:30 p.m. ET (TBS) | Series tied 1-1
Since this is the first playoff appearance for the Mammoth franchise, there are a lot of firsts for the team this postseason. That includes the first playoff win in franchise history in Game 2, and the first home playoff game in franchise history coming up in Game 3.
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Logan Cooley became the youngest American player in NHL history (21 years, 352 days) to score a goal in each of his first two playoff games, narrowly beating the mark set by teammate Clayton Keller (22 years, 6 days).
Utah’s Dylan Guenther scored a career-high 40 goals this season, including 19 go-ahead goals, which was second in the NHL to Cole Caufield’s 29. His first career playoff goal put the Mammoth up 2-1 in Game 2.
Ivan Barbashev scored for the second straight game, becoming the fifth Golden Knight to score in the first two games of a postseason, joining Mark Stone (who has done it three times), Tomas Hertl, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.
Stone now has 74 playoff points, one shy of tying Marchessault’s franchise record for career playoff points.
Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks
10 p.m. ET (TNT) | Series tied 1-1
The Ducks’ six goals in Game 2 tied a franchise record for most in a playoff game, which has happened six other times. The most recent? A 6-3 win over the Oilers in the second round in 2017.
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Cutter Gauthier had a three-point effort in Game 2, becoming the youngest player (22 years, 94 days) in franchise history to have a three-point playoff game. Previously, the record was held by Paul Kariya, who was 22 years, 182 days old when scoring three points against the Phoenix Coyotes in the 1997 conference quarterfinals.
Teammate Jackson LaCombe had three assists in Game 2, tying the franchise record for most points in a playoff game by a defenseman; the others tied for the mark are Sami Vatanen (2015 first round), Chris Pronger (2008 conference quarterfinals) and J.J. Daigneault (1997 conference finals).
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Josh Samanski became the first set of German-born players to score a goal for the same team in the same game in Stanley Cup playoff history.
Connor McDavid has zero points in the first two games of the series, the first time he’s been held pointless in back-to-back playoff games since Games 6 and 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers are 1-13-2 this season (regular and post) when McDavid does not score a point; their only victory was Game 1 of this series.
Friday’s best bet
The bet: Alex Killorn 1-plus points (+120)
Why not target the series that’s averaging 8.5 goals per game? Skating on a forward line and power play with rookie Beckett Sennecke, Killorn logged more than 16 minutes in Anaheim’s 6-4 win in Game 2, while collecting a power-play goal, an assist with the extra skater, and a shorthanded helper.
Built for playoff hockey — he has 38 goals and 42 assists in 142 career postseason contests — the 36-year-old veteran also tends to produce in bunches. That portends nicely for another point or more when back in the friendly confines of the Honda Center on Friday night.. — Victoria Matiash
Thursday’s scoreboard
Buffalo Sabres 3, Boston Bruins 1
Sabres lead 2-1
The crowd in Buffalo set a high bar for rowdiness in Games 1 and 2 of this series; their counterparts in Boston matched the intensity in the building in Game 3. The two teams skated to a scoreless tie through the first period before Tanner Jeannot sent the home crowd into a frenzy with his goal at 3:26 of the second. However, Bowen Byram would score his second goal in as many games to knot things up after two.
Alex Tuch put the Sabres ahead at 4:03 of the third, and Noah Ostlund added an empty-netter to cap a critical win for the Sabres. The two teams face off in Game 4 in Boston on Sunday. Full recap.
Carolina Hurricanes 2, Ottawa Senators 1
Hurricanes lead 3-0
For the third straight game, Logan Stnakoven opened the scoring for the Hurricanes, this time at 5:13 of the first period to send a shiver down the spines of the Senators faithful in the crowd. Drake Batherson scored the game-tying goal at 16:06 of the second, but Jackson Blake quickly answered 83 seconds later. Carolina has a chance to sweep in Game 4 on Saturday in Ottawa. Full recap.
Colorado Avalanche 4, Los Angeles Kings 2
Avalanche lead 3-0
Just as their Eastern Conference top-seed counterparts moved to the edge of sweeping their opponents, so did the Avalanche on Thursday. Gabriel Landeskog, Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen netted tallies with a goaltender in the crease, and Brock Nelson added an empty-netter to seal the deal. Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe scored goals for L.A., but that was not enough to match the Avs’ offense in Game 3. Colorado will get its first shot at moving on to the second round in Game 4, Sunday in Los Angeles. Full recap.
Playoff scoring leaders
PlayerGPGAPT-1. Jason Robertson, F, Stars
Click here for full list of stats leaders.
Playoff goaltending leaders
PlayerGPWGAASV%1. Alex Lyon, Sabres
Click here for the full list of goaltender stats.
Stanley Cup playoff bracket
Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket ESPN
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