Even though yesterday’s exhibition games weren’t “real games”, it sure felt real as we once again heard the sound of skates on ice and pucks off boards.
With the Dallas Stars on the docket for exhibition games on the third and final day of these contests, it was noticeably less stressful watching the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers open the playoffs after the league’s pause. If you tuned into NBCSN before the game began, you were treated to a little documentary detailing the rivalry between these two Eastern Conference teams. Remember when Peter Laviolette and Dan Bylsma got so heated in a playoff game that they were practically climbing over the dasherboards with a kind invitation to “take it outside”?
The game didn’t disappoint, with a goal scored in less than a minute into action and bonus hockey to boot. Honestly, the only game from yesterday that could be considered boring in some way was the Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames late-night matchup. That’s mainly because the Oilers ended up with an early lead and never really looked back, while the Flames kind of forgot how to play hockey in the second period altogether.
Today’s schedule has six games on tap, displaying what hockey fans will be in for once the round-robin seeding round and play-in rounds start on Saturday. You can watch hockey from 11 AM CDT to 12 AM CDT today. With so many to choose from, we’ve got our eyes on these two contests:
Here’s the full schedule of games today:
- 11 AM CDT: Tampa Bay Lightning @ Florida Panthers (NHL Network)
- 1:30 PM CDT: Colorado Avalanche @ Minnesota Wild (NHL Network)
- 3 PM CDT: Carolina Hurricanes @ Washington Capitals (NBC Sports Network)
- 5:30 PM CDT: St, Louis Blues @ Chicago Blackhawks (NHL Network)
- 7 PM CDT: New York Islanders @ New York Rangers (NBC Sports Network)
- 9:30 PM CDT: Vancouver Canucks @ Winnipeg Jets (NHL Network)/
Will you be watching working with hockey on in the background today before vegging out in front of the telly this evening? Just a little PSA, though: if you cook dinner while a game is on in the background, you can sometimes mix up the ingredients for your dishes because you’re not paying attention. Garlic =/= white scallion onions, and that taste is completely different. Or so my friend told me.