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24-team playoff schedule: The Capitals first game will be August 3

By Cara Bahniuk

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July 10, 2020 7:37 pm

With the approval of the new CBA, the NHL’s Return to Play plan is officially in motion.

The 24-team playoffs will begin on August 1 and the Capitals’ first game will be on August 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

During the first nine days of the qualifying round, a possible 52 games will be played. The first two days will have a guaranteed 5 games each, and the remaining will have 6 games each depending on the length of each series.

As promised, fans will be able to watch up to 15 hours total of hockey per day.

The Capitals full schedule for the round robin is:

  • August 3 vs the Tampa Bay Lightning
  • August 6 vs the Philadelphia Flyers
  • August 8 vs the Boston Bruins

The full broadcast schedule will be released in the coming days.

More about the schedule from the NHL:

Games have been scheduled on a staggered basis, providing hours of continuous action. The start times for the 10 days of Stanley Cup Qualifiers in Toronto (Eastern Conference games) will be: Noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET. In order to maximize the viewing experience for fans across North America, the start times for the three game windows in Edmonton (Western Conference games) – 2 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. ET and 10:30 p.m. ET – may fluctuate by up to 30 minutes during the qualifying round.

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers featuring the 16 teams that are contesting best-of-five series to determine the eight teams advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, commonly referred to as the qualifying round, will begin on Saturday, Aug. 1, with five games: three in Toronto (Carolina vs. NY Rangers, Florida vs. NY Islanders and Montreal vs. Pittsburgh) and two in Edmonton (Chicago vs. Edmonton, Calgary vs. Winnipeg).

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers featuring the top four teams from each conference to determine seeding in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, commonly referred to as the round robin, will begin on Sunday, Aug. 2, with two games, one in each hub city: Boston vs. Philadelphia (at Toronto) and Colorado vs. St. Louis (at Edmonton).

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong