The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their first-round series against the Nashville Predators on Friday. Their second-round opponents, the Edmonton Oilers, finished off their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings a couple of days earlier on Wednesday.
With that in mind, it's a little surprising that both teams will have two more days off before their second-round series kicks off.
The Canucks and Oilers will kick off their match-up on Wednesday, May 8 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Their series will be the last to start of the second round, with the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers already playing Game 1 of their second-round series on Sunday.
Start times for the Canucks' series against the Oilers are only known for the first two games in Vancouver, with start times to be determined for the rest of the series. Dates, however, have already been decided, with the two teams playing every other night.
Game 1 - Wednesday, May 8 - 7 p.m. @ Rogers Arena in Vancouver
Game 2 - Friday, May 10 - 7 p.m. @ Rogers Arena in Vancouver
Game 3 - Sunday, May 12 - TBD @ Rogers Place in Edmonton
Game 4 - Tuesday, May 14 - TBD @ Rogers Place in Edmonton
Game 5* - Thursday, May 16 - TBD @ Rogers Arena in Vancouver
Game 6* - Saturday, May 18 - TBD @ Rogers Place in Edmonton
Game 7* - Monday, May 20 - TBD @ Rogers Arena in Vancouver
*if necessary
All games will be aired on Sportsnet in Canada, with CBC also carrying at least the first two games of the series. The series will feature Chris Cuthbert on play-by-play.
The start times for Games 3 and 4 in the series may be partially determined by the start times for Games 4 and 5 in the series between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, which are on the same dates. Those times have not been decided yet.
The delayed start of the series between the Canucks and Oilers seems to have been decided by who won Game 7 between the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. If the Golden Knights had won, their second-round series likely would have started on Wednesday instead, giving them a two-day break after the end of their series.
Since the Stars won and have home ice advantage, however, they could not start their series on Wednesday — American Airlines Arena was already booked for a concert: popular Mexican singer Luis Miguel.
The star of bolero bumped the Stars of Dallas up to Tuesday, giving them just one day off between the first and second round. That puts them at a disadvantage against the more well-rested Colorado Avalanche, who haven't played since Tuesday, April 30.
With the NHL wanting to avoid the two Western Conference series for the same dates, that moved the Canucks and Oilers to Wednesday. At this time of year, with so many players playing through some sort of injury, an extra day off ought to be beneficial.
There were rumours the NHL wanted the series to start even sooner — Sunday with the Hurricanes and Rangers — but that's not a schedule the Canucks would have liked to see. Starting on Monday was right out, with Pearl Jam scheduled for Rogers Arena.
