Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Previews, stats, schedule, bracket

The 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs are three days old, with 11 games completed. There has been an incredible array of goals and memorable celebrations, as well as a ramped-up intensity that has resulted in every team blowing past its regular-season averages for hits per game.

Tuesday’s slate includes four Game 2s, as the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche all aim to go up 2-0 in their respective series, while the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Utah Mammoth and Los Angeles Kings hope to square things up at one game apiece.

Read on for previews of all four games on Tuesday, scores and highlights from Monday’s games, and updated playoff stat leaders.

Read more:Full schedulePlayoff CentralStanley Cup oddsTop 50 player rankingsLapsed fan’s guide

Tuesday’s schedule

Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning7 p.m., ESPN2 | MTL leads 1-0

In Stanley Cup playoff history, the winner of Game 1 in a seven-game series has gone on to win that series 68% of the time; in the historical matchups between the Canadiens and Lightning, the winner of Game 1 has won the series 100% of the time (four previous instances).

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With a power-play hat trick in Game 1, Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky made some history. He was the first player in NHL history with three power-play goals in a playoff game that included the overtime winner, and became the youngest player (22 years, 20 days) in NHL history with a hat trick in his team’s postseason opener, edging out Wayne Gretzky in 1983 (22 years, 70 days).

Five of Game 1’s seven goals were on the power play, with Montreal going 3-for-5 and Tampa Bay going 2-for-5. Both teams will be looking to limit those opportunities in Game 2 and beyond.

Also off-kilter in Game 1 was the performance of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. One of the most clutch playoff goalies in history, Vasilevskiy posted a .789 save percentage via four goals allowed on 19 shots.

Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres7:30 p.m., ESPN | BUF leads 1-0

By now, we’ve all seen the videos of Sabres fans going wild both inside and outside of KeyBank Center during their team’s epic comeback victory in Game 1. What those fans might not have realized at the time was the historic angle: Buffalo became the second team in NHL postseason history to overcome a multigoal deficit in the final eight minutes of regulation, and the first since the New York Americans in 1940.

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After scoring zero goals in four games against the Bruins in the regular season, Tage Thompson scored two of them in Game 1, becoming the first Sabre with a multigoal playoff game since Thomas Vanek in 2011.

Thompson also became the sixth player with three points in his Stanley Cup playoff debut at age 28 or older, joining Andrei Kuzmenko (2025), Vaclav Nedomansky (1978), Frank Foyston (1919), Harry Cameron (1918) and Newsy Lalonde (1918).

Boston’s Morgan Geekie opened the scoring in the game with his sixth goal in the past five games (including the final four contests in the regular season).

Teammate David Pastrnak finished with a goal and two assists in Game 1, giving him 90 career playoff points, which is two behind Bobby Orr for eighth. Ray Bourque tops the list, with 161.

Utah Mammoth at Vegas Golden Knights9:30 p.m., ESPN2 | VGK leads 1-0

With the Mammoth being a new franchise (as of 2024-25), this is their first Stanley Cup playoff appearance, so Game 1 included a lot of specific firsts:

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Logan Cooley scored the first postseason goal in Mammoth history. Kevin Stenlund notched the first goal by a Mammoth player who had won a Stanley Cup elsewhere. Brandon Tanev earned the first playoff penalty in Mammoth history, with a roughing call whistled at 11:55 of the first period.

This was also the first blown lead in franchise playoff history for the Mammoth. It was also the 27th comeback win for the Golden Knights, which is tied for the most of any team in the NHL since Vegas joined the league in 2017-18.

Mark Stone scored career playoff goal No. 37 of his Vegas career, breaking a tie with Jonathan Marchessault for the most in franchise history.

Something to keep in mind for Game 2 and beyond: The Golden Knights don’t mind an early deficit. With their comeback win in Game 1, they are now 6-0-0 when trailing first under coach John Tortorella (a span since March 30).

Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche10 p.m., ESPN | COL leads 1-0

For a team that was led by some of the best hockey players on the planet in Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, it was non-stars who led the way in Game 1.

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Artturi Lehkonen netted his 27th career playoff goal, which puts him into a tie with Roope Hintz for third-most playoff goals among players born in Finland, behind Mikko Rantanen (43) and Sebastian Aho (34).

The other Avs goal came off the stick of Logan O’Connor, who had not scored since Game 4 of the Avs’ first-round series against Dallas last year.

The Kings did get a goal via one of their superstars, as Artemi Panarin scored the 22nd of his career. He now has 28 points in 27 games played for the Kings this season (regular and post).

Scott Wedgewood has made the most of his opportunity with the Avs this season, and with a win in Game 1, he became the third-oldest goaltender (33 years, 248 days) to win his first playoff start, behind Curtis McElhinney (35 years, 343 days in 2019) and Les Binkley (35 years, 306 days in 1970).

Monday’s scoreboard

Philadelphia Flyers 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 2Flyers lead 2-0

Whereas Game 1 in the Battle of Pennsylvania was a back-and-forth contest, this one was all Flyers — and now the series heads to Philly with the Penguins in a 2-0 hole. Porter Martone had his second goal in as many games, and he was joined on the scoresheet by Garnet Hathaway and Luke Glendening. But the big story for Philly was Dan Vladar, who stopped all 27 shots he faced. Can the Penguins push back in Game 3 on Wednesday? It’s as close to a must-win as a non-elimination game gets. Full recap.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: Game Highlights

Carolina Hurricanes 3, Ottawa Senators 2 (2OT)Hurricanes lead 2-0

The second overtime game of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs turned into our first double-overtime game of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canes jumped out to a two-goal lead early, but the Sens knotted the score in the second period. The two defensively sound teams limited chances during the third, and much of overtime. Mark Jankowski appeared to notch the game winner, but after video review, it was ruled that the Canes’ original zone entry was offside — so, they played on.

Finally, at 13:53 of the second OT period, Jordan Martinook buried it past Linus Ullmark to send the Canes faithful into a frenzy. The series heads to Ottawa for Game 3 on Thursday. Full recap.

Ottawa Senators vs. Carolina Hurricanes: Game Highlights

Dallas Stars 4, Minnesota Wild 2Series tied 1-1

From the opening puck drop, this looked like a different Stars team than the one that sleepwalked (sleepskated?) through a 6-1 drubbing in Game 1. Wyatt Johnston opened the scoring — and tossed in the deal-sealing empty-netter at 19:10 of the third — and was joined on the scoresheet by Matt Duchene and Jason Robertson. Brock Faber netted both goals for the Wild, who will host Game 3 on Wednesday. Full recap.

Kasperi Kapanen’s late goal secures Game 1 win for Oilers

Edmonton Oilers 4, Anaheim Ducks 3Oilers lead 1-0

In Tuesday’s nightcap — which was almost two full periods in by the time the Canes-Sens game finished — the Oilers jumped out to a lead after one thanks to goals from Jason Dickinson and Kasperi Kapanen. However, no lead is seemingly safe for the Oilers, and Anaheim attacked in the second period, resulting in a 3-2 lead for the Ducks on two goals by Troy Terry and one off the stick of Leo Carlsson. But, Dickinson and Kapanen were back at it in the third, netting their second goal apiece to earn a narrow 4-3 win. Game 2 is Wednesday in Edmonton. Full recap.

Wyatt Johnston sneaks in an empty-net goal for Dallas

Wyatt Johnston secures the Stars’ win to even the series 1-1 vs. the Wild with an empty-netter.

Playoff scoring leaders

PlayerGPGAPT-1. Joel Eriksson Ek, F, Wild2224T-1. Kirill Kaprizov, F, Wild2134T-3. Juraj Slafkovsky, F, Canadiens1303T-3. Matt Boldy, F, Wild1213T-3. Tage Thompson, F, Sabres1213T-3. Logan Stankoven, F, Hurricanes2213T-3. Brock Faber, D, Wild2213T-3. Wyatt Johnston, F, Stars2213T-3. Troy Terry, F, Ducks1213T-3. David Pastrnak, F, Bruins1123T-3. Morgan Geekie, F, Bruins1123T-3. Taylor Hall, F, Hurricanes2123T-3. Mats Zuccarello, F, Wild2033T-3. Jake Guentzel, F, Lightning1033T-3. Jackson Blake, F, Hurricanes2033T-3. Quinn Hughes, D, Wild2033

Click here for full list of stats leaders.

Playoff goaltending leaders

PlayerGPWGAASV%1. Frederik Andersen, Hurricanes220.780.9672. Scott Wedgewood, Avalanche111.000.9603. Dan Vladar, Flyers221.000.9554. Carter Hart, Golden Knights112.010.9395. Anton Forsberg, Kings102.040.9336. Linus Ullmark, Senators202.000.9337. Jesper Wallstedt, Wild212.020.9328. Jeremy Swayman, Bruins103.060.9199. Karel Vejmelka, Mammoth103.070.90010. Connor Ingram, Oilers113.000.89311. Lukas Dostal, Ducks104.120.88212. Stuart Skinner, Penguins202.560.88113. Jake Oettinger, Stars213.540.87914. Jakub Dobes, Canadiens112.940.87015. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Sabres113.010.85016. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning103.910.789

Click here for the full list of goaltender stats.