RUMOR: Schedule for the first four games of the Canadiens’ series

The NHL regular season will come to an end tonight. Tomorrow, the teams will have the day off… and on Saturday, the playoffs will begin.

Since the Eastern Conference teams have no more regular-season games on the schedule, we expected Saturday's games to feature Eastern Conference teams.

And that's what should happen—except for the Canadiens, given that the Lightning's arena is booked on April 18.

RUMOR: Day 1 of the Stanley Cup playoff schedule. Saturday, April 18.

12:30 p.m. Flyers at Penguins

3:00 Bruins at Sabres

7:00 Senators at Hurricanes

We'll see if it plays out this way. Stay tuned.

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) April 16, 2026

For the Canadiens, the first game is expected to take place on Sunday, but not in the evening. Renaud Lavoie mentioned this, and Jimmy Murphy has heard the same reports.

Murphy also posted a tweet with what is expected to be the schedule for the first games of the first-round series involving Montreal and Tampa Bay.

What would that look like? It wouldn't be ideal, given that the series wouldn't start on Saturday.

Game #1 would take place on Sunday afternoon, and Game #2 would take place on Tuesday, April 21, in Florida. There would then be a two-day break before Games #3 and #4 are played at the Bell Centre on Friday the 24th and Sunday the 26th.

Based on what I'm hearing, here's the LIKELY schedule for the #GoBolts vs #GoHabsGo Games 1-4:

Sunday: Game 1 at Tampa Bay (likely matinee)
Tuesday: Game 2 at Tampa Bay
Friday: Game 3 at Montreal
Sunday: Game 4 at Montreal

— Jimmy Murphy (@MurphysLaw74) April 16, 2026

We know the NHL sometimes likes to give teams two days off when there's travel involved in the playoffs. And clearly, that's the direction we're heading… at the expense of Saturday night games.

A Saturday night at the Bell Centre would have been great.

Let's not forget that it's the TV folks in the U.S. who call the shots, and for them, the appeal of a Saturday night at the Bell Centre isn't exactly their top priority.

Because even on a Friday night or a Sunday night, Quebecers will watch the game, the Bell Centre will be packed, and restaurants will do brisk business.

In a nutshell

– Enjoy the show.

Podcast from @passion_mlb with @SebasBerrouard

The Blue Jays' struggles, the Jazz Chisholm Jr. situation, and Kevin McGonigle's contract are on the menu https://t.co/GmLCqRxcUq

— Charles-Alexis Brisebois (@Charles__Alexis) April 16, 2026

– CH: A practice at 10:30 a.m. is on the schedule this morning.

Canadiens will practice at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard #Habs pic.twitter.com/FZJNaxZh5N

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) April 15, 2026

– A look at the Western Conference playoffs.

Vegas wins the Pacific Division, earns the West's No. 2 seed, and faces Utah in the opening round.

Still to be determined on Thursday:
Pacific 2 vs. 3 and Colorado's first opponent

Edmonton (91 pts, vs. Canucks) clinches second with a point, holds tiebreaker over Ducks/Kings;
Anaheim (90 pts, at Nashville) holds tiebreaker…

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 16, 2026

– Love it or hate it?

The Ottawa Senators honored Leafs play-by-play announcer Joe Bowen by showing a bunch of his calls of Sens goals over the past few seasons on the jumbotron pic.twitter.com/8QVvYGwpo3

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 15, 2026