NHL playoffs schedule 2016: Eight teams open their bids for the Stanley Cup

After an opening night that saw goaltenders steal the spotlight, the Stanley Cup playoffs continue with four games on Thursday night, April 14.

The Flyers and NHL's best Capitals get the honor of first puck drop of the night at 7 p.m. ET. Philadelphia's coming off the news of the death of their owner, Ed Snider, earlier this week and will most likely be playing inspired hockey because of it. Meanwhile, the Capitals have been a Stanley Cup winner favorite for most of the year and probably don't have as easy of a task of taking down the Flyers as many say. Washington's stars Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie will need to help lead the way in a tough Metropolitan Division matchup.

Eastern Conference play continues in the next game of the night, with the Islanders visiting the Panthers in Florida at 8 p.m. ET. New York was stuck between a rock and a hard place in wanting either the Penguins or Panthers in the first round, and while the Rangers are dealing with Pittsburgh, Florida at the top of the Atlantic won't be a cakewalk. The Panthers are young, but held together by the leadership of Jaromir Jagr and goaltender Roberto Luongo.

The Wild and Stars set up the Western Conference half of the evening at 9:30 p.m ET. The high-powered offense of the Stars with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn will get a crack at the Wild, who backed into the playoffs with five straight losses. A Minnesota defeat here in Dallas could be the start of a quick series for the Stars.

Finally, the rivalry of the Sharks and Kings cap the night off at 10:30 p.m. ET. Two years ago, the Sharks held a 3-0 lead over the Kings in the first round but suffered one of the worst playoff collapses that allowed the Kings past them to ultimately raise the Stanley Cup. This time, San Jose doesn't look like the pushover they were in years past.

7 p.m. | Game 1, Eastern Conference Round 1
Verizon Center | Washington, D.C.
Local: CSN-DC, CSN-PH | Nat'l: NBCSN, CBC, TVAS
Live stream at NBC Live Extra and Rogers GameCentre
More coverage: Flyers blog | Capitals blog

8 p.m. | Game 1, Eastern Conference Round 1
BB&T Center | Sunrise, Fla.
Local: FS-F, MSG+ | Nat'l: CNBC, SN, TVAS2
Live stream at NBC Live Extra and Rogers GameCentre
More coverage: Islanders blog | Panthers blog

9:30 p.m. | Game 1, Western Conference Round 1
American Airlines Center | Dallas, Texas
Local: FS-SW, FS-N, FS-WI | Nat'l: NBCSN, SN360, TVAS3
Live stream at NBC Live Extra and Rogers GameCentre
More coverage: Wild blog | Stars blog