Welcome to the opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ first round.  We won’t be doing these every night, but this one at least seems fitting.

Four series start tonight and the NHL actually staggered the start times!  Hooray!

Boston Bruins (WC 1) at Carolina Hurricanes (Metro 1)

Time: 7:00pm EST
TV: ESPN, BSSO, NESN, SN360, TVAS2

Bruins Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Canes Blog: Canes Country

Gross series.

Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic 3) at Toronto Maple Leafs (Atlantic 2)

Time: 7:30pm EST
TV: ESPN, BSSUN, SN, TVAS, CBC

Bolts Blog: Raw Charge
Leafs Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

I’d be willing to risk Tampa putting it all together and threepeating just to see the Leafs trip over their own wispy creeper-staches again.

St Louis Blues (Central 3) at Minnesota Wild (Central 2)

Time: 9:30pm EST
TV: ESPN, BSMW, BSWI, BSN, SN360, TVAS2

Blues Blog: St. Louis Game Time
Wild Blog: Hockey Wilderness

I guarantee the flyover rage that the normally mild-mannered mid-country dorks get up to during this series will rival any of the uptight coastal elites who will be completely ignoring it.

Los Angeles Kings (Pacific 3) at Edmonton Oilers (Pacific 2)

Time: 10:00pm EST
TV: ESPN, BSW, CBS, SN, TVAS

Kings Blog: Jewels from the Crown
Oilers Blog: Copper & Blue

One game closer to the end of Dustin Brown’s career.