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Lightning NHL playoff schedule announced for first round

Tampa Bay will take on Toronto with Game 1 scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 18.

TAMPA, Fla. — The NHL playoffs are finally here!

The Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs.

This tantalizing matchup, locked in for some time, is a rematch from the first round last year, when the Lightning rallied from a 3-2 series deficit to win in seven games.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly have yet to win a playoff series in Toronto. The Lightning have the playoff pedigree and the best goaltender in the world in Andrei Vasilevskiy, but they've also played so much hockey because of three trips to the final — and two wins — since the fall of 2020.

The NHL has released the schedule for all first-round playoff games, and the first game between the Lightning and Maples Leafs is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, in Toronto. 

The only games not confirmed with a time and date are six and seven as those are still yet to be determined. 

Below is Tampa Bay's schedule for the first four games in the series against Toronto:

  • Game 1: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 18 at Toronto
  • Game 2: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20 at Toronto
  • Game 3: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 22 at Tampa Bay 
  • Game 4: 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 24 at Tampa Bay
  • Game 5: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 27 at Toronto

Games 1 and 2 will be televised on ESPN while 3 and 4 can be seen on TBS. The league has not yet announced where Game 5 will be televised in the U.S. To view the playoff schedule for other teams, click here. 

To view all the playoff events happening around the Tampa Bay area for fans to cheer on the Lightning during the playoffs, click here. 

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