Lightning vs. Canadiens schedule: Dates, times, TV channels, scores for NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series

{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lightning-vs-canadiens-schedule-dates-112617197.html","headline":"Lightning vs. Canadiens schedule: Dates, times, TV channels, scores for NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series","datePublished":"2026-04-28T02:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T02:00:00.000Z","keywords":["Tampa Bay Lightning","Montreal Canadiens","NHL","DIRECTV","Tampa","Tampa Bay","Los Angeles"],"description":"Here’s a complete guide to watching the Lightning vs. Canadiens series, including start times, TV channels and live stream information.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Gitto","url":"","jobTitle":""},"creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Gitto","url":"","jobTitle":""},"provider":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Sporting News","url":"https://www.sportingnews.com/us","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":571,"height":100,"url":"https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2025-07/afbd81b0-569a-11f0-bbf3-fe4a286db1d0"}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CfgIhyc_u_LIU5O_vnPezw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE1MjA7aD04NTY7Y2Y9d2VicA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_sporting_news_articles_584/f3c0c4b34877e97812dcd3cfd005534c","height":428,"width":760},"thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CfgIhyc_u_LIU5O_vnPezw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE1MjA7aD04NTY7Y2Y9d2VicA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_sporting_news_articles_584/f3c0c4b34877e97812dcd3cfd005534c"}Story byLightning vs. Canadiens schedule: Dates, times, TV channels, scores for NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round seriesAndrew GittoTue, April 28, 2026 at 2:00 AM UTC·3 min readLightning vs. Canadiens schedule: Dates, times, TV channels, scores for NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.With the regular season concluded for most teams around the league, it's time to shift focus to the NHL Playoffs.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_63iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_63iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }The Tampa Bay Lightning have home ice for this series, but there wasn't much separating them and the Montreal Canadiens during the regular season. It's also worth mentioning that the Canadiens are tied for the second-best road record in the NHL, at 24-9-8. Tampa has three more road losses than Montreal, but both teams have played stellar hockey during this year's campaign.Despite finishing with the same number of points, the Lightning head into this series with a clear edge, opening up as the largest favorite in the first round (-250, DraftKings). Tampa held a slight goals per game over the Habs at 3.5 GPG, compared to Montreal's 3.4. Where the Lightning distance themselves is through their defense. They only allow 2.79 goals per game, the third-best in the league, compared to the Canadiens' 3.06 (16th).The Canadiens do have an edge, though, pertaining to how frequently the Lightning fall victim to penalties. Montreal scores on 23.1% on its power plays, which should make the difference, as Tampa Bay leads the league in penalties…

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