The NHL revealed its Stanley Cup Qualifier series schedule on Tuesday and for the Minnesota Wild, that means they’ll open their best-of-five series with the Vancouver Canucks on Aug. 2.
The Wild’s playoff push will have a different feel than year’s past thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic as 12 teams from the Eastern and Western Conference will play their games in bubbles located in Edmonton and Toronto to determine a Stanley Cup champion.
The 10th seeded Wild’s draw with the seventh-seeded Canucks puts them in a later time slot, however, as the two teams will play Game 1 of their schedule at 9:30 p.m. and the second game of the series at 8:45 p.m. on Aug. 4.
As part of the process to return to the ice, each team in the 24-team tournament will get a preseason game with the Wild having theirs against the Colorado Avalanche at 2:30 p.m. on July 29.
The preseason games will run up to real action on the ice as the fifth through twelfth seeds will play in best-of-five qualifying series while the top four seeds in each conference will play in a round-robin format to determine seeding.
The format will lead to plenty of hockey including 15 hours on Aug. 1 beginning with the New York Rangers taking on the Carolina Hurricanes at 11 a.m.
Here’s a look at the Wild’s playoff schedule with Games 3 through 5 to be determined as the field plays itself out.
- Game 1: Wild vs. Canucks Aug. 2, 9:30 p.m. (CT)
- Game 2: Wild vs. Canucks Aug. 4, 9:45 p.m. (CT)
- Game 3: Canucks vs. Wild Aug. 6, TBD
- Game 4: Canucks vs. Wild Aug. 7, TBD*
- Game 5: Wild vs. Canucks, Aug. 9, TBD*
* If necessary
** All games played in Edmonton
