The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off in under 48 hours, and the NHL has finally released the complete schedule. They waited until the very last possible minute, dropping the schedule at 12:45 AM on the East Coast, finalizing things up to the last minute. From this afternoon, it's been known that the Bruins kick off their series against Buffalo Sunday evening at 7:30. Now, the rest of the schedule is here. Despite some concern over a potential conflict with the Boston Celtics, the NHL forged ahead with a direct conflict for Game 2. In an utterly befuddling move, the NHL has scheduled games for the same day on four of the seven games, a completely avoidable blunder that's only going to undermine their own viewership. Games 2 and 5 pose direct conflicts, with Games 1 and 4 potentially just sharing a calendar date. Nevertheless, the Bruins and Sabres square off for Game 2 on Tuesday, April 21 with another scheduled 7:30 puck drop. TD Garden's first playoff game of the year will be Thursday, April 23, slated to be a 7 o'clock puck drop. The Bruins and Sabres then get three days to lick their chops before gearing up for a Sunday afternoon matinée inside TD Garden, with a 2 o'clock puck drop queued. From there, it'll become to be determined for game times if the games are necessary, but the dates are as follows: Game 5- Tuesday, April 28 Game 6- Friday, May 1 Game 7- Sunday, May 3 All those times remain TBD until the potential games become confirmed. All told, it's nothing too shocking. The only shocking part is the NHL waiting until the wee hours of the morning on Friday to release the full schedule. The Bruins will be off on Friday, strategically plotting out a rest day. Travel to Buffalo comes Saturday, with a practice. Sunday night the festivities get underway. It's time to get into it, Bruins fans.
