With time winding down on the Eastern Conference Final and the Colorado Avalanche already punching their ticket through, the NHL is beginning to prepare for the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. Today, the league announced the schedule scenarios for the penultimate series, which is dependent on whether the Eastern Conference Final goes to six or seven games.
If the Tampa Bay Lightning, who hold a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final, win Game 6 and advance tomorrow night, the Cup Final will commence on Wednesday, June 15th. If the New York Rangers force a Game 7, the series will begin Saturday, June 18. In either scenario, every Stanley Cup Final game will begin at 7:00 p.m. CT.
The Colorado Avalanche, who missed out on the Presidents’ Trophy this season by just three points, hold the home-ice advantage in both scenarios. The last possible day for the 2021-22 NHL season is Thursday, June 30, which is when Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final would occur if the Eastern Conference Final stretches to seven games.
The games are spaced evenly, and played every other day, aside from Games 1 and 2 of the six-game Eastern Conference Final scenario, where Tampa Bay and Colorado would play Game 1 on June 15 and wait until June 18 to play Game 2. In the United States, the 2022 Stanley Cup Final will be broadcast on ABC for the first time in 18 years.