In trying to figure out when the second round would start for the Carolina Hurricanes and the Philadelphia Flyers, I went about it all wrong. I was more concerned with Friday's action that I didn't consider how Thursday's contests out west would affect the broadcast schedule. As it turns out, it mattered quite a bit.
Both the Minnesota Wild and the Anaheim Ducks finished their series on home ice in six games, eliminating Dallas and Edmonton, respectively. In doing so, they completely wiped out the Saturday slate of Game 7s, with the theoretical Game 7s for Carolina-Ottawa and Philadelphia-Pittsburgh also scheduled for then. This left a wide-open day on the schedule without any playoff hockey.
Needing two heroes to fill the void, the league designated Game 1 of the Carolina-Philadelphia series to take place in Raleighwood on Saturday night at 8 pm on ABC. It'll be the Canes' first game in exactly a week after sweeping Ottawa, while the Flyers got a nice two-day break after eliminating the Penguins in six games on Wednesday.
I did find it a little surprising that the league opted to start this series without knowing for sure whether both series in the Atlantic Division would be settled on Friday night. Both Buffalo and Montreal have a chance to advance. Otherwise, they'd play their Game 7s on Sunday night. Regardless, it doesn't matter to the Canes and the Flyers now.
While we likely won't know the remainder of the schedule until the end of the day on Friday, one would think that an early start means a little break between games with travel for the two sides, which could bode well for each team. It'll allow for a little recovery between games. We'll keep our eyes peeled for when that announcement comes. Otherwise, our focus turns to Saturday night.
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