Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Previews, stats, schedule, bracket - ESPN

Following a trio of Game 1s opening the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs Saturday, there are four more clashes throughout the day Sunday as eight additional teams begin their postseason journeys.

Which teams will earn an early edge in their series? What are the key matchups in each game?

Read on for previews of each of Sunday's games, scores and highlights from Saturday's games, and updated playoff stat leaders.

Read more:
Full schedule
Playoff Central
Stanley Cup odds
Lapsed fan's guide

Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche
Game 1 | 3 p.m. ET (TNT)

The first team to clinch its playoff ticket faces off against the final team to do so, as the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche begin their quest to win their second Cup of the 2020s (having won in 2022). Colorado did well against most teams this season, and that was also the case against L.A., sweeping all three games against the Kings by an aggregate score of 13-5. The two teams last met in the playoffs in 2002, which was a 4-3 series win by the Avs.

Colorado was led in scoring this season by Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon (127 points), while Adrian Kempe paced the Kings (73).

Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 5:45 p.m. ET (TNT)

Due to COVID-19-based realignment in the 2021 season, these two Atlantic Division rivals wound up competing in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, won 4-1 by Tampa Bay. Their previous meeting in a traditional playoff format was back in 2015, a 4-2 win for the Lightning. Can the Canadiens reverse the trend this spring? The two clubs split the regular-season series, although the Habs won the two most recent games (4-1 on March 31 and 2-1 on April 9).

Tampa Bay has one of the sport's most dangerous scorers in Nikita Kucherov (130