The National Hockey League today announced the dates, starting times, and national television information for the series-opening games of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round. A complete Second Round schedule will be announced when available. All times listed are ET and subject to change.

North Division Semifinals
Game 1 - Fri., April 20 - Crunch vs. Rochester - W, 6-2

Game 2 - Sat., April 21 - Crunch vs. Rochester - W, 6-5 

Game 3 - Wed., April 25 - Crunch at Rochester - 7:05 p.m.

Game 4* - Fri., April 27 - Crunch at Rochester - 7:05 p.m.

Game 5* - Sat., April 28 - Crunch vs. Rochester - 7 p.m.

*If necessary

For now, all the Tampa Bay Lightning can do is sit back and watch like the rest of us.

The Lightning know they're in the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They know their next opponent will either be the Boston Bruins, who have home-ice advantage for Game 7 of their opening round series against Toronto, or the Maple Leafs, who have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force said Game 7.

The only thing the Lightning don't know is which team will move through and when that second round series will begin.

So, like everybody else in the hockey world, they'll be glued to their televisions (or smart phones) for Wednesday night's Game 7 to find out the answer to both questions.

With an emphasis on drafting and developing, the Tampa Bay Lightning have created one of the strongest pipelines in the National Hockey League over the last few years. Each week, TampaBayLightning.com will provide statistical updates on key prospects throughout the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), the United States Hockey League (USHL), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and will highlight select players from the club's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

In defeating the Devils four games to one, the Lightning delivered a magnificent first round performance. Obviously, there were several components that went into the triumph - and we will examine those in this column. But first, a reminder about two important questions for the Lightning that were detailed before the series began. First, could the Lightning neutralize New Jersey's team speed, led by Taylor Hall? The Devils' speed created problems for the Lightning at points during the regular season series. Second, would the Lightning's penalty kill, which struggled during the second half of the regular season, be able to handle a New Jersey power play that finished the regular season with 16 goals in the final 19 games? The answer to both those questions turned out to be "yes". Here's how the Lightning did it, along with other critical factors that went into their series victory.

As they did in the first four games of the series, the Lightning played very well in Game Five. Many of the elements that brought them success in the earlier contests against the Devils were on display on Saturday afternoon.

TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Lightning honored Nicole Singletary as the 45th Lightning Community Hero this season during the first period of Game Five versus the New Jersey Devils. Singletary, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, will donate half to Mary Help of Christians summer camp, while the other half will go towards a scholarship for her own education.

Naturally, the Tampa Bay Lightning would like to close out their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 Saturday afternoon at AMALIE Arena.

The Lightning lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 following a 3-1 Game 4 victory in New Jersey. The Bolts are focused on taking care of business at home to advance to the next round and avoid a trip back to the Garden State.

After a Game 4 win that gave the Bolts a 3-1 series lead, Tampa Bay returns to AMALIE Arena on Saturday with the chance to finish off the Devils on home ice. 

The Lightning can wrap up their First Round series on home ice when the host the Devils in Game 5 on Saturday afternoon.