Canucks to take on defending champions in round 1 of the playoffs

On Friday night, the Vancouver Canucks capped off a thrilling play-in series victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Now, the traditional playoff format begins with 16 teams left battling it out over four rounds to determine a Stanley Cup Champion.

Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round schedule, dates and times: https://t.co/6eW3t8JHHo

— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) August 10, 2020

Last year, it was the St. Louis Blues who were left standing at the end of four rounds and that’s exactly who the Canucks will begin their 2020 playoffs against.

The Blues didn’t win any of their three round-robin games, earning themselves the fourth seed and a matchup against the top-seeded play-in team remaining, the Canucks.

Vancouver fared quite well against St. Louis this season, winning twice and losing one game in overtime.

Round one.
Let’s get it done. #GoCanucksGo pic.twitter.com/jH6rlQWG0Z

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) August 9, 2020

The Canucks’ top players will need to be great if they want to upset the Blues, and Vancouver will need to find a way to shut down players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron.

Game one is Wednesday night at 7:30 pm, with games two through four scheduled for Friday, Sunday and Monday.