The Calgary Flames, led by New Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau, host the Colorado Avalanche, led by center Nathan MacKinnon, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in game one of their 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first round series on Thursday, April 11, 2019 (4/11/19) at 10 p.m. EDT.



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The Calgary Flames are the new players in the Western Conference playoffs, a field stacked with Stanley Cup-contending teams such as the San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights.It doesn't appear to be safe to count any of the eight teams out.Predators general manager David Poile knows the NHL as well as anyone on the planet, with three-plus decades of experience leading teams. And he would not wager a dollar on this postseason ."I can't see betting on anybody in these playoffs," Poile said. "I think it's going to be that close and there could be all sorts of upsets."The Pacific Division champion Flames certainly hope that's not the case.Calgary earned top seeding in the West with 107 points after not making the playoffs last year and earning a bid just twice in a nine-year stretch.The Flames' total trailed just the 117 they had when they won the Stanley Cup in 1989.It will be tough for the current team to duplicate that deep run.Calgary is expected to get past Colorado, the second wild-card team in the West, but the winner of the San Jose-Vegas series may be favored to beat the Flames in the conference semifinals.San Jose and Vegas have the most intriguing series in the conference's opening round and perhaps in the entire league. The talented teams met in the second round last year with the expansion Golden Knights moving on before losing to Washington in the Stanley Cup Final.On the other half of the bracket, the Central Division champion Nashville Predators face the wild-card Dallas Stars with the winner advancing to face Winnipeg or St. Louis.