One of the best time periods on the sports calendar is just around the corner as the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff approaching. With the regular season winding down and the postseason set to begin Saturday, the first-round matchups are now taking shape on the schedule.

With the top spot in the Atlantic now locked after Monday’s slate, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the division are now set in stone. The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning will face off in the first round, though home-ice advantage is still up for grabs heading into the final game of the regular season for each side.

While that advantage could potentially sway the series in either direction, oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook have listed the series outcome. As things stand, the Lightning are -245 favorites in the series winner market while the Canadiens come enter as +200 underdogs to advance to the second round.

As things currently stand, Tampa Bay does enter as the higher seed between these two Atlantic Division foes since the franchise has the tiebreaker on regulation wins. Both teams have one game remaining on their schedule, so it’s likely that the Lightning do hold on to home-ice advantage.

Whichever side gets the extra home game, this should be a thrilling series to kick off the Stanley Cup Playoff. The Lightning and Canadiens are knotted at 106 points apiece. The former has a veteran-laden group anchored by Hart Trophy candidate Nikita Kucherov as well as Vezina favorite Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes, while the latter has a younger core headlined by the elite forward duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

Tampa Bay holds +500 odds to win the Stanley Cup, the third best of any team on DraftKings Sportsbook. Montreal comes in at +3000, tied for 11th on the leaderboard.