As Blackhawks wait on Stars, rest of NHL’s first round seeds are set

With the Chicago Blackhawks losing 4-3 to the Detroit Red Wings this afternoon, we now know what teams are what seeds in the Western Conference to go along with the set-on-Saturday matchups in the East.

Here's how everything falls:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Washington Capitals vs. (8) New York Rangers

(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

Obviously right off the bat the most intriguing series will be Boston and Montreal. Zdeno Chara and the Bruins did not play in Montreal after the incident with Max Paciorety on Mar. 8, so their first visit in Game 3 will sure to be full of much hype.

The top-seeded Capitals will have a rematch of their 2009 first round series with the New York Rangers, which Washington won in seven games.

Of their last nine playoff appearances dating back to the 1994-95 season, the Buffalo Sabres have played the Philadelphia Flyers six times. They last met during the 2005-06 first round when Brian Campbell laid his huge hit on R.J. Umberger in Game 1.

Pittsburgh and Tampa meet for the first time during the postseason in their respective histories. The teams split their season series. Sidney Crosby's status for the opening round is still sitting at "unlikely".

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks/Dallas Stars

(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings

(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes

(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Nashville Predators

Chicago's loss now has them rooting for the Minnesota Wild tonight when they take on the Dallas Stars at 6 p.m. ET (live on NHL Network). If the Stars lose or win in a shootout, the Blackhawks will take the eighth seed and will face the Canucks for the third year in a row. Should Dallas wins in regulation or overtime, they're in.

That's the only remaining loose end needing to be tied up in the West.

We'll have a NorCal/SoCal series between the Sharks and Kings. The two teams have never played each other in the playoffs.

Phoenix will try and get revenge for their first round ouster a year ago as they again face the Red Wings. Will the Coyotes fans once again "throw the snake"?

The red-hot Ducks will try to ride their momentum of late as they take on the red-hot Nashville Predators. The Preds took the season series 3-1, but this has been a much different Ducks team in the second half.

The NHL will release the full first round schedule tonight at 10 p.m. ET with dates and times for each series.

Elena Lyons Brooke Burns Lena Headey Ali Larter Angelina Jolie