STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS RETURN TO NBC SPORTS WITH SIX SECOND ROUND GAMES THIS WEEKEND

(2) Tampa Bay Lightning and (4) Boston Bruins Face Off in Game 4 Tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET on NBC – Tampa Bay Leads Series 2-1

(1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (6) New York Islanders Game 3 Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Game 4 Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC – Series Tied 1-1

Sunday’s Coverage Begins at 6 p.m. ET Between (2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3) Dallas Stars Game 4 on NBCSN – Dallas Leads Series 2-1

(1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (5) Vancouver Canucks Game 3 Saturday at 9:45 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Game 4 Sunday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN – Series Tied 1-1

Highlights from Last Night’s Special Edition of NHL Live with Kathryn Tappen, Anson Carter and Patrick Sharp Discussing NHL Players’ Decision Not to Play Last Night and Tonight

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 28, 2020 – NBC Sports today announced the broadcast details for this weekend’s exclusive coverage of the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round on NBC and NBCSN, featuring tripleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.

The Second Round resumes play tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET on NBC, when the (2) Tampa Bay Lightning, who lead the series 2-1, face the (4) Boston Bruins. The nighttime doubleheader features Game 3 between the (1) Philadelphia Flyers and (6) New York Islanders at 7 p.m. ET, before coverage shifts to the hub city of Edmonton for Game 3 between the (1) Vegas Golden Knights and the (5) Vancouver Canucks at 9:45 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Both series are tied 1-1.

Sunday’s coverage is highlighted by Game 4 of the Flyers-Islanders series in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage on Sunday begins with the (2) Colorado Avalanche looking to tie the series at two games apiece with the (3) Dallas Stars at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Sunday’s nightcap features the Golden Knights and Canucks facing off in Game 4 at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

This weekend’s NHL schedule on NBC and NBCSN is below:

NBC SPORTS RADIO SECOND ROUND BROADCAST SCHEDULE

In conjunction with Westwood One, NBC Sports Radio will broadcast game coverage of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including every game of the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final. Following is NBC Sports Radio and Westwood One’s upcoming Second Round broadcast schedule:

HIGHLIGHTS FROM NHL LIVE SPECIAL EDITION

Last night, a special edition of NHL Live featured Kathryn Tappen, Anson Carter and Patrick Sharp discussing the NHL players’ decision not to play last night or tonight in order to bring attention to social injustice. The program featured an interview with co-head of the Hockey Diversity Alliance and San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane, as well as a players’ press conference commentating on their decision.

Below are highlights from the program:

Anson Carter: “I support the guys for not playing. Honestly, I’m glad there’s no hockey tonight because I am tired, I’m exhausted. If we had a game tonight, there’s no way I think I could function with the weight of the last 24 hours. I made a comment last night saying that I thought it was ok for the players to play and I stand by that comment because I think we can focus on something bigger, how sports can change things, how we can use arenas to increase polling?…there’s a bigger conversation to be had. I think that’s what is getting away from us right now. People are missing that point. I’m so sick and tired of performative activism. What are we actually going to do to have change happen? You can talk all you want, but what exactly are we doing to change things going forward because you can have all the hashtags and social media comments you want, but these shootings are still occurring and that’s just not acceptable.”

Patrick Sharp: “It’s great that the players have a voice and it’s even better that they recognize that their voice is heard, and by not playing for a couple nights, by shutting the league down, it takes away from the entertainment value of our sport and it puts the spotlight on some important issues and some serious conversations that need to be had.”

Carter: “It’s important to be player-driven, and I applaud the players of the NHL because the guys are trying to win the greatest championship, trophy in sports – the Stanley Cup. And for guys to put that aside and take the moment to reflect and pause tonight, I respect and commend those guys. That’s a tremendous sacrifice for those guys to make. But it starts with the players. You can’t ask the league to do something. The players have to start that first. It happened with the NBA, the NBA did it, and now the NHL players are doing it. I feel pretty fortunate that NHL guys are coming on board and supporting this.”

Sharp: “It’s nice to know it’s not just a couple of voices. Over 100 players on that phone call, guys that compete against each other every day. It is a fraternity, it is a union, these guys care for each other and to have them all on the same call, reaching out to Evander, Matt Dumba, and others, that’s pretty special.”

Carter on the players’ press conference: “It was a powerful message. Ryan Reaves, he’s a strong and important ambassador to the movement. He was accurate with his comments, clear, concise and got right to the point. It was good to see white allies, not just black players. Black players get tired of talking about this all the time.”

Sharp on the players’ press conference: “I thought the most powerful thing of that was seeing everyone standing behind those five guys on the podium. Difficult subject to talk about, and to see everyone come together, I know there’s a lot more players outside the bubble that are standing with those guys as well, it’s good to see.”

Carter on his new program Hockey Culture: “It’s all about having conversations. I’ve been fortunate to have people here at NBC Sports to give me the support that we need to tell stories and have conversations within the game of hockey that you might not hear about. I keep using this phrase performative activism, but that’s exactly what it is. I don’t want to hear talk, I want to see actionable items…these are stories that you might not hear in mainstream media that we’re talking about every single day. I’m the co-chair with P.K. Subban of the Players Inclusion Committee of the National Hockey League and we’re trying to create lower barriers to entry in the National Hockey League and grassroots level of hockey. We want to grow the game, create more allyship within the game.”

Carter on how someone can discuss the movement on their platform: “Stay true to yourself. Don’t say anything you’re not comfortable saying. It’s ok to speak up and make mistakes. That’s why we’re having these conversations, because we haven’t had these conversations in the past. So we didn’t know what the right thing or the wrong thing was. It’s important to speak up and have these conversations…because I can tell you, maybe that’s incorrect, maybe you can see things differently or you can correct me, and that’s how we learn by having those conversations. If we sit there and are tight-lipped, and we walk around on egg shells not sure what to say, that’s not a way that we grow. We grow through having conversations and having those conversations and realizing what the right and wrong thing is to say and we learn from each other.”

Earlier this week, Hockey Culture debuted an interview with Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse as part of the initiative, led by Anson Carter, dedicated to bringing equality and inclusion to the sport of hockey. Among the topics that Carter and Nurse discussed were Nurse’s childhood and upbringing around the sport of hockey in Canada, his experience playing for the Oilers and what he has learned from other professional athletes in his family, including his uncle and former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Hockey Culture also currently features interviews with Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves, Minnesota Wild forward J.T. Brown and Arizona Coyotes President & CEO Xavier Gutierrez.

--NBC SPORTS--