By NHL Public Relations

April 29, 2023

Toronto, Edmonton and New Jersey can advance to the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs while Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and New York can force more winner-take-all showdowns as three pivotal Game 6s go Saturday. The Devils-Rangers is carried on ABC and ESPN+ in the U.S., while the Maple Leafs-Lightning and Oilers-Kings will be on TBS – each contest will be showcased on Sportsnet and TVA Sports programming in Canada.

* The Maple Leafs will have another opportunity to advance as the First Round shifts back to AMALIE Arena, where Toronto earned consecutive wins to take a 3-1 series lead thanks to overtime goals by Morgan Rielly and Alexander Kerfoot. The Lightning have forced a Game 7 after facing a 3-1 series deficit once in franchise history, doing so against the Penguins in the 2011 Conference Quarterfinals before earning a 1-0 victory in the winner-take-all showdown to advance – Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman appeared in all seven contests during that round.

* Leon Draisaitl (6-4—10 in 5 GP) enters Saturday with at least one goal in four of the Oilers’ five contests against the Kings, who hope to stave off elimination and send their First Round series against Edmonton to Game 7 for a second straight year. Anze Kopitar (7-9—16 in 13 GP) has 16 career points in potential elimination games, which are tied with Wayne Gretzky (8-8—16 in 10 GP) for second place on the franchise’s all-time list behind Luc Robitaille (9-13—22 in 18 GP).
 

* Akira Schmid and the Devils aim to secure a fourth straight win and close out their First Round series with the “No Quit in New York” Rangers, who earned wins in each of their first five potential elimination games last year. Chris Kreider (15-4—19 in 27 GP) needs one goal to tie the NHL record for most when facing elimination, which is held by former New York captain Mark Messier (16-12—28 in 24 GP) – Messier had three of his 16 against New Jersey in Game 6 of the 1994 Conference Finals when he famously delivered on his guarantee that the Rangers would earn a win.  

Source: NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition – April 29, 2023