It’s Game 7 Sunday In The 2023 NHL Playoffs – 1rst Round

2023

By NHL Public Relations

April 30, 2023

There is nothing quite like a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Sunday has a pair of them packed full of interesting storylines.

It opens with the record-setting Bruins, who won the 2022-23 Presidents’ Trophy, hosting the Panthers, the 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy winners who have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force a deciding contest.

It concludes with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Avalanche looking to win their fifth consecutive series, facing the Kraken, looking for the franchise’s first-ever series win.

* Click here for more #NHLStats and Storylines ahead of Sunday including Game 7 trends and individual Game 7 statistics for all clubs.

BRUINS FAMILIAR WITH GAME 7s, PANTHERS AIM FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN

No franchise in Stanley Cup Playoffs history has appeared in more Game 7s than the Bruins (15-14), who have a bevy of big-game experience on their roster heading into Sunday’s contest at TD Garden.

Captain Patrice Bergeron has appeared in 13 career Game 7s, the most by any forward in NHL history and one shy of tying longtime teammate Zdeno Chara for the most all-time. Bergeron (6-7), David Krejci (6-5) and Brad Marchand (6-4) make up three of the 10 active skaters who have at least six Game 7 victories.

The Bruins had a record-setting 65-win regular season, one of four teams in NHL history to post 60-plus wins in a single campaign. Of the previous three, only the 2018-19 Lightning did not advance past the opening round.

This is the seventh time the Presidents’ Trophy winner will play a Game 7 in the opening round and first in a dozen years (it happened in back-to-back years, 2010 & 2011).

The Panthers will contest their third all-time Game 7, following a win in the 1996 Conference Finals (3-1 W at PIT) and a loss in 2012 Conference Quarterfinals (3-2 L in 2OT vs. NJD).

They can become the seventh franchise in NHL history to have each of their first two Game 7 wins come as the road team. Others include:

Islanders (4)
Wild (3)
Sharks (3)
Flames (2)
Avalanche/Nordiques (2)
Stars/North Stars (2)

While the Bruins have 21 players with Game 7 experience to the Panthers’ six, that experience shifts when it comes to head coaches. Boston’s Jim Montgomery lost his only Game 7 behind the bench when he coached the Stars (2019 R2: 2-1 2OTL at STL), while Paul Maurice boasts a perfect 3-0 record in seventh and deciding games – he can join Peter DeBoer (6 straight) and Tommy Ivan (4 straight) as the third head coach to win each of his first four or more consecutive Game 7 appearances.

AVALANCHE LOOK TO CONTINUE RUN, KRAKEN AIM TO START ONE

By the end of Game 7 between the Avalanche and Kraken, one team will either win their fifth consecutive series and continue a run for a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, or one will carve out a franchise-first postseason series win.

The Avalanche did not require seven games in any of their four series victories in 2022 and have lost their last five Game 7s dating to the 2002 Conference Finals at Detroit. Since relocating to Denver in 1995-96, Colorado owns a 4-4 record when contesting a Game 7 on home ice.

This will mark the second straight year and 15th time overall that the reigning Stanley Cup champion will play a Game 7 in its opening series, with the opposing club owning an 8-6 edge in the previous 14 instances.

* The Kraken may be contesting the first Game 7 in franchise history, but their roster has a combined 29 appearances in seventh and deciding games, including four skaters with three or more: Andre Burakovsky (6 GP: 2-4), Jaden Schwartz (4 GP: 4-0), Justin Schultz (3 GP: 3-0) and Jordan Eberle (3 GP: 1-2).

* Seattle, who can become the ninth team to eliminate the reigning Stanley Cup champion in Game 7 of the opening round and the first to win the first-ever series in franchise history against the defending champs, is the 10th franchise to require a Game 7 in its first-ever series.