NEW YORK – The final weekend of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature the first three Game 7s of the postseason on Saturday, May 14, with a staggered start-time tripleheader providing viewers at least eight hours of continuous coverage by national rightsholders ESPN and Turner Sports in the United States and Sportsnet and TVA in Canada.
Saturday will mark the first time since April 30, 2014, that three Game 7s will be contested on the same day. The most Game 7s on one day is four, on May 1, 1992 – all four winner-take-all contests that day started at the same time, 7:30 p.m. ET.
The trio of winner-take-all games begins at 4:30 p.m. ET, when the Carolina Hurricanes play host to the Boston Bruins at PNC Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN in the U.S. In Canada, the game will be on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Pacific, SN360 and TVA Sports.
The middle game of the tripleheader begins at 7 p.m. ET, pitting the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The game will be televised on Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. In the U.S., the game will be on TNT.
The puck drops on the day’s finale at 10 p.m. ET, when the Edmonton Oilers welcome the Los Angeles Kings to Rogers Place in Edmonton. The game will be televised on Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. In the U.S., the game will be on ESPN.
Boston at Carolina
These franchises will meet in a Game 7 for the third time; the Bruins defeated the Hartford Whalers 3-1 in their opening-round series at Boston Garden in 1990, and the Hurricanes posted a 3-2 overtime win in Boston to cap a second-round contest in 2009. Saturday will mark the 13th anniversary of that game, won in extra time on a goal by Carolina forward Scott Walker.
A Stanley Cup Playoffs record will be set or tied regardless of the outcome, as Boston vies for its 16th all-time Game 7 victory and Carolina aims to push its Game 7 winning streak to six contests.
The Bruins will extend their NHL record by contesting their 29th Game 7, with captain Patrice Bergeron set to make his 13th appearance – a feat achieved by three players in League history (but never by a forward): former teammate Zdeno Chara (14 GP; D) as well as Hall of Fame members Patrick Roy (13 GP; G) and Scott Stevens (13 GP; D). Bergeron has six goals in Game 7s, one back of the most ever.
Tampa Bay at Toronto
The first-ever postseason meeting between the Maple Leafs and Lightning will peak with both teams appearing in a Game 7 for the second consecutive year. The Maple Leafs dropped a 3-1 decision to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 First Round, while the Lightning registered a 1-0 home win over the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Semifinals en route to their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
The Maple Leafs will seek to become the 18th team to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champions in a Game 7, a fate that seven reigning winners have met since 2009.
Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh has been part of seven Game 7 wins in his career, one back of the League record shared by five players (all of them skaters).
Los Angeles at Edmonton
The Oilers will contest a Game 7 in front of their home fans for the first time in 32 years (1990 DSF vs. original Winnipeg Jets), having played each of their past five winner-take-all contests on the road. The Kings will be skating in a Game 7 for the first time since their Stanley Cup-winning campaign in 2014 when they won three Game 7s, all on the road in the first three rounds (at San Jose, Anaheim and Chicago, respectively).
Kings head coach Todd McLellan was behind the Oilers bench for their last Game 7, a 2-1 defeat against the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017 Second Round. He will become the ninth head coach in NHL history – and first since 2016 – to lead his club against a team he previously coached in a Game 7.
The goaltending matchup is expected to feature Jonathan Quick (4-0, 1.95 GAA, .940 SV%) of the Kings, who will look to become the first netminder in NHL history to win each of his first five Game 7s, and Mike Smith of the Oilers, who can become the first goaltender to make his Game 7 debut after at least 600 career regular season games played.
Game 7 Trends
* The team that scores first is 138-46 (.750) in the 184 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (3-0 in 2021).
* Home teams own a 107-77 (.582) advantage in the 184 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2-1 in 2021).
* Ninety-two of the 184 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (50.0%) have been decided by a one-goal margin.
* Forty-five Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs have required overtime (24.5%), including four of 12 since 2019 (33.3%). Home teams have a 23-22 edge in those contests.
