The winner will advance to the second round to face either the Pittsburgh Penguins or New York Rangers. Pittsburgh leads 3-2 in that best-of-7 series and will host Game 6 on Friday (7 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, MSG).
Boston defeated Carolina 5-2 in Game 6 on Thursday to tie that series.
The Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers are 5-3 in Game 7, but 5-0 since relocating from Hartford in 1997. Carolina is 2-0 at home. Coach Rod Brind'Amour is 1-0.
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Bruins series coverage]
Derek Stepan is 6-1 in Game 7, all for the New York Rangers. Ian Cole (3-3) has played six and Jordan Staal (3-2) has played five, scoring three goals. Frederik Andersen (injured) is 0-4 with a 4.16 goals-against average and .856 save percentage for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Antti Raanta has never played a Game 7.
The Bruins are 15-13 in Game 7, 1-4 on the road. They lost their most recent, 4-1 at home to the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Coach Bruce Cassidy is 2-1.
Patrice Bergeron has played 12 Game 7s, most on Boston, and is 6-6. He has scored 10 points (six goals, four assists). Brad Marchand has played nine (6-3) and has seven points (three goals, four assists). Goalies Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have not played a Game 7.
"This is what you play for," Cassidy said. "Guys should be excited. Game 7, Stanley Cup Playoffs. Home or road. We'd rather be at home, not going to lie to you. But we'd play them on Mars if we had to. We just want to get after it. That's what it's all about."
There were three Game 7s in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs with the home team winning two (Vegas Golden Knights against Minnesota Wild, Stanley Cup First Round; Tampa Bay Lightning against New York Islanders, Stanley Cup Semifinals).
