Flyers, Islanders to play Game 7; Lightning await in Eastern Final

The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders will play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS), with the winner advancing to the conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"There's nothing better than a Game 7," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "... This is a very good hockey team. They're a No. 1 seed. There's a reason they're around. We got on them early and they've beaten us three times and they've been in overtime. There's two evenly matched teams, so if you really look at the big picture, it's probably fitting that it is a Game 7."
Philadelphia won Game 6 5-4 in double overtime on Thursday in Toronto, the Eastern hub city, to even the best-of-7 series. The Flyers won Game 5 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday.
Teams that win Games 5 and 6 after trailing a series 3-1 are 29-28 (50.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
"Doesn't matter if it's a Game 7 or not, we played like a Game 7 today," Philadelphia forward Oskar Lindblom said after Game 6. "We came out with a win, just have to keep to the system, play the game right, and hopefully we can get a win the next game. Can't start thinking about 'This is a Game 7.' It's been a Game 7 for us for a long time here."
RELATED: [Complete Flyers vs. Islanders series coverage]
It will be the second Game 7 this season after there were six last season. The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche will play Game 7 of their Western Conference Second Round series at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday.
It will be the 17th Game 7 for the Flyers, the first since 2014, a 2-1 loss at the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference First Round. The Rangers were coached by Alain Vigneault, who is in his first season as Flyers coach.
Philadelphia is 9-7 in Game 7.
"That's what we wanted. We wanted to have a chance," Vigneault said. "If someone had asked me at the beginning of this series against such a strong opponent, one game, winner take all, I would have taken that."
Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen has played seven Game 7s, the most on Philadelphia, and was 2-5 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. Forward James van Riemsdyk has four points (two goals, two assists) in four Game 7s and was part of the Flyers' comeback in 2010, when they won four straight to defeat the Boston Bruins in seven games in the second round.
Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart has never played an NHL Game 7. Backup Brian Elliott was 2-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in Game 7s with the St. Louis Blues.
"At this point I don't think [experience] really matters," Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux said. "We're going to a Game 7. It's one game, just have to play one period at a time. We know how to play, we've been playing all year like that. It's not a secret, there's no magic sauce. We just need to play our game, and if we do that we'll put ourselves in a good situation."
New York, which is 3-5 in Game 7, lost its most recent, 2-1 to the Washington Capitals in the first round in 2015. Washington was then coached by Trotz.
"The frustration level is honestly about 30 seconds and that's about it," New York forward Mathew Barzal said. "There's nothing we can do. Game 6 is over now, and we've moved on. It's an unfortunate play there at the end, but it happens, and now it's a winner take all Game 7. We turned the page in the last 10 minutes .... Had a nice team talk after the game quickly and move on."
Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk has played eight Game 7s but has been a healthy scratch in this series. Forward Derick Brassard has three assists in seven Game 7s.
This would be goalie Semyon Varlamov's fifth Game 7; he is 1-3 with a 3.51 GAA and an .857 save percentage. He hasn't played a Game 7 since April 30, 2014 with the Colorado Avalanche, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Vigneault is 5-2 in Game 7. Trotz is 2-2.
"We understand what's at stake," New York forward Matt Martin said. "So, it's Game 7, our season's on the line, we'll get our rest here, recover [from] a couple long games that we came up short in and we'll just get the energy back up, get our rest and find a way to win a big game. These moments don't come around often. Game 7s are special and we've got a chance to go to a conference final and our goal is to win a [Stanley] Cup."
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman and staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report