"I think that if you look at the way this series has gone with the way the regular season has gone, it's even more fitting that we've got to Game 7 again," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's two good teams that were separated by two points, that at different times in the series have both had their way with their play. It's the team who's going to be able to execute and push through tomorrow and then, at times, hold off when the other team is coming with their push."
That, in the end, is as good an explanation as any of what might happen on Wednesday. It's an unknown, a matter of a bounce, a matter of something that no one can predict.
"I think we get to make up what we want, we really do," Ruff said. "[The media] get to take any angle you want, and I could make up anything I want. I could tell you what I think's really important: I think that you're going to have some opportunities inside of tomorrow night's game to seize the momentum in the game, to take advantage, whether it's a 2-on-1 [or something else].
"You're going to see there's going to be opportunities to seize or change momentum in the game because we got two really good teams that are going at it here, two really close teams. You're going into a Game 7 after playing a regular season that three of the games went into overtime, shootout, each 1-1. It's hard hockey out there."
It's hard hockey. It's unpredictable hockey. And as much as the Stars and Blues would like to be able to predict how Game 7 will go, to know who will get the momentum and the bounces and the win, they can't. No one can. It's Game 7.