The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning each won Game 6 in their respective Eastern Conference First Round series on Thursday to force a deciding game. The Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Boston, and the Lightning won 4-3 in overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Tampa Bay.
In the West, the Edmonton Oilers stayed alive with a 4-2 win at the Los Angeles Kings.
"Game 7 as they say ... flip a coin you never know what's going to happen," Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said.
The Bruins and Hurricanes will get things going Saturday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina (4:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNE, SNW, SNP, SN360, TVAS). That will be followed with the Maple Leafs and Lightning from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS), and the Oilers and Kings from Rogers Place in Edmonton (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS).
"Obviously, Game 7, it's anyone's game and anyone's series, and there hasn't been much between the two teams, really, when you look at how the series has gone," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "In that sense, it's fitting that it's Game 7. Our guys will be ready."
On Sunday in the East, the New York Rangers will play the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m. ET; TBS, SNE, SNO, SNP, SN360) after they rallied for a 5-3 win in Game 6 on Friday.
In the West, the Dallas Stars will play the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledown in Calgary (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN, TVAS) after they won 4-2 in Game 6 on Friday.
With the three Game 7s on Saturday and two on Sunday, it will mark the first time there will be five in the first round. The record is six, happening in 1992.
Oilers forward Evander Kane showed he was already looking forward to Saturday when he held up seven fingers to the Kings crowd after scoring an empty-net goal with one minute left on Thursday.
"It means Game 7, baby" he said. "It's going to be juicy. That's going to be juicy."
