Match 7: the ultimate glorious words of hockey and all sports.
And we’ll have two on Friday, when the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars meet in Game 7 (4 p.m. ET, USA) of those playoffs, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks (9 p.m., NBCSN). It will be games 7 like no other, because they will be positioned on the same ice on the same day and with no fans, the games will take place in the bubble of Edmonton, Alberta.
The Avs and Stars lost the seventh game in last year’s playoffs, with the Avalanche falling to the Sharks in San Jose and the Stars to suffer a double loss in St.Louis to eventual Blues champion Louis.
The Golden Knights played a wild (and highly controversial) seventh game last year in the first round, falling to the Sharks in San Jose. The Canucks haven’t faced a seventh game since closing through Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins in the final game of the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
Will Colorado be the rally after a 3-1 deficit, or will the Stars hold and qualify for the convention finals for the first time in 12 years?Can the Canucks also rally 3-1 opposite a Golden Knights team that lost the same lead a series a year ago?
USA TODAY Sports NHL experts make their predictions:
Mike Brehm: Avalanche 4-2.I predicted avalanche would win the Stanley Cup, but I would still pick them in this game.They have the momentum after consecutive victories, no one has been able to keep Nathan MacKinnon off the game sheet and goalkeeper Michael Hutchinson has played well in his first two playoff openings.The prestige of Captain Gabriel Landeskog (cut leg) will be key, but Colorado has withstood additional injuries in this series.
Jace Evans: Avalanche 3-1.In the last two games, Colorado looked like the strong offensive team we expected in this series, scoring 10 goals at home against the Stars.While Dallas’ defensive technique might well serve in the tension pot that In Game 7, the Aves are deeper: thirteen skaters have recorded at least one point in Game 5.Even if Grabriel Landeskog can’t go, the other two-thirds of Colorado’s first fatal line is ready.
Jimmy Hascup: Avalanche 5-3.This series came closer than I expected, and although the Stars have sometimes exceeded expectations offensively, Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen’s mix for Avalanche was lethal, and Cale Makar is a defensive breaker.-Is string goalkeeper Michael Hutchinson his smart move for the third game in a row?That’ll be the difference.
Brehm: Golden Knights 3-1.My beyond the discussion about impulse and goalkeeper turns out to favor the Canucks.But the Great Depth of the Golden Knights will pay off as the groups have to play nights in a row.replace the last line and locate a way to get a record beyond Thatcher Demko.The Golden Knights don’t need to lose a 3-1 lead in the playoffs in a row and Peter DeBoer of Las Vegas won two 7 games last year as shark coach.
Evans: Golden Knights 5-2.Does Thatcher Demko keep the impression of Jaroslav Halak?The functionality of Canucks’ 24-year-old player in the last two games has resembled Halak in the 2010 playoffs, when Demko stopped 90 of 91 amazing shots.by the way since I replaced Jacob Markstrom, so why am I opting for Vegas?Because Vancouver has handled only 39 shots on purpose in the last two games, a 52-shot disparity on the net records suggests that Las Vegas is a much bigger team, and even though a hot target is the big hockey tie, I’m waiting for the Golden Knights to find a way to get some records to Demko.
Hascup: Golden Knights 4-2.La series was a sadness for the Golden Knights, as they were sometimes the most productive team: they controlled the game and generated more scoring opportunities and the best goals expected for the account in each game, through Natural Stat Trick.They just couldn’t score enough and goalkeeper Robin Lehner was inconsistent.They’ll combine it all Friday.