2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Peaks with Five Game 7s on Final Weekend; Most in a Single Round in 30 years
May 14, 2022
NEW YORK (May 14, 2022) – Two more Game 7s were added to the NHL’s marquee weekend slate of winner-take-all contests on Friday night when the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars extended their respective series with wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames in Game 6 action.
Together with the tripleheader of Game 7s on tap Saturday, the five Game 7s in the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the second-most ever for a single round, trailing only the 1992 Division Semifinals (six).
The Sunday doubleheader starts at 7 p.m. ET, when the New York Rangers face the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game will be televised on TBS in the U.S. In Canada, the game will be broadcast on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet Pacific and SN360.
The second game – and finale for the First Round – is set for 9:30 p.m. ET, when the Calgary Flames meet the Dallas Stars at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. In Canada, the game will be broadcast on Sportsnet and TVA Sports. The game will be televised on ESPN2 in the U.S.
Pittsburgh at NY Rangers
The drama of an NHL Game 7 heads to Broadway for the sixth time in the past decade, with the Rangers winning four of five winner-take-all showdowns at Madison Square Garden in that span. In the lone previous Rangers-Penguins Game 7 meeting eight years ago, New York edged Pittsburgh 2-1 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh to settle the Second Round series.
Dallas at Calgary
The Flames will be appearing in a Game 7 for the first time since 2008, a 5-3 loss in the opening round at San Jose, and for the first time at home since 2006 (3-0 loss vs. Anaheim). The Stars’ most recent Game 7 appearance was also in the province of Alberta but under far different circumstances: Stars forward Joel Kiviranta scored in overtime to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 on Sept. 4, 2020, with no fans present at the neutral site of Edmonton’s Rogers Place to claim the Second Round series. Played in the Edmonton ‘bubble’ under the League’s 2019-20 Return to Play plan, it marked the first Game 7 in NHL history to be played in a city not home to either club.
Flames head coach Darryl Sutter (7-3) will be making his 11th career Game 7 appearance behind the bench, and first since leading the Los Angeles Kings to an unprecedented three consecutive Game 7 road wins en route to capturing the 2014 Stanley Cup. Sutter will pass Claude Julien (5-5 in 10 GC), Mike Keenan (5-5 in 10 GC) and Mike Babcock (3-7 in 10 GC) for the most Game 7s among head coaches in League history – Sutter’s seven Game 7 wins already top the NHL’s all-time list.
Game 7 Trends
* The team that scores first is 138-46 (.750) in the 184 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (3-0 in 2021).
* Home teams own a 107-77 (.582) advantage in the 184 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2-1 in 2021).
* Ninety-two of the 184 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (50.0%) have been decided by a one-goal margin.
* Forty-five Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs have required overtime (24.5%), including four of 12 since 2019 (33.3%). Home teams have a 23-22 edge in those contests.
First Round Talking Points
* This is the highest-scoring opening round in 27 years (6.7 G/GP).
* There have been 11 come-from-behind victories over the past five days heading into the weekend’s five Game 7s.
* The five Game 7s rank second all-time for a single playoff round, behind the 1992 Division Semifinals (six).
* The trio of Game 7s Saturday will be the most on a single date since April 30, 2014.
* This is the fourth opening round in NHL history where seven series required at least six games, following the 1991 and 1992 Division Semifinals (8) as well as the 2010 Conference Quarterfinals (7).
* The First Round will conclude with 51 games played, tied for second-highest total ever.
COURTESY NHLmedia.com
