By Basil Stroh

FIRST POTENTIAL SERIES-CLINCHER PART OF FULL DAY OF PLAYOFF ACTION

All four games on Saturday’s slate have a different start time, making for a continuous flow of Stanley Cup Playoffs action from 1 p.m. ET until at least midnight ET – though each of the final two contests are in series coming off back-to-back overtime games.

* In Sunrise, Sergei Bobrovsky takes his 86:56 shutout streak home to Amerant Bank Arena – where the last playoff game ended with a Stanley Cup lift for the Panthers. Bobrovsky has allowed only three goals against in his past three postseason appearances dating to Game 7 of the 2024 Final – which have come against last year’s top three playoff scorers (Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard & Leon Draisaitl) and this season’s highest-scoring team (TBL: 3.56 G/GP).

* In St. Paul, the high-scoring duo of Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy look to give the Wild a 3-1 series lead for the first time in franchise history (this will be their fifth attempt to do so, as they are 0-4 in Game 4 when leading 2-1 in a best-of-seven series). Three Wild Card teams have taken a 3-1 series lead since the format was introduced in 2013-14: Florida (2023 R2), Colorado (2019 R1) and Nashville (2017 R2). Vegas, meanwhile, can tie a series at 2-2 for the third time (2-2 record in Game 4 when trailing series 2-1).

* In Denver, the host Avalanche will seek to claim a Game 4 victory to even their series with the Stars following back-to-back overtime defeats. Four of the six previous Colorado-Dallas series have required at least six games (including their two most recent meetings in 2020 & 2024), but only two have been deadlocked through four contests (2000 CF & 1999 CF).

* The Stars–Avalanche and Maple Leafs–Senators are both coming off consecutive overtime games. Ottawa has never played three straight overtime games in a playoff series, but Toronto, Dallas and Colorado all have done so three times: Toronto last had that happen in the 2017 First Round (vs. WSH), Colorado in the 2010 Conference Quarterfinals (vs. SJS) and Dallas in the 2001 Conference Quarterfinals (vs. EDM). Dallas forward Matt Duchene played for Colorado the last time that franchise contested three straight overtime games in a series – and his eventual Stars teammate Joe Pavelski scored the last of the OT winners during that stretch in 2010.

COURTESY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS