By Basil Stroh
STARS, JETS JOUST AFTER GAME 7 wins; MAPLE LEAFS LOOK FOR 2-0 SERIES LEAD
Mikko Rantanen and the Stars square off with Kyle Connor and the Jets after both teams tallied thrilling multi-goal, third-period comeback wins in Game 7s, while William Nylander and the Maple Leafs look to take a 2-0 series lead against Aleksander Barkov and the Panthers.
* Rantanen can become the first player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with three straight four-point contests – he is one of 13 with a two-game run and just the second active skater among that group after Connor McDavid achieved the feat during the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. The Jets’ Connor, who collected three assists and skated 5.97 miles according to NHL EDGE during the series-clinching victory Sunday, can help the team improve to 5-0 in front of the “Winnipeg Whiteout” which would mark the League’s longest postseason-opening home winning streak since the Hurricanes’ seven-game run in 2022.
* The Second Round opener between the Stars and Jets marks the first contest in Stanley Cup Playoffs history where both teams are immediately coming off a multi-goal comeback victory during a Game 7. Wednesday will mark the fourth series to start where each club followed a one-goal comeback win in a Game 7. The others: the 2003 Conference Semifinals between the Wild and Canucks, 2001 Conference Finals between the Devils and Penguins as well as the 1984 Conference Finals between the Oilers and Minnesota North Stars.
* Nylander can become the first Toronto player in more than 107 years to record three straight multi-goal playoff games (since Alf Skinner in 1918) and first to do so in the NHL since 2010 (Joe Pavelski w/ SJS). Overall, Nylander would become the 13th NHL player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to record three straight multi-goal games in the postseason. The only player from that list to extend his run to four contests was Steve Payne in 1981.
* In addition to the above, the feat was achieved once by a player who played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but not for an NHL team. In 1918, Cyclone Taylor tallied four straight multi-goal games in the Stanley Cup Final – against Alf Skinner and Toronto – while playing with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association’s Vancouver Millionaires.
* Nylander can help the Maple Leafs log a 2-0 series lead after the opening round for the first time since the 1987 Division Finals and twice during a best-of-seven in the same postseason for the sixth time in franchise history (also 1963, 1962, 1949, 1948 & 1945). Barkov and the Panthers overcame a series deficit in the Second Round and Conference Finals during their run to the Stanley Cup last year and have done so to win a playoff series four times over the last three years (also 2022 R1 & 2023 R1).
COURTESY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS
