2023 playoffs: Get ready for game seven

Oh boy. Where to start?

The Carolina Hurricanes are moving on after an overtime win over the New York Islanders on Friday.

Paul Stastny had the game winning goal from a bad angle.

Carolina now waits to see who will win between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers.

Speaking of New Jersey and New York, the Devils had a chance to close things out at Madison Square Garden yesterday but did not manage it. Now, the team heads back to New Jersey for another shot, this time in front of a home crowd. Keep an eye on Timo Meier, who has 0 points in six playoff games for the Devils. Game 7 is tomorrow at 5 p.m. PT.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got past the first round of the playoffs, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in overtime. John Tavares scored the game winner yesterday.

Many of the players have not been happy with the officiating and Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel was very vocal about it.

No matter. Hagel is headed home.

The Leafs await the winner of the Boston Bruins/Florida Panthers series. Florida was down 3 games to 1 but somehow managed to even the series up at three games apiece. Now it's a winner take all game seven today at 3:30 p.m. PT.

In the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers are moving on. The Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 yesterday. The Kings fought to the end but could not outscore the Oilers.

The talk in Edmonton now is goaltending, as in does Stuart Skinner deserve his spot after this play that led to a goal for the Kings?

Edmonton already knows who it will play in round two. It's Oilers/Golden Knights starting next week.

In the Central Division, the Dallas Stars defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Friday to win the series. Dallas waits to see who wins between the Seattle Kraken and the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs showed the Kraken why it's the defending champs on Friday, beating Seattle 4-1 to force a game seven. Game time is tonight at 6:30 p.m. PT.

The real issue for this series is Jordan Eberle's hit on Andrew Cogliano last game. I won't show it here because the hit was in the back and potentially career-ending. Cogliano went headfirst into the boards and we now know that he suffered a fractured neck. Eberle got two minutes but did not receive an invitation to speak to the Department of Player Safety, leading to much confusion around the NHL.