Game 14!
Two game sevens. The first at 7pm, eastern. The second at 10pm, eastern.
And these aren't just regular, doomed-to-live-up-to-the-hype game sevens (like we saw last night).
These are game sevens from the two best series of the 2008 first round.
In the East, we're here because last night in Philadelphia, the Washington Capitals continued their season-long battle from behind by erasing an 0-2 first period hole and fighting back to tie their series with Philadelphia Flyers three games to three. The Caps comeback was lead last night by their two Alexanders: Semin and Ovechkin.
While Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timmonen has done a good job throughout the series in checking Ovechkin's signature rushes down the offensive left wing, Timmonen couldn't do much about the blueline turnover Ovechkin forced in the Caps zone or about the resulting tape to tape breakaway pass Viktor Kozlov feed to a streaking Ovechkin down the middle of the ice for the Caps game-winning goal.
Ovechkin ended the game with 9 shots on goal, and 4 more that missed or were blocked, and even went on to seal game six with a one-timed slapshot tally from near the left circle with just under 10 minutes remaining.
So now the Flyers, after a flat game five performance and a disappointing 'must-win' second and third periods in game six, have lost their advantage and their momentum. Tonight, they will be on the road, against a young team that seems to have found its balance.
In the late game, despite having been shutout 0-2 in their game six bid to close out the Flames in Calgary, its arguably the Sharks who will carry momentum into their game seven matchup against their Western Conference rival.
The Flames, who were just 21-19-1 on the road during the regular season, stole game one in San Jose but have lost their last two on the road in this series. The Flames have also been severely outshot by the Sharks this series, 140-188. For San Jose, the Sharks will be happy to welcome Jeremy Roenick, who sat out game six as a coach's decision (rest), back to their lineup.
Another key for San Jose in this game seven will be getting defenseman Brian Campbell back on track. The Sharks have shown they can keep the Flames' offense to under 3 goals a game, but putting in that third goal for San Jose has been a challenge. If Campbell can get the puck consistently up ice to his big forwards, the Sharks will be tough to beat on home ice.
Both game sevens will be on television: Versus in the US; in Canadia, TSN early and CBC late. So if the Flyers-Caps game goes into OT again, us Americans will have to go online and break some laws to catch the beginning of the SJ-CGY game.
And on a final note, the NHL announced it's Norris Trophy finalists on Tuesday and Dion Phaneuf is one of them. Apparently, the voters don't frequent the Swamp.