In a rare case of harmonic convergence, the NHL has three series-ending Games 7 tonight. The NBC Sports Group will air all of the games, two on NBCSN and one on CNBC.
NBCSN has the natural East-West doubleheader with Game 7 of the Philadelphia-New York Rangers series at 7 p.m. ET then the deciding game of the Los Angeles-San Jose series with puck drop at 10 p.m.
CNBC carries Game 7 of the Minnesota-Colorado series at 9:30 p.m. ET.
All of the games will be original NBC Sports Group productions and there will be no simulcasts. At Madison Square Garden in New York, Hall of Famer Mike Emrick call the play-by-play and he’ll be joined by Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire. At the Pepsi Center in Denver, Carolina Hurricanes play-by-play man John Forslund will call the game along with Dallas Stars analyst Daryl Reaugh. And at the SAP Center in San Jose, Dave Strader and Brian Engblom will be the team calling LA-SJ.
Studio coverage on NBCSN will be manned by Liam McHugh, Mike Milbury and Keith Jones. On CNBC, Russ Thaler, Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter will be seen during Minnesota-Colorado.
Here are the particulars.
FIRST STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF GAME 7 TRIPLEHEADER IN 11 YEARS TONIGHT ON NBCSN AND CNBC
Game 7 – (3) Flyers-(2) Rangers at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN – Series Tied 3-3
Game 7 – (4) Wild-(1) Avalanche at 9:30 p.m. ET on CNBC – Series Tied 3-3
Game 7 – (3) Kings-(2) Sharks at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN – Series Tied 3-3
Second Round Begins Thursday with Game 1 Between (3) Montreal Canadiens & (1) Boston Bruins at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
All Games Will Be Streamed Live On NBC Sports Live Extra Via “TV Everywhere”STAMFORD, Conn. – April 30, 2014 – One of the most exciting first rounds in Stanley Cup Playoff history continues tonight, as NBCSN and CNBC will present the first Game 7 tripleheader in 11 years, starting at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN with the (3) Philadelphia Flyers and (2) New York Rangers from Madison Square Garden. All three Game 7 matchups will also be streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – via “TV Everywhere.”
CNBC’s Game 7 coverage begins at 9:30 p.m. ET with the (4) Minnesota Wild and (1) Colorado Avalanche in a rematch of a Game 7 overtime thriller in Denver from 2003. NBCSN’s coverage continues at 10 p.m. ET, as the (3) Los Angeles Kings look to become just the fourth team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to erase a 0-3 deficit with a win over the (2) San Jose Sharks in San Jose.
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NHL ON NBC ANNOUNCING ASSIGNMENTS FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 (All times ET)
Time Coverage Network Commentators 6:30 p.m. NHL Live NBCSN Liam McHugh, Mike Milbury, Keith Jones 7 p.m. Game 7 – (2) N.Y. Rangers at (3) Philadelphia NBCSN Mike “Doc” Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire 9 p.m. NHL Live CNBC Russ Thaler, Jeremy Roenick, Anson Carter 9:30 p.m. Game 7 – (4) Minnesota at (1) Colorado CNBC John Forslund, Daryl Reaugh 10 p.m. Game 7 – (3) Los Angeles at (2) San Jose NBCSN Dave Strader, Brian Engblom TONIGHT – APRIL 30
NBCSN’s Game 7 tripleheader coverage begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live, hosted by Liam McHugh, alongside analysts and former NHL players Mike Milbury and Keith Jones. CNBC will present pre-game coverage at 9 p.m. ET, with Russ Thaler hosting NHL Live alongside analysts and former NHL players Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter.
Game 7 between the (3) Flyers and (2) Rangers kicks off tonight’s tripleheader on NBCSN at 7 p.m. ET. Last night, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds recorded a hat trick en route to a 5-2 win in Philadelphia. This is the first Game 7 between the Flyers and Rangers in 40 years, when the Flyers recorded a 4-3 win over the Rangers at the Spectrum. The Rangers return to Madison Square Garden tonight, where they are 5-0 all-time in Game 7s. Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike “Doc” Emrick will call the action alongside Eddie Olczyk and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Pierre McGuire from New York.
CNBC’s coverage on Wednesday will start at 9:30 p.m. ET with Game 7 between the Avalanche and Wild. The home team has won each of the first six games of this series, including Minnesota’s 5-2 win on Monday night. This is the second time the Wild and Avalanche have squared off in a Game 7. On April 22, 2003, the Wild defeated the Avalanche by a score of 3-2 in overtime, in what was the final game of current Avs coach Patrick Roy’s career. John Forslund (play-by-play) and Daryl Reaugh (analyst) will have the call from Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.
NBCSN’s first-round coverage concludes with Kings-Sharks at 10 p.m. ET, as the Kings look to pull off an improbable comeback with four straight victories to erase a 3-0 series deficit. Only three teams have ever rallied from a 0-3 deficit to win a Stanley Cup Playoff series (’42 Toronto Maple Leafs, ’75 New York Islanders, ’10 Philadelphia Flyers). Current Kings forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards were members of the 2010 Flyers team that came back to defeat the Boston Bruins.
The Sharks are the last team to relinquish a 3-0 series lead in the first round. In 2011, the Detroit Red Wings stormed back with three straight wins, only to see the Sharks rebound and win Game 7 in San Jose. Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (analyst) will have the call from the SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, Calif.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF GAME 7 FACTS
Tonight’s Game 7 tripleheader marks just the fifth time in major professional sports history that three Game 7 matchups have been played on one day, the first time that three Stanley Cup Playoff Game 7s have been played on night since April 22, 2003, and involves three teams that played in that tripleheader in 2003, including a Game 7 rematch.
On that date, the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 3-2 in overtime, in what was current Avs coach and hall-of-fame goaltender Patrick Roy’s final game. The Philadelphia Flyers, who play tonight in New York, defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1.
- The opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has now yielded three-or-more Game 7s in four consecutive postseasons:
- 2014: 3, TBD
- 2013: 3, Home Teams: 1-2
- 2012: 3, Home Teams: 1-2
- 2011: 4, Home Teams: 3-1
- Since 2003-04, there have been 22 Game 7s in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Home teams are 10-12 in those contests.
- According to the Elias Sports Bureau, home teams are 90-59 (.604) all-time in Game 7s contested in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Elias also says that the team that scores first in a Game 7 holds a 111-38 (.745) all-time record.
SECOND ROUND BEGINS TOMORROW NIGHT WITH (3) CANADIENS-(1) BRUINS AT 7:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN
NBCSN’s second-round coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. ET with Game 1 between the rival (3) Montreal Canadiens and (1) Boston Bruins from TD Garden in Boston, Mass. Montreal swept Tampa Bay in the first round to advance, while the Bruins defeated Detroit in five games to reach the second round.
GAMES TELEVISED SO FAR
For the third consecutive year, NBC, NBCSN, CNBC and NHL Network are combining to televise every Stanley Cup Playoff game nationally.
Network Games NBC 6 NBCSN 26 CNBC 11 NHL-N 2 Total 45 One-goal Games: 23
OT games: 13
That will do it.
