The Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks are playing Game 7 on the NHL playoffs schedule and the teams are trying to get into the Stanley Cup finals against the NY Rangers and the matchup from the United Center comes at 8 pm ET from the NBC Sports Network and streaming on the Live Extra website as LA looks to upset the Hawks at home with the series tied 3-3 to knockout the defending champions.
The Kings and Blackhawks are the last two Stanley Cup winners and the last two western conference champs and the New York Rangers are waiting for the winner of this game. The Stanley Cup is already set on the schedule with the Rangers hosting Game 3 and 4 after the western team hosts Game 1 and 2 and this comes after the Blackhawks rallied back from a 3-2 deficit to force Game 7. The Rangers rallied back from a 3-1 deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Blackhawks are trying to do the same over the Kings in the same season that LA rallied from a 3-0 deficit against the San Jose Sharks in the first round.
Marian Gaborik has been playing fantastic all through the playoffs and he is leading the NHL with 11 goals and it will be a compelling matchup for the Rangers if LA makes it in after the Gaborik trade and that could add some fire to the series. The Kings are big and bruising, while Anze Kopitar and Gaborik have been great on offense, while the team is also getting some great play from Drew Doughty, Justin Williams and Alec Martinez. Jonathan Quick has rebounded from some early playoff struggles and he is playing well coming into game 7 and he matches up with Corey Crawford in net.
The Blackhawks got a huge goal from Patrick Kane on Friday night and the team made a comeback to stay alive and Kane is leading the team in points for the Hawks and he is tops in goals, while Marian Hossa is leading in assists. The first game of the finals is on Wednesday night of next week and the Rangers will host games at Madison Square Garden the following week and Kane was huge for the Blackhawks coming down at the end, with Kane scoring the winning goal and previous setting up the tying goal. The Kings have played fantastic in elimination games and have won all six of them and even though the game is on the road that gives the team a big edge.
Kopitar has been great with the Kings and now the Blackhawks will try and retain their Stanley Cup and the only way they can get the chance is with a win on Sunday. The Rangers now have had time to rest and wait and they really don't care who they are playing, as they haven't been to the finals in 20 years and now they have the chance to win it again after Mark Messier took it home in 1994. The Kings and Blackhawks would both be heavy favorites against the Rangers in the finals and that's fine, they have been underdogs all postseason.
Check here for the LA Kings and Chicago Blackhawks live coverage from NBC for the Game 7 matchup.