NHL Rink Wrap: Weekend full of Game 7s; Panthers finally advance

• Thanks to Friday’s results we now have five Game 7s this weekend, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, as well as the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames joining the fun on Sunday night. 

• The Florida Panthers are advancing to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 26 years. 

• Jake Oettinger is trying to steal a series for the Dallas Stars. 

Igor Shesterkin may not be playing at his normal level for the New York Rangers, but he is still outplaying Louis Domingue. And that is giving the Rangers a chance to erase a 3-1 series deficit and get this thing to a Game 7 on Sunday night in New York. Domingue picked the absolute worst team to give up a brutal goal, allowing an innocent shot from the blue line with two minutes left to bounce off of him and roll into the net. The Penguins have let consecutive two-goal leads slip away with chances to close out the series and now find themselves playing in a winner-take-all Game 7 on the road. That has to sting.

For the first time in 26 years the Florida Panthers are advancing to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They won a wild game in Washington on Friday night to eliminate the Capitals thanks to another great effort from Carter Verhaeghe, scoring his second overtime goal of the series. This one was a series clincher and has the Panthers awaiting the Tampa Lightning or Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Dallas Stars forced the fifth Game 7 of the weekend thanks to their 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames. This was probably the most exciting game of the series in terms of overall pace of play, and the Stars were able to take it thanks to another great performance from Jake Oettinger in goal. Dallas always seems to have a way of making the