Well, not ALL of it comes down to this, with a whole Finals series waiting in the balance, but it still doesn’t get much better than a Game 7 in the NHL Playoffs. This is the first time the Hurricanes have faced a seventh game since they became the Hurricanes, and the first one for the franchise since Russ Courtnall floated a backhander from the blue line past Frank Pietrangelo in the second OT in 1992. Incidentally, two years earlier, current Canes defenseman Glen Wesley played for the Bruins in a 3-1 Game 7 win over the Whalers.

At one point in the past two days, I had alot of thoughts on tonight’s game. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized thoughts don’t matter. As much as Game 7’s are about effort and execution, they’re also about timely bounces, rebounds and all sorts of other things that make them so exciting and so frustrating to watch. On the Hurricanes’ side, I’m fairly confident that coming home will make a big difference, just as it did in Game 5 against New Jersey, where they followed a flat-out disappointing performance with a flawless effort and an easy win. On the other hand, New Jersey was down 3-1 at the time, and was all but beaten. Buffalo has proven that they’re not going anywhere quietly.

The heart and the gut is calling a 5-2 Hurricanes win tonight, followed by Peter Laviolette pulling the ol’ “extend the hand for a handshake with Lindy Ruff, then pull it away and smooth the side of his hair” move from our childhood. However, the brain says someone wins 3-2 in (at least one) overtime.