Winner of Panthers-Bruins Game 7 debated by NHL.com

The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers will play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden in Boston on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS, NESN, BSFL).

The winner will advance to the Eastern Conference Second Round and play the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins (65-12-5) would host the Maple Leafs (50-21-11) while the Panthers (42-32-8) would start on the road.
The Panthers won 7-5 in Game 6 in Florida on Friday to even the best-of-7 series after trailing 3-1.
Boston is 15-14 all-time in Game 7, including 14-9 at home. The Bruins lost their most recent, 3-2 at the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round last season.
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
Florida is 1-1 in Game 7, having defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on the road in the 1996 Eastern Conference Final before a 3-2 double-overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 conference quarterfinals.
Florida coach Paul Maurice is 3-0 in Game 7.
The numbers can be applied to argue for each team in a do-or-die situation.
So, we asked the nine staffers who have covered the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for their opinion on who will win Game 7.

Bruins

As the person who has attended all six games of this series -- not to mention watching the Bruins all season -- I'm at a loss. The Bruins haven't looked like the team they've been all season in almost any games in this series. Goalie Linus Ullmark has looked shaky (and the Bruins could swap to Jeremy Swayman). Coach Jim Montgomery has made some head-scratching decisions but, somehow, I still have faith in this team turning it around. Maybe it's that they've been here so much -- Boston is 4-2 since 2010 in Game 7s after losing Game 6 when they could have eliminated their opponent -- or maybe it's that I can't see captain Patrice Bergeron going down with this team, in this Game 7, in what could be the final game of his NHL career. I'm not as confident as I once was, but I'm going with the Bruins. -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer
I picked the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup, so I'm not giving up on them now. Look, the Panthers have shown a lot of heart, and they've poked holes in the Bruins' cloak of invincibility. It wouldn't surprise me if Matthew Tkachuk scores another huge goal to finish off the upset. The Panthers have no pressure; the Bruins must be feeling a ton. But Boston had a record-breaking regular season for a reason and odds are, at home, in front of their fans, desperate to win, knowing they can win the whole thing, the Bruins will put their best performance on the ice and move on to the second round. This team has found a way to win time after time in situation after situation this season. I'm betting it will do so again. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist
I picked the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup, and I'm sticking with them. Boston will win Game 7 for the same reasons I chose them to win the Cup -- they have too much talent and too much veteran experience to let it slip away. Brad Marchand is leading the way for Boston against Florida with 10 points (four goals, six assists), including four assists in a 7-5 loss Friday. Marchand has played in Game 7 on 10 occasions, winning six, and has seven points (three goals, four assists). Patrice Bergeron has appeared in a Game 7 a whopping 13 times, winning six, and has 11 points (six goals, five assists). David Krejci has 11 Game 7 appearances (6-5) and has 10 assists. Boston had a historic season, setting a new regular-season record for wins (65) and points (135). They'll work to avoid joining the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, who each held the previous NHL regular-season record of 62 wins, to not win the Stanley Cup. -- William Douglas, staff writer
Credit to the Panthers for their resilience and defiance, led by Matthew Tkachuk, to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to get to this point. Tkachuk is the major difference for the Panthers, who were too deferential in being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning (two-time defending Stanley Cup champions at the time) last season. Florida has not backed down against Boston, which was the best regular-season team in NHL history in terms of wins (65) and points (135). But the Bruins were that good during the regular season for a reason and, after losing their way the past two games, I think they will regroup and find a way to win Game 7 at home. Every team that wins faces adversity at some point and this is the Bruins' time to overcome it. --Tom Gulitti, staff writer
OK, I never believed this series would go seven games. Nothing against the Panthers, who have played the David role to Boston's Goliath in stellar fashion, but I still see the Bruins winning in Game 7. Part of it is just seeing how incredible the Bruins were throughout the regular season. That doesn't just disappear in the playoffs. Do you have lapses? Sure. Off nights? Absolutely. The Bruins didn't have many of either in the regular season and they're seeing them now, but I still think they right the ship. I know winning the Presidents' Trophy can sometimes be the kiss of death but as someone who covered the Chicago Blackhawks who won that and went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2013, this Bruins team reminds me a lot of that group. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer
I figured this wasn't going to be an easy test for the Bruins, at least physically. That's been the case. Any time you have Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Radko Gudas coming at you shift after shift, it's going to take a toll. That isn't going to change in Game 7, especially in and around the Bruins net where the Panthers have made goalie Linus Ullmark look like anything but a Vezina Trophy winner. What points the needle in Boston's favor for me is captain Patrice Bergeron, if healthy. The forward hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2011, and if anyone knows how to calm the nerves of a jittery team that has lost two consecutive games, it's him. Of course, that's not going to matter if Boston doesn't get more consistent goaltending. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Panthers

I find it hard to believe the Presidents' Trophy-winning Bruins are in this position, but they suddenly appear vulnerable against what appears to be a more confident and energetic team with nothing to lose. I'm taking Florida to win. It basically comes down to the fact I have more confidence in goalie Sergei Bobrovsky than I do in Linus Ullmark right now. The Panthers have succeeded in two must-win scenarios already, so why not a third on the road in Boston in a winner-take-all matchup? Ullmark has allowed four or more goals three times in this series after conceding four goals or more just twice during the regular season. Boston had the best regular-season record in NHL history, finished 43 points ahead of Florida in the standings and couldn't hold one-goal leads on two separate occasions in the third period of Game 6. The Panthers have the momentum. -- Mike G. Morreale, staff writer
Paul Maurice is the reason the Panthers will author one of the great upsets in the history of the NHL. The Panthers coach has been here, done this. Boston coach Jim Montgomery has not. It is a huge advantage in games like this. Like players, coaches run hot and cold and the 56-year-old is running hot. His decision to switch to Sergei Bobrovsky has changed the tenor of the series and he has out-coached Montgomery thoroughly throughout the past two games. The 53-year-old Montgomery will be coaching in his 20th NHL playoff game and is on his heels, likely forced into making a goaltending decision that will define his legacy and that of his team. I am going to go with experience in this game and Florida will prove my pick of the Bruins reaching the Stanley Cup Final to be ill-advised. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial
Every instinct I have says it has to be the Bruins. But every instinct I had before the series started said it had to be the Bruins. When they were tied 1-1 after struggling in Game 2, it was Bruins. When they went up 3-1 after winning two games in Florida, there was no question it was Bruins in five. Well here we are in Game 7 and the Bruins have more questions than the Panthers. I'm not sold anymore. So, it's Panthers in seven. They're playing better. They have the good mojo going. They have the biggest difference maker in the series in Matthew Tkachuk. They have, gasp, less of a doubt about their goaltending right now. And still hardly anybody expects them to win. Don't tell me they have nothing to lose. They do. They have Game 7 to lose. But they won't. They don't have the burden of history weighing them down. Tkachuk scores and the Panthers get the job done. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer