NEWARK, N.J. -- Taylor Hall said he has another level to reach as an NHL player and is looking forward to getting there with the New Jersey Devils next season.

The left wing had an NHL career high 93 points (39 goals, 54 assists) in 76 games and set career highs in plus-minus (plus-14), power-play points (37), overtime goals (three) and shooting percentage (14.0 percent).

The only sure thing about Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NESN) is what will take place on the ice after the game. The post-series handshake line is one of the NHL's great traditions, a few gentlemanly moments following four, five, six or seven punishing Stanley Cup Playoff games.

In many ways, the handshake line is a contradiction: Players who have been bruising each other in every second of every game line up to shake hands and wish each other well. One team has advanced to the next round or has won the Stanley Cup; the other is vanquished into the offseason. The handshake tradition has endured, evolved, and today it is a compelling scene at the end of hard-fought playoff series.

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs by one of four former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Jim Corsi, David Marcoux, Paul MacLean and Joe Mullen will take turns providing insight.

In this edition, Marcoux, former goaltending coach for the Carolina Hurricanes and the Calgary Flames, provides some insight into what goes on when teams have a substantial break between playoff rounds.

TORONTO -- There was a smile on Brendan Shanahan's face and an ache in his gut as he walked out of the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room Monday.

TORONTO -- The Boston Bruins know this feeling.

They know what it's like to go to Game 7, to feel nerves and excitement and panic and overwhelming need all at once. They have done this before, over and over. Nine times in the previous 10 seasons they have played in a do-or-die game.

COLUMBUS -- In the aftermath of their series-clinching 6-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Monday, it would have been understandable if Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals wanted to take a moment to appreciate their accomplishment rather than start looking ahead to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But Ovechkin knew the questions were coming. The Penguins defeated the Capitals in the second round each of the past two seasons and went on to win the Stanley Cup each time.

Filip Forsberg gave NHL defensemen fits all season. He has continued to do so in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Nashville Predators forward has scored four goals, two in spectacular fashion.

He has looked almost impossible to stop, but former NHL defenseman and current Predators broadcaster Hal Gill knows what he would have done if he had to face Forsberg.

SAN JOSE --Tomas Hertl was in his third game as a rookie with the San Jose Sharks four seasons ago when he scored four goals in a 9-2 victory against the New York Rangers at SAP Center, capped by a between-the-legs, backhand goal.

Hertl, a forward, had seven goals in his first five games and 15 in his first 32. His NHL trajectory was pointed straight up until a knee-on-knee collision with Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown on Dec. 9, 2013, knocked him off course.

DENVER -- The Nashville Predators played pretty good hockey for most of the Western Conference First Round against the Colorado Avalanche. But that complete game, the one that was evident many times on their run to an NHL-best 117 points and the Presidents' Trophy in the regular season, eluded them.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins were a mixed bag in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Philadelphia Flyers.