NHL Game Night: Referees and Linesmen for Bruins vs Panthers and Kraken vs Avalanche

The NHL Playoffs will see two Game 7s tonight with the Boston Bruins taking on the Florida Panthers at 6:30 p.m. ET and Seattle Kraken going up against the defending champions Colorado Avalanche at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Today is the first of three Game 7s across the next two days. The Boston Bruins have one more chance to prove that the Presidents' Trophy Curse will have no effect on them. The Florida Panthers are breathing down their necks since coming back from being down 3-1.

Defending champs Colorado Avalanche need to wing against the Seattle Kraken if they want to have a chance at defending their Stanley Cup. The Kraken have shocked the NHL world with their performances in Games 1, 4 and 5. No one expected a wild card team to go toe-to-toe with the defending champs. But here we are.

Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers: First Game 7 of 2023 NHL Playoffs

REFEREE	LINESMEN
Steve Kozari	Jonny Murray
Chris Lee	David Brisebois

The best team in the NHL this season is in a do-or-die Game 7 in the very first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Boston Bruins blew open a 3-1 series lead after their victory in Game 4. Given how good the B's were this year and the nearly 90% success rate that comes with that commanding series lead, it felt that this series would be over before the rest.

Linus Ullmark has been the backbone of the record-setting Bruins season. Meanwhile, the Panthers have utilized both Alex Lyon and veteran Sergei Bobrovsky in this series. While Bobrovsky has earned the past two wins for Florida, his stats have been on both ends of the spectrum.

Colorado Avalanche vs Seattle Kraken

REFEREE	LINESMEN
Chris Rooney	Devin Berg
Graham Skillitier	Michael Cormier

Colorado kept their hopes alive in Game 6 and despite all the pressure of trailing 3-2 in the series and playing in a loud environment in Seattle, the Avs found a way to control the game and come out on top 4-1 in a performance that showed what the Colorado Avalanche are made of.

During their run to the Stanley Cup in 2023, the Avalanche did not face elimination a single time. They swept the Nashville Predators in the first round, beat the St. Louis Blues in six games, swept the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference finals, and then took down the back-to-back champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six.

The Avs will be without the services of Andrew Cogliano, who has been ruled out for the rest of the series and possibly for the rest of the season. He suffered a hit from Kraken's Jordan Eberle which resulted in a fractured neck. The NHL Department of Player Safety took no action against Eberle, which has made Avs fans unhappy.