The Stars are competing in a Game 7 for the third consecutive year, a first in franchise history, and for the fifth time in the past six playoffs. Each of the Stars’ past four Game 7s since 2019 has been decided by one goal (2-2), with three ending in overtime (including the last multi-overtime Game 7 in the NHL: 2-1 2OT L at STL in 2019 R2). The franchise is 7-9 in 16 all-time appearances, including its years in Minnesota from 1967-68 through 1992-93.

In the Stars’ last Game 7, a 2-1 win over Seattle on May 15, 2023, forward Wyatt Johnston became the youngest player in NHL history to score a Game 7-clinching goal – doing so one day after celebrating his 20th birthday. Johnston enters Sunday's showdown, as he approaches his 21st birthday on May 14, leading the Stars in scoring this series (3-3—6 in 6 GP).

The Golden Knights will compete in a Game 7 for a fourth time in their seven-season NHL history (2-1). They head to Dallas as the third consecutive reigning Stanley Cup champion to contest a Game 7 in its opening series. The Colorado Avalanche fell to the Seattle Kraken in 2023, while the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Maple Leafs in 2022. The opposing clubs own a 9-6 edge in the 15 all-time such Game 7s; the only times the reigning Cup champions won were in 1964 (TOR in SF), 1976 (PHI in QF), 1991 (EDM in DSF), 1992 (PIT in DSF), 2002 (COL in CQF) and 2022 (TBL in R1).

Stars forward Joe Pavelski (7-3) and head coach Peter DeBoer (7-0) both can match the NHL record for career Game 7 wins, a mark currently shared by six skaters (Brad Richards, 8-0; Ray Bourque, 8-1; Justin Williams, 8-1; Carl Hagelin, 8-2; Ryan McDonagh, 8-2; and Glenn Anderson, 8-4) and one head coach (Darryl Sutter, 8-3).

In an unusual twist, DeBoer has been part of every Game 7 in Golden Knights history: he was head coach of the San Jose Sharks in the 2019 First Round when the Sharks handed Vegas its only Game 7 defeat to date, and was then head coach of the Golden Knights for their pair of Game 7 victories, over the Vancouver Canucks in the 2020 Second Round and Minnesota Wild in the 2021 First Round.

Golden Knights teammates Alex Pietrangelo and Alec Martinez are both 5-0 in career Game 7s. Only 16 players in NHL history have won each of their first six or more Game 7s – a list that currently includes only one active player (Ryan McDonagh won his first six from 2012 to 2015), with Maple Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson (5-0) looking to add his name to the list tonight in Boston.

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