Mark Madden's hot take: NHL badly needs the great theater of Game 7

Three games into this year’s Stanley Cup Final, it was a big nothingburger.

Florida was poised to complete a three-season journey from 2022 Presidents’ Trophy winner to losing the ’23 final to grabbing the Cup via sweep.

For Connor McDavid, Edmonton captain and hockey’s best player, his wait for a first championship was set to extend to a 10th season.

Sidebars were few.

Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky appeared on the verge of playing himself into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who has lost the most games in NHL history, was set to get his lifetime achievement award. (Well-deserved, too. Maurice is a good coach with a not-great record.)

Instead, the sidebars are reversed. The circumstances surrounding them heightened.

Now, Monday’s Game 7 shapes up as one of the biggest contests in recent NHL history. There has been just one Game 7 in the final since 2011. That was 2019, when St. Louis won and was forgotten quickly.

Game 7 is mostly about McDavid.

If Edmonton gets the Cup and McDavid gets the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP — which he likely will be awarded, win or lose — McDavid enters the discussion about hockey’s greatest of all time.

I can’t put him ahead of Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr or Wayne Gretzky.

But I could debate him against Sidney Crosby or Gordie Howe.

What if McDavid dominates Monday and splatters his name all over the scoresheet? What if he provides a signature moment? What if he ignites a Mario kind of vibe?

If Edmonton loses, that debate gets put off. McDavid’s stats and MVPs need topped off by a ring.

If Florida loses, it’s soul-crushing. Emotionally, its window will be closed. The Panthers will carry around that disaster like a disease. They won’t get over it. Won’t have a chance to win till this group scatters.

The Panthers will be scarred permanently. And should be. It would be a choke of absurd proportions. Especially considering Florida has the better team.

Maurice becomes a bum. The coach who couldn’t stop it from slipping away.

Florida’s method gets questioned. The team who played heavier than anybody for 60 minutes every night appeared worn out for the games that counted most. Not just physically, but mentally.

Bobrovsky hasn’t played well these last three games. If he loses Game 7, his failure is what gets remembered most about his career.

Florida faces a much bigger humiliation factor than Edmonton. Will that motivate?

It’s marvelous theater and something the NHL badly needs.

The craziest stat of the playoffs belongs to Edmonton’s penalty-kill.

The Oilers have killed 64 of 68 penalties, a 94.1 success percentage.

They’re 19 for 20 vs. Florida, scoring twice short-handed. Their penalty-kill is plus-one in the final.

It’s like they’ve faced the Pittsburgh Penguins power play every game.