For the first time in the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, a team has forced a Game 7.

The Minnesota Wild (+120) kept their hopes alive with a 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 on home ice Wednesday night.

Cam Talbot made 23 saves for the first home shutout in an elimination game in franchise history, as Minnesota rallied from 3-1 down in the series to force the deciding game.

The Wild opened as a +140 road underdog for Game 7.

Vegas is -160 to close out the series on home ice.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Thursday May 27, 2021.

Wild force Game 7 with Vegas

In Wednesday night’s win, Talbot became the third different goalie in NHL history to record at least two playoff shutouts with three different teams.

He’ll need to be at his best again on Friday night for Minnesota to advance.

The Wild are 3-0 in the series when they allow two goals or less. They are 0-3 when they allow three goals or more.

Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer is 5-0 all-time in Game 7s.

Minnesota is 3-0 all-time in Game 7s, with all three wins coming on the road.

One of those perfect records will end on Friday night.

Lightning moving on

The defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning (-145) advanced to the second round with a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of their first-round series.

Tampa Bay was -145 to win the series and +400 to win the series in six games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for his second career playoff shutout.

Brayden Point scored an absolutely beautiful goal to help the Lightning clinch on home ice.

Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov picked up assist.

After missing the entire regular season, Kucherov leads all scorers with 11 points in six games in these playoffs.

Tampa Bay will face the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes - Nashville Predators series.

The Hurricanes lead that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 tonight.

Isles, Bruins to meet in second round

Brock Nelson led the way with three points as the New York Islanders (-110) beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 in Game 6 to advance to the second round.

The Isles beat Penguins’ goaltender Tristan Jarry for five goals on just 24 shots.

It’s the second time in the last three years that Pittsburgh has been knocked out of the playoffs by the Islanders.

New York will meet the Boston Bruins in the second round.

Boston opened as a -215 favourite to win that series – the comeback on the Isles is +170.

Knicks rally for first playoff win since 2013

The New York Knicks (-140) rallied from 15 points down to beat the Atlanta Hawks 101-92 in Game 2 of their first- round series on Wednesday night.

It was their first playoff win in eight years dating back to Game 5 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

It was also New York’s largest halftime comeback in the playoffs since 2000.

The Knicks closed out the game on a 10-1 over the final five minutes.

Julius Randle finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, joining Charlie Tyra and Patrick Ewing as the only players ever with a double-double in their first two playoff games with the franchise.

More importantly, Randle was an absolute beast on the defensive side of the floor, holding Atlanta to 0-for-15 from the field as a primary defender.

Derrick Rose scored 26 points in 39 minutes off the bench.

NBA favourites went 3-0 straight up and against the spread on Wednesday night.

The Philadelphia 76ers (-8) beat the Washington Wizards 120-95 to take a 2-0 series lead.

Russell Westbrook rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter of that game and did not return.

Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz (-10) beat the Memphis Grizzlies 141-129 in Game 2 to even their best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Donovan Mitchell scored a team-high 25 points in his return from a sprained ankle.

The 141 points was a franchise postseason record for Utah.

Aces win, cover versus Mercury

Jackie Young scored a game-high 27 points with six rebounds as the Las Vegas Aces (-6.5) beat the Phoenix Mercury 85-79 on Wednesday night.

Britney Griner had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix in a losing cause.

The Match IV confirmed

While we are still not sure what Aaron Rodgers’ status is looking ahead to the 2021 NFL season, we can confirm his status for The Match IV.

Rodgers will pair with Bryson DeChambeau against Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson in the golf exhibition. Brady and Mickelson opened as a -130 favourite – Rodgers and DeChambeau are +110.