Kitchener Rangers forward Tyler Randell (OHL Images)

Game 7s for everyone. The Kitchener Rangers gutted out a tight victory over the Plymouth Whalers to send their series back across the border for a seventh game on Tuesday. The Ottawa 67's took another step toward pulling off a comeback from a three-games-to-one deficit by winning beating Barrie. Colts forward Erik Bradford will have two nights to get the vision of the open net he missed in the third period out of his head before the decider. On with the post-game questions.

Kitchener 4 Plymouth 2 (Western Conference semifinal tied 3-3; Game 7 on Tuesday) — How well will the Rangers channel the emotional lift they will get Tuesday when Tyler Randell rejoins their lineup? Down to its last strike in the series, Kitchener drew heavily on the idea of making sure the rugged overage winger's time in the Ontario Hockey League would not end with him sitting helplessly in the press box. Thanks in large part to Ryan Murphy turning in a performance on the blueline that was world-class (no, he could not have helped Team Canada in January, not at all, he did not type sarcastically), the Rangers pulled through.

Randell got a 10-game suspension last month for a head check on Owen Sound's Artur Gavrus in the first game of the playoffs. He will give the Rangers a lift, especially if 6-foot-5 forward Andrew Crescenzi is unable to return after missing Sunday's game with injury. The question, of course, is how the Rangers find something new to spur them on as they shoot for the upset.

Los Angeles Kings second-round pick Chris Gibson (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Chris Gibson, Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)

Saku Koivu is the most beloved Finn to ever play hockey in Quebec. But Gibson might have the Saguenay region locked down after his 33-save shutout which kept the Sags alive in their series against the MasterCard Memorial Cup-host Shawinigan Cataractes.

Thanks in large part to the 19-year-old goalie's best game of the playoffs, the Sags prevailed 2-0 to even the series 3-3 and force Game 7 on Tuesday, when all the pressure will be on Shawinigan. No Memorial Cup host team has failed to reach the third round of the playoffs since 2003.

Gibson faced the prospect of having his junior tenure end after allowing six goals on 40 shots in the fifth game of the series. The Finnish world junior netminder played big, though, with his best stop likely being a right-pad save on Shawinigan's Anton Zlobin. The pressure on him was sky-high all afternoon. Étienne Brodeur opened the scoring late in the first period and Chicoutimi nursed that one-goal lead like a poor graduate student nursing a beer, making it stand up for 42-plus minutes before an empty-netter relieved the pressure.

Everett Silvertips' Ryan Murray, NHL Central Scouting's second-ranked North American skater (Marissa Baecker, Getty Images)Much of the focus of the hockey world in May turns to the NHL playoffs and the CHL championship series', but there's still a special spot on the TV on days off reserved for the IIHF World Championship. There are always a few storylines to keep Canadians interested, and a new one popped up Sunday, courtesy of the Pipeline Show.

As reported Saturday evening by Dean Millard via Twitter, Hockey Canada has talked to and is expected to invite 2012 draft eligible defenceman Ryan Murray to join their entry to the Men's World Championship in Sweden/Finland.

"We have confirmed that Ryan Murray has been approached by Hockey Canada to play in the World Championship.Should be announced tomorrow," was how Dean's tweet read.

As expected, the instant reaction from fans was surprise but that quickly gave way to speculation of what this may mean for the entry draft this June.

As the post notes, Kevin Lowe is the general manager for Team Canada at the tournament which takes place in Helsinki and Stockholm from May 4-20. Kevin Lowe is also the president of the Edmonton Oilers, a team in dire need of defencemen, and keepers of the No. 1 pick in this spring's NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh.

London Knights defenceman Olli Maatta has 12 points in the playoffs (OHL Images)One half of the league's final four is complete, while Ottawa and Kitchener have their backs to walls in the the Game 6s set for Sunday evening. On with the (very belated, sorry about that, spring cold) post-game questions:

London 5 Saginaw 3 (Knights win Western Conference semifinal 4-2) — How much concern should there be about Greg McKegg being unable to finish the game on Saturday? The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect who is London's designated dangerous scorer was knocked out of the game early on Saturday. However, as Ryan Pyette reported, it's not anticipated that there was serious damage. London also gets four full days of R&R before it likely opens the Western Conference final vs. the Kitchener-Plymouth victor on Thursday, so that buys McKegg some time.

McKegg was injured early on an open-ice hit by Saginaw's Vincent Trocheck and never returned to the game. He was examined by team doctor Dieter Bruckschwaiger, who made the trip to Saginaw.

"It's nothing major," London assistant GM Misha Donskov said. "He'll be looked at again when he gets home."

Without McKegg, the lines were shuffled and the defencemen stepped up, scoring three of the five goals. (London Free Press )

Kamloops Blazers right wing Jordan DePape (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Jordan DePape, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

The Blazers have promises to keep and miles to go before they sweep the last four games of the Western Conference final, but the way they have fought off match point twice against the Portland Winterhawks is admirable. DePape, the veteran who missed nearly the entire regular season due to shoulder season shouldered the load by notching four points (2G-2A) in the Blazers' 7-2 pounding of Portland in front o a crowd of 10,135 in the Rose City.

Only one Western Hockey League team has ever surmounted a 3-0 deficit. DePape factored into both first-period Blazers goals as they took a 2-0 lead, receiving an assist on Marek Hrbas' opener after Portland's Mac Carruth played a puck rather than freeze it and then scoring the second. The Winnipegger had a secondary helper when Brendan Ranford got a dagger goal with 42 seconds left in the second period to re-open a three-goal lead and make it all but official there will be a Game 6 in the B.C. Interior on Monday.

From Jim Beseda:

The Blazers ... moved a step closer to becoming only the second team in WHL history to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.

The Spokane Chiefs were the first to do it — in the first round of the 1995-96 West Division playoffs against the Winterhawks.

"It was do or die tonight," DePape said. "I think our guys were obviously all ready. We were kind of blazing out there and we were lucky enough to get the win." (The Oregonian)

Kamloops goalie Cam Lanigan stopped 34-of-36 shots as his team shut down Portland, which had Ty Rattie back in the lineup from injury. The 7-2 margin represented Portland's worst home playoff loss in 23 years.

Halifax Mooseheads centre Nathan MacKinnon (Richard Wolowicz, Getty Images)

Another Nathan MacKinnon does something amazing post — yeah, that's right.

Perhaps the Halifax Mooseheads could have kept their season alive with the typically beautifully ugly playoff goal. MacKinnon, the 16-year-old who's pegged to be the NHL's No. 1 draft pick in 2013, reached back for a little extra on Friday night. With the Mooseheads square at 2-2 with the Quebec Remparts in the third period and down 3-1 in the QMJHL playoff series, playing their perhaps final game of the season in front of a massive crowd of 9,664, MacKinnon scored the winning goal on a fantabulous solo effort. After taking a short pass as he crossed the blueline, he realized the Remparts defenders Marc-Antonie Carrier and Mikaël Tam were just stepping on the ice and had yet to get their bearings.

In that split second, he created space, brushed off a stick check from likely NHL lottery pick Mikhail Grigorenko and wired in the winning goal. It was his 10th goal in nine playoff games; if the Mooseheads can keep playing, there's a chance MacKinnon will set a team record for goals in one playoff year. Remember, he's 16 years old.

The play begins at 1:18 in the video below.

"I saw the two defencemen changing, they had just got on the ice and were a little flat-footed," MacKinnon told Mooseheads play-by-play man John Moore. "I knew I didn't have enough room to beat them wide, so I thought I'd stutter-step them. I just put the puck on the net and luckily enough, it went under his [Quebec goalie Louis Domingue's] stick."

Halifax Mooseheads centre Nathan MacKinnon (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Nathan MacKinnon, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

The Cole Harbour comet delivered the game-winning goal in the third period to help the Mooseheads beat the Quebec Remparts 3-2, extending their series to a Game 6 on Monday. MacKinnon (1G-1A, seven shots on goal, 11-of-21 on faceoffs) got the deciding goal on a solo effort in the third period, thrilling a crowd of 9,664 in the Nova Scotia capital. MacKinnon also had the secondary assist on an earlier go-ahead goal by defenceman Trey Lewis off a beautiful three-way passing play with Jonathan Drouin as the middleman.

From Matthew Wuest:

MacKinnon showcased his game-breaking speed as he crossed the blue line on a one-on-two, creating his own space before putting a low shot against the grain under the stick of goaltender Louis Domingue at 8:02.

"Wow," was the post-game reaction of Mooseheads goaltender Zach Fucale, who picked up an assist on the play. "He came through for us and we owe him a big thanks for that one."

... I think we outplayed them for the majority of the game and we'll take the win," MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon's tally — his 10th of the playoffs in just nine games, two away from matching the franchise record — put his young team in the driver's seat and brought the crowd to its feet. (Metro Halifax)

Only three teams in Quebec league history have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. To do so, the Mooseheads would have win back-to-back games in Quebec City, beginning Monday with Game 6.

Barrie Colts' Mathias Niederberger (OHL Images)Mathias Niederberger has gone from curiosity to being cursed by opposing teams' fans.

In hindsight, it should have been no stunner at all the 19-year-old native with pro experience in his native Germany would eventually play lights-out in the Ontario Hockey League. But the beauty of junior hockey is that there's still some room for an element of surprise. Niederberger, a native of Duesseldorf, has brought the undermanned Barrie Colts to the brink of reaching the OHL's Eastern Conference final. Barrie is still up 3-2 over the Ottawa 67's after a one-goal loss on Friday where Niederberger made 43 saves to keep the Colts in the hunt until the final buzzer. The only pucks to get by him came when Ottawa's Cody Ceci one-timed a rebound from 10 feet out and on a scramble with 8.8 seconds left in the second period where Dalton Smith had Niederberger practically pinned to the ice while Tyler Toffoli slid the puck into the net.

"I wished I would get busy nights like this when I decided to come here," said Niederberger, who has a tidy 2.09 goals-against average and .942 save percentage in 11 playoff starts. "It's such a big difference with the smaller ice in Canada. Everything is straighter to the net. I like it, it's great. I think I adjusted pretty quickly."

Looks can be so deceiving in hockey. Niederberger, whose father, Andreas Niederberger, was a four-time Olympic hockey player for Germany in the 1980s and '90s, is listed at a compact 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds. Given the NHL's predilection for bigger goaltenders, it's not surprising he's only ranked 22nd on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goaltenders. But he's playing bigger than his listed size. Beating him on anything but a deflection or rebound seems harder.

"He moves well laterally, so it's tough to get one by him," said 67's centre Sean Monahan, who assisted on both Ottawa goals on Friday. "He's good low and I think we just have to get goals like we did today, crash and bang and get screens in front of him."