The NHL should be deep into postseason action, but with the start of the 2019-20 playoffs delayed, theScore's hockey editors are picking their favorite Game 7s from years past.

We're now looking back at how one of the biggest recent playoff upsets concluded. The Montreal Canadiens, with goaltender Jaroslav Halak leading the way, walked into Washington to defeat the Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals in a thrilling Game 7 during the opening round of the 2009-10 playoffs.

The setup

The Capitals just finished their most dominant regular season of all time, winning the team's first Presidents' Trophy. A young Alex Ovechkin was fresh off a 50-goal, 109-point campaign, and he was looking to keep things rolling in the postseason, with the Capitals entering as the No. 1 seed in the East.

The 2009-10 season was a special one for the Canadiens, as it was their 100th anniversary. After hosting the 2009 NHL Draft and All-Star Game, Montreal managed to squeeze into the playoffs as the eighth seed, beating out the New York Rangers by one point.

The Capitals couldn't have asked for a better first-round matchup on paper. They had scored 99 more goals than the Canadiens that season while racking up 15 more regulation wins, and they were 33 points ahead of Montreal in the standings.

However, what should have been an easy series win was far from it.

The series

The Canadiens' Carey Price and Halak split starts in goal evenly all season long. But come playoff time, Halak was given the nod, helping to stun the Capitals in Game 1 while stopping 45 of 47 shots. But the Canadiens went on to drop the next three games to go down 3-1 in the series.

On the brink of elimination, Halak went superhuman. He stopped 37 of 38 shots in Game 5 to keep the Habs alive, and the then 24-year-old one-upped his performance by stopping 53 of 54 shots in Game 6 to force a Game 7.

Through six games, Washington was outshooting Montreal 250 to 178, but only outscoring the Habs 21 to 18. With Halak playing on another level and the Capitals unable to solve him, Montreal headed to Washington ready to steal the series.

The game

The star: This one is a no-brainer, and it's evident who the game's single star was just by simply looking at the box score. Halak gets all the credit again after stepping up when it mattered most against the league's best offensive team.

Facing pressure all night long, he stopped 41 of 42 shots and blanked the Capitals on their three power-play opportunities. He helped steer the Canadiens, who mustered just 16 shots on goal, to an improbable victory.

The X-factor(s): Canadiens defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron played just 4:06 in Game 7. But he made the most of his limited ice time, blasting home a power-play goal in the dying seconds of the first period to give the Habs a 1-0 lead they didn't relinquish.

The Canadiens' defense was abysmal in the series. However, the team blocked an incredible 41 shots from the Capitals in Game 7, with big-bodied Hal Gill leading (six blocks).

The key moment: To start the third period, the Capitals were still trying to figure out how to get one past the brick wall standing in the Canadiens' net. Minutes into the frame, Ovechkin thought he tied the game with a wicked wrist shot.

While the team and fans were busy celebrating, they all failed to realize the referee waived the goal off due to Mike Knuble's goaltender interference. The Capitals returned to square one with their backs against the wall.

The highlight

Dominic Moore, one of Montreal's trade-deadline acquisitions that season, proved the deal to get him was absolutely worth it by potting the most crucial goal of the series. With Washington pressing hard, the Canadiens broke out, and Moore pounced on the opportunity.

The Canadiens knew that with three-and-a-half minutes left, their 2-0 lead wasn't necessarily safe. The Capitals' Brooks Laich scored one minute later, but the Canadiens were able to hold onto the lead and close out the game, with Moore's tally standing as the series-winner.

The fallout

After stunning the Capitals in the first round, the Canadiens took on the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. With gas still left in the tank, the Canadiens and Halak also upset the Penguins in seven games. Then things fell apart when the Philadelphia Flyers dropped Montreal in five games in the Eastern Conference Final.

That summer, both Halak and Price became restricted free agents. Price was clearly the goalie of the future in Montreal, but Halak's playoff performance still made the decision between the two extremely tough.

Ultimately, the Canadiens rolled the dice and stuck with Price, trading Halak to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Eller quickly became a fan favorite and spent six seasons in Montreal, while Schultz never suited up in an NHL game.

Halak has enjoyed success with the Blues, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins since being dealt. His departure ushered in a new era for the Canadiens, with future Hart Trophy winner Price anchoring the team. Montreal has returned to the conference final once with Price, but otherwise the club hasn't accomplished much.

The Canadiens' 2009-10 playoff run may not have resulted in a Stanley Cup, but Halak put together one of the most memorable postseason performances we've seen in a long time.

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Boston Bruins president Cam Neely still believes there's a great possibility this NHL season can be completed without affecting next year.

"I can tell you this. Both the players and NHL ownership want to do whatever possible to get this season completed," Neely said, according to NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty. "If that means playing into the summer then we're all willing to do that. The feeling is there’s an opportunity to be able to push next season back and still get an 82-game schedule in next year. Everything is on the table to try and get the (2019-20) season completed."

The most recent idea that has been floated around is using hub cities to host the remainder of the season's games. There was also a report earlier this week that an NHL team told its players to plan to return for workouts starting May 15.

Neely added he believes the NHLPA wouldn't approve a scenario to resume the season if it meant it had to jump directly into the playoffs, and that regular-season games will be needed to ramp up to the postseason.

The Bruins stood atop the league's standings with a 44-14-12 record and were primed for another deep playoff run after making the Stanley Cup Final last season.

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The Taylor or Tyler debate began to brew ahead of the 2010 NHL Draft when Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin were neck and neck to be picked first overall. Before they had even entered the league, the two were seemingly on opposite sides of a rivalry.

Ten years later, Seguin says there's no ulterior competition between the two.

"I got to know him, we're always still nice to each other, never had any beef. Never, Taylor/Tyler massive competition," the Dallas Stars forward said, according to The Athletic's Craig Custance. "I always secretly cheer for him and watch his career."

He continued: "We're competitive pro athletes, right? I was happy as anyone else when he won the MVP, seeing what he went through, leaving Edmonton. I left Boston.

"There's so many things where we’ve gone separate ways in our career, and there are so many things that are the same in our career. "

With no consensus top prospect in the 2010 draft, it was virtually a toss-up as to who would go first on draft day. Seguin revealed that he and Hall even traveled to Edmonton and Boston together before the draft to meet with the Oilers and Bruins, who owned the first and second picks, respectively.

The Oilers ultimately selected Hall first, and the Bruins gladly settled for Seguin. But neither player's tenure with the team that drafted him went as planned.

Edmonton dealt Hall to the New Jersey Devils in 2016 after never making the playoffs in six seasons since drafting him. Seguin didn't last as long in Boston. The Bruins traded him to Dallas - where he blossomed into a star - in 2013.

While the two 28-year-olds have both enjoyed successful NHL careers so far, Seguin hasn't succumbed to outside pressure to fuel a rivalry with Hall.

"People always look for this hidden rivalry, don't like each other," he said. "I like Taylor a lot, I love his hockey game, I definitely am a fan of his and follow his career. I want him to get in the playoffs, he’s worked so hard to get there."

Hall hasn't had many opportunities to play in the postseason, making the playoffs just once since entering the league. Seguin, who won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins his rookie season, has appeared in 62 playoff games.

Seguin has managed 279 goals and 635 points in 741 career games. Hall has racked up 218 goals and 563 points in 627 career games and was named league MVP in 2018.

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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the league wouldn't undoubtedly pause the campaign again if a player tests positive for the coronavirus after the games return.

"We believe that everything depends on the facts and the entire set of circumstances, but no, one positive test - even multiple positive tests - wouldn't necessarily shut the whole thing down," Daly told TSN's Ryan Rishaug on Friday.

Eight NHL players - five from the Ottawa Senators and three from the Colorado Avalanche - have tested positive for COVID-19 since the league postponed the 2019-20 season amid the pandemic March 12.

One night before the NHL paused its campaign, the NBA did the same following a positive test by Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz.

The NHL is targeting a return in July, with one team reportedly telling its players to get ready to report for informal workouts beginning May 15.

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The man who helped rescue the Carolina Hurricanes during a game in February is doing his part during a real-life emergency.

David Ayres is launching a fund in conjunction with the Kidney Foundation of Canada to help kidney patients amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"This time of year, and this situation that we're in, is tough for a lot of people that are going through kidney disease, whether it's dialysis or post-transplant," Ayres told 680 News' Lindsay Dunn on Friday.

Ayres, who underwent a kidney transplant of his own during the SARS epidemic in 2004, said the goal is to raise $100,000 for the campaign.

The 42-year-old became the first emergency backup netminder in NHL history to notch a victory when he helped the Hurricanes defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Feb. 22.

Ayres is the operations manager at Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly Maple Leaf Gardens) in Toronto, having formerly served in a similar role at Ricoh Coliseum, where he drove the Zamboni among other duties.

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The role of general manager didn't always come naturally to Kyle Dubas.

The Toronto Maple Leafs executive admitted he was frightened when team president Brendan Shanahan first asked him to represent the club at a meeting of Dubas' contemporaries in June 2015.

"I was scared shitless when I walked into Vegas," Dubas said Friday, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "That was one of the most nervous times I've ever had in my life."

The Maple Leafs GM added, "I've known (then-Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron) Francis my whole life, so he was, like, the only person I felt I could talk to. I just went in, sat in my chair, and took notes at the meeting, and got up and left. But I was nervous as anything."

Shanahan tabbed Dubas and Mark Hunter as co-interim GMs following the firing of Dave Nonis and before the hiring of Lou Lamoriello, the latter of which came in July 2015.

"I really didn't feel like I belonged in (the meeting)," Dubas said. "I'd only been in the league for one year, and we were still a month away from having Lou hired. So, I just went in there, took my notes, and got on the plane."

Dubas became one of the youngest GMs in NHL history when he was promoted at age 32 in 2018. He was 28 when the Maple Leafs hired him as an assistant general manager.

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Amid developing news of the NHL aiming to resume the 2019-20 season in July, odds have been released for potential playoff series should the league jump straight into the postseason.

Let's take a closer look.

Boston Bruins (-350) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (+280)

Before the injury bug swept through Columbus, the Blue Jackets were one of the league's hottest teams. With a healthy Seth Jones and Oliver Bjorkstrand, and the exploits of Elvis Merzlikins between the pipes, Columbus is an incredibly dangerous eighth seed. The Blue Jackets beat the Bruins twice this season, and they'd offer a ton of value at this price.

Tampa Bay Lightning (-240) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (+200)

A fascinating series between two teams with something to prove before we can truly buy-in. It's hard to lay the juice with the Lightning after last season's catastrophic first-round sweep, though they again look like the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. I'd rather take a stab with the Leafs here at this price, even if their playoff resume hardly inspires confidence.

Washington Capitals (-200) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (+175)

This is a rematch of last season's first-round matchup the Hurricanes won in double overtime of Game 7, and expect another fiercely competitive series. The Capitals were reeling before the campaign was suspended, so perhaps they'll benefit from the break. But I can't pass up the Hurricanes at +175 because they'd be getting blue-liners Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce back.

Philadelphia Flyers (-110) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (-110)

The battle of Pennsylvania is a coin flip, and it might be the series to watch in Round 1. The Flyers were close to untouchable in the month leading up to the season being suspended, and the hiatus could negatively impact that momentum. The Penguins were trending in the opposite direction, but getting Jake Guentzel back for the postseason might just be the difference. Take the grizzled vets in Pittsburgh by a hair.

St. Louis Blues (-180) vs. Nashville Predators (+160)

The Predators are 4-0 against the Blues this season, but St. Louis is just so much stronger all over the ice. The Blues also hold a significant edge behind the bench, are battle-tested, and they would be getting a healthy and rested Vladimir Tarasenko back from a shoulder injury that's kept him out since August. I'm laying the chalk here.

Colorado Avalanche (-160) vs. Dallas Stars (+140)

Both teams were agonizingly close to the Western Conference Final a year ago, with the Avalanche losing controversially in Game 7 to the San Jose Sharks, and the Blues ousting the Stars in double overtime of Game 7.

Dallas is loaded on the back end, but the Stars would need their big guns up front to step up against an Avs team with very few holes. This series would be a lot closer than the line indicates, but although I don't like the price, I'd still roll with Colorado.

Vegas Golden Knights (-220) vs. Winnipeg Jets (+190)

Goaltending and scoring are both major strengths for the Jets, making them a live 'dog in this spot. While there's certainly a case to be made for Winnipeg, the Knights are just such a complete team, and a chip would be on their shoulder after last season's controversial playoff exit.

Edmonton Oilers (-120) vs. Calgary Flames (+100)

This series would be an absolute treat, and given the bad blood between the Alberta neighbors, the intensity would be unrivaled. That's all we know here though, and the series can essentially be billed as a toss-up. While I'd lean toward the Flames' grit over seven games, that didn't do them much good last season, and their goaltending just doesn't inspire enough confidence to warrant backing.

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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