The two best words in sports: Game 7. For most of the fans, to watch any Game 7 is an exciting experience. For the fans of the teams in question, it might turn out to be very unpleasant, especially for cardiac patients.
If it’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, it gets even bigger.
Often enough, Game 7 is just a measuring stick of what your team is capable of. You win and you continue your season, you lose and it’s all over. In the Stanley Cup Final, there is no tomorrow. If you lose, you don’t have to blame yourself for not continuing the season, it wouldn’t continue anyway.
And there is perhaps no better feeling than winning a Game 7 at home.
The Boston Bruins fate has been frequently decided by Game 7. Ever since 2008, there have been just two cases, when the Bruins ended up eliminated from the playoffs, not in Game 7. That has happened in 2017 in Game 6 at home against the Ottawa Senators and then last year in Game 5 on the road versus the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That elimination against the Tampa Bay Lightning has been the lone Bruins elimination on the road since 2009. Just twice in the past 10 years, the Bruins have concluded their playoff season on the road. Once with a lot of disappointment last year in Tampa, the other time with the Stanley Cup in 2011.
Ever since 2009, the Boston Bruins have played in 10 Game 7s. Just one of those has been on the road, which the Bruins won, in Vancouver on that famous day in June of 2011. All the other nine Game 7s, the Bruins have played host to their opposition.
They lost Game 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009 and the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010, both in the second round. Then in 2011, the Bruins have been able to win three different Game 7s, at home versus the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and then against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final. The Stanley Cup Final ending has already been mentioned.
In 2012, the Bruins have lost Game 7 at TD Garden against the Washington Capitals with Marcus Johansson in the lineup. In 2013, the Bruins survived the test of Game 7 at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. This history has repeated in 2018 and 2019 as well. In 2014, Game 7 at home became fatal again as the Canadiens won it at TD Garden in the second round.
From their past 10 Game 7s, the Bruins have won six. Every member (with the exception of Connor Clifton) of the Bruins squad remembers at least one Game 7 as they have successfully passed the test a few weeks ago in the first round against Toronto. That time, the Bruins earned the right to play Game 7 after winning Game 6 on the road. That 5-1 win was the most lopsided one in Game 7 for the Bruins since their 2011 4-0 triumph in Vancouver.
They call Justin Williams a Mr. Game 7 for his 8-1 record in these contests. The Bruins have their own version of that in defenseman John Moore, who is 4-0 in Game 7s as well, he has the best record in these games from the Bruins squad. He is yet to score a goal and he would become the 22nd Bruins goalscorer in the playoffs. But as of now, the Stanley Cup is a much bigger prize for him as well as for his teammates than some stats.
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is a go-time. This will also be the sixth Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs this year with teams forcing it are 4-1 so far, including the Bruins from the first round and the Blues from the second round.
On Wednesday night, the Boston Bruins will once again get to resolve their fate in Game 7 at TD Garden. What will be written to the history books this time?
