As the final minutes of a lackluster second period winded down, Bruins fans watched their hopes of winning it all slowly fade away. However, as the final minutes of the third period winded down, Bruins fans celebrated advancing to the second round.
After a four-goal third period, the Boston Bruins eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 7-4 game seven win.
The tone was set in the first period with five goals combined between both teams, four of which came before the ten-minute mark of the game.
Toronto opened the scoring through Patrick Marleau after Sean Kuraly took a tripping penalty 30 seconds into the game. The Bruins then answered with a power-play goal from Jake DeBrusk.
However, it didn’t take long for Marleau to net another, giving the Leafs a brief lead before Danton Heinen was able to snipe another game-tying goal. To finish off the period, Patrice Bergeron netted one for the Bruins with under a minute left to make it 3-2.
The game got ugly for the Bruins in the second period. Travis Dermott was quick to open the scoring for the Leafs to tie the game, which then allowed them to take a 4-3 lead shortly after thanks to a shorthanded goal from Kasperi Kapanen.
As the third period began, the Bruins wasted no time getting back into the game. The Bruins tied the game 70 seconds into the third thanks to a Torey Krug slapshot from the point through a screen with the teams playing four on four.
DeBrusk then netted his second goal of the night, giving the Bruins the lead before David Pastrnak scored the Bruins’ sixth goal with 8:21 to play. Brad Marchand scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to wrap up the series.
History Repeats Itself
The Maple Leafs had been in this position before; leading the Bruins by a goal going into the third period in a game seven. While this comeback wasn’t quite as epic as the iconic overtime comeback victory pulled off by the Bruins in 2013, it still was an exciting night for fans and players alike.
“Didn’t matter how long it was going to take,” Krug said. “We were going to do the job.”
Round Two
The Bruins will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.
Saturday, April 28th – 3 p.m. at Tampa Bay
Monday, April 30th – 7 p.m. at Tampa Bay
Wednesday, May 2nd – 7 p.m. at Boston
Friday, May 4th – 7 p.m. at Boston
*Sunday, May 6th – TBD at Tampa Bay
*Tuesday, May 8th – TBD at Boston
*Thursday, May 10th – TBD at Tampa Bay
*If necessary
