For the 2nd Year In a Row (3rd Time in 7 Years), the Bruins Win Another Game 7 Against the Leafs

One of the million great aspects of sports is at some point, almost every epic drought ends: after all, the Red Sox and Cubs won the World Series so at some point, the Maple Leafs will win another Stanley Cup. Thankfully for the Bruins and their fans, that won't happen on their watch at least for another year as Boston beat Toronto 5-1 tonight in Game 7 at TD Garden to take the first-round series 4-3. Would you believe that the Leafs haven't won the Cup in 52+ years now? Hell, they haven't even won a series in 15+ years. What makes that hilarious is the fact that the B's continue to torment them the most, having also beaten them at the Garden in epic Game 7s in 2013 and 2018 as well. Oh and Canada hasn't won a Cup since Montreal in 1993 which is utterly insane.

Boston finally became the first club in this back-and-forth series to win consecutive games and while it took them long enough, they got the job done when most had counted them out and their collective backs were all against the wall (double cliche alert!). The Bruins' overall depth was on full display this evening as five different guys scored goals for them and goaltender Tuukka Rask (32 saves) was the best player on the ice in his top performance of the series. Now they have home ice for the rest of the Eastern Conference playoffs and they begin their second round series vs. Columbus on Thursday (7, NBC Sports) back at the Garden.

Everybody knows how important it is to score first in Game 7s and the Bruins doubled down with a pair of goals late in the first period to take firm control of the contest. First, Joakim Nordstrom somehow squeezed a shot past Frederik Andersen (27 saves) from no angle at 14:29 for his second goal of the series. Matt Grzelcyk and Sean Kuraly had the assists on the opening tally. It's a credit to B's head coach Bruce Cassidy for putting Nordstrom back in the lineup after sitting him in Game 5. Toronto's defenseman Jake Gardiner deserved credit for Marcus Johansson's first playoff goal as a Bruin since his pass behind the Leafs net went right to him and he skated around the cage before whipping a low snipe on Andersen at 17:46 of the first period.

The Maple Leafs dominated the second period, outshooting Boston 13-8 and cutting it to 2-1 on John Tavares' big-time goal at 3:54. Mr. Toronto's only previous goal in the series was an empty-netter way back in Game 1. Tyler Ennis had the lone assist on the wide open shot that Rask had no chance to stop as it went over his leg pad and past his blocker. Boston killed a cross checking penalty by Brandon Carlo in the second and it still felt like a victory when the frame ended with them on top.

Luckily, there was no overtime needed in Game 7 (or any other game in this series) as Boston closed with a strong third period. Kuraly scored a huge insurance tally at 2:40 as he ripped a shot past Andersen at 2:40, his first goal of the series was assisted by linemates Noel Acciari and Nordstrom. The B's survived a too many men penalty (do they always have to get those in Game 7s?) and a pair of empty-netters by Charlie Coyle and Patrice Bergeron made sure that the stress would quickly drift away for nervous Bruins fans.

This is the second year in a row that Boston has advanced to the second round and seventh time in the last nine postseasons. It will be the first ever playoff meeting vs. Columbus who they went 2-1 against in the regular season (which obviously means nothing). However, with Tampa Bay out (thanks to the Blue Jackets) along with the Penguins (and possibly Capitals if they lose Game 7 tomorrow vs. Carolina), the road to another Stanley Cup Final for the B's couldn't be more favorable. The other Eastern Conference semifinal is Islanders vs. Capitals/Hurricanes with Washington for sure being the biggest obstacle for the Black and Gold. This doesn't even take into account the powerhouse Western Conference teams (Calgary and Winnipeg) that have already been knocked out too. Needless to say, the NHL playoffs this season have been even more bananas than usual.

Boston improved to 15-12 all-time in Game 7s and they are now 4-1 all-time vs. Toronto in Game 7s. The Maple Leafs fell to 12-12 in Game 7s and this was another painful chapter in their constantly updating encyclopedia on choke jobs since they blew a 3-2 series lead and lost at home before getting eliminated tonight. Their players, coaches and fans must be wondering what it will take to get past from Boston let alone just win a single series and end this stupid curse once and for all.

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