Even after a lifetime of watching sports, there are always games and moments that stick with you forever. Tonight, the Bruins added themselves to my short-list of epic comebacks as they rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third period at TD Garden then went on to beat the Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime of Game 7. They advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals where they'll have home ice against the New York Rangers, their Original Six rival that they haven't met in the postseason since 1973.
No NHL team had ever lived to see another day after going down by three goals in the third period of Game 7 so it's only fitting that the B's would put themselves in that impossible situation yet still somehow find a way out. Patrice Bergeron was the hero for the B's, he scored the tying goal with 51 seconds left in regulation then the game-winner at 6:05. Boston actually scored the first goal (a key in Game 7s) at 5:39 of the first period as rookie defenseman Matt Bartkowski picked the perfect time to pot his first career goal. It was unassisted following a turnover along the wall by Maple Leafs defenseman Cody Franson.
Toronto answered right away when Franson tied it at 9:35 with a power play goal off a rebound. Franson put the Maple Leafs on his back, scoring the go-ahead goal at 5:48 of the second period with a blast from the point. The Maple Leafs appeared to put it away early in the third as Phil Kessel scored on another Tuukka Rask (24 saves) rebound at 2:09 then Nazem Kadri did the same at 5:29 after a 2-on-1. There can't be one Bruins fan that thought a team who had scored three goals total in almost three games could erupt for three in less than 10 minutes.
Nathan Horton got the momentum turning Boston's way when he scored on a wrist shot (his fourth goal of the series) at 9:18 from Milan Lucic and David Krejci. Toronto and James Reimer (30 saves) wanted to give the B's another goal but Boston didn't seem capable of putting another puck in the net. However with Rask pulled, Lucic (2nd goal of the series) trimmed it to 4-3 following a rebound (Reimer's old friend) on Chara's blast from the point. Bergeron had the second assist. The roof basically came off the Garden when Bergeron tied it, thanks in no small part to Chara's screen of Reimer. Rask was also on the bench for Bergeron's tying goal, the second time all season (Feb. 12 vs. Rangers) Boston scored twice with a goaltender pulled. Krejci and Jaromir Jagr assisted on Bergeron's second goal of the playoffs.
In overtime, it's all about getting the puck to the net. Usually, the deciding goal comes on a broken play, lucky bounce, etc. True to form, Bergeron's goal in overtime came following a loose puck and giveaway in front of Reimer. Bergeron put it over the Toronto goaltender who was out of position after a shot got blocked. The two biggest Bruins scapegoats for this series-Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand-showed up on that shift and they were credited with the most important assists of the seven games.
Game 1 vs. New York is Thursday (7:30 p.m., NBCSN) at TD Garden and Game 2 is Sunday afternoon (3 p.m., NBCSN) at TD Garden. The Rangers are coming off their own exhausting seven-game series, they rolled 5-0 against the Capitals tonight in DC (the first game won in the series by a road team). It doesn't get much better than Boston vs. New York (Red Sox vs. Yankees, Patriots vs. Giants), we already had a taste of it with Celtics-Knicks a few weeks ago. It's crazy that it has been so long since the Bruins and Rangers have met in the playoffs. Expect a low-scoring, very physical, long series dominated by the goaltenders. New York's Henrik Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the NHL and the Rangers can grind teams down with the best of them.
UPDATE 5/14: We still don't know the status of Dennis Seidenberg who only played two shifts last night before getting hurt. Today, Boston called up defenseman Torey Krug from Providence.
Adam McQuaid was nominated for the Masterson Trophy (given to overcoming injuries/adversity), Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Minnesota's Josh Harding were the other selections.
UPDATE 5/15: Patrice Bergeron was nominated for the Selky Award (defensive forward) which he won last season. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Chicago's Jonathan Toews are the other impressive choices.
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment