Down 4-3 Going Into the 3rd Period, the B's Rally For a Thrilling 7-4 Game 7 Win vs. the Leafs

Survive and advance, that's all that matters in the NHL playoffs. In a first-round series that featured more twists and turns than a road in San Francisco, the Bruins outlasted the Maple Leafs 7-4 in Game 7 tonight at TD Garden. Toronto scored first (the team scoring 1st had been 5-1) and actually led 4-3 going into the third period (teams leading after 2 had been 3-0 in the series) but they couldn't hang on as Boston followed up probably its worst frame of the season with undoubtedly the best, outscoring the stunned Leafs 4-0 to advance to the second round vs. top-seeded Tampa Bay. Game 1 is Saturday afternoon at 3 pm on NBC from Tampa Bay.

This was the only Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs this year and it certainly lived up to the sizable hype. The first period was bonkers as it featured five goals and non-stop highlight reel plays. Patrick Marleau gave Toronto a 1-0 lead just 2:05 into regulation as he tipped in a Jake Gardiner shot for a power play goal. William Nylander had the second assist on Marleau's third goal of the series. Countless times in this airtight series, the Leafs had scored right after the B's had lit the lamp. This time, Boston turned the tables on them as Jake DeBrusk scored a power play goal at 4:47. He tipped in a shot/pass by David Pastrnak for his fourth goal of the series with David Krejci notching the second assist.

An ugly turnover by Torey Krug in his own end led to another goal by Marleau at 6:12 of the first. Mitch Marner extended his point-streak to six games with the lone assist on the tally. Rookie Danton Heinen subbed in for veteran Tommy Wingels in Game 7 and Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy's instinctual move paid off immediately as Heinen tied things at two at 9:10 of the first. Krejci and Rick Nash had the assists on Heinen's first career playoff goal. Patrice Bergeron gave Boston its first lead of the night at 19:23 of the first after Kevan Miller smartly shot the puck intentionally wide of the net for Bergy to tap it in. His first goal of the series was also assisted by David Backes.

Both Tuukka Rask (20 saves) and Frederik Andersen (29 saves) got off to rough starts in this do-or-die tilt but only Boston's goaltender was able to recover in time. It also helped that Boston's defense wasn't the complete sieve that Toronto's was for much of the series (particularly at the Garden). The Leafs tied it at three as Travis Dermott's shot through traffic found its way into the net for his first career NHL playoff goal at 2:07 of the second period. The ghost of Roman Polak (who was a stiff to begin with) and Nylander had the assists on another goal that Rask really didn't have much of a chance to stop. Things really weren't going Boston's way as they squandered a power play opportunity and even worse, Kasperi Kapanen skated in on a breakaway (after Brad Marchand fell down) before beating Rask for a shorthanded goal (his 1st of the series) and 4-3 advantage at 6:05.

With their season on the line and on the verge of blowing a 3-1 lead in the series, the B's showed their mettle and winning mentality with a third period for the history books. Torey Krug tied it at four with a blast from the point, his second goal of the series was assisted by Miller and Bergeron. Boston never looked back from there as DeBrusk put his team ahead for good with an unforgettable speed rush up the right side. He got his shot off before Jake Gardiner crushed him but I'm sure he didn't care one bit as the Bruins were up 5-4 at 5:25 of the third period. Krejci recorded his third assist on what has to be the biggest goal of DeBrusk's young life. Pasta had started off the series so brilliantly so it was poetic that he also ended it (basically) with another sick goal. Boston's top line had been held scoreless for Games 5 and 6 but they all came to play in Game 7. Pasta's fifth goal of the series, from Bergeron and Marchand came at 11:39 as it gave the Bruins a 6-4 lead. Marchand's empty-netter with 50.9 seconds left in the contest allowed Bruins fans around New England, the United States and the world to finally exhale. On the other side, the Leafs continued to be some of the biggest big game losers in the NHL-year after year and decade after decade (their last Stanley Cup came in 1967).

As crazy as it sounds, I'm actually more confident for the Bruins heading into this meeting with the Lightning since they simply match up better with their other Atlantic Division rival (Boston went 3-1 vs TB in the regular season) that reached the playoffs in 2017-18. Game 2 is on Monday (7, NBCSN) with Games 3 and 4 coming back to Boston on Wednesday (7, NBCSN) and Friday (7, NBCSN). This was Boston's first playoff series win since 2014 and you'll remember that in that campaign, they fell in seven games to Montreal in the second round despite having won the meaningless Presidents Trophy. Pittsburgh vs. Washington is the other Eastern Conference series with Las Vegas-San Jose and Winnipeg-Nashville in the Western Conference. At least on paper, all of those series have the potential to be classics.

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