It wasn’t quite as crazy as the Bruins’ famous Game 7 comeback win over the Maple Leafs in 2013, but the 2018 version of Boston-Toronto Game 7 was still pretty wild.
Thanks to the NHL’s divisional playoff format, the Bruins and Maple Leafs had to meet in the first round despite having the second- and third-best records in the Eastern Conference, respectively. The Bruins opened up a 3-1 lead in the series, but then the Leafs fought off elimination in Game 5 at the Garden before going home and winning Game 6 to force a decisive seventh game.
It quickly became apparent that we were in for a treat in Game 7. The Leafs opened the scoring with a Patrick Marleau power-play goal just 2:05 in, then the Bruins answered with a power-play goal of their own from Jake DeBrusk 2:42 later -- off a nice keep-in from David Krejci and beautiful slap-pass from David Pastrnak.
Marleau scored again a minute and a half after that, but then Danton Heinen scored three minutes later to make it 2-2 less than halfway through the first period. The Bruins took the lead in the final minute of the period when Patrice Bergeron collected a rebound off the end-boards and slipped it past Frederik Andersen.
Momentum swung Toronto’s way in the second period, however, as goals from Travis Dermott and Kasperi Kapanen gave the Leafs a 4-3 lead heading into the third. Toronto leading a Game 7 in Boston? Surely nothing could go wrong.
This game wouldn’t require a miracle three-goal comeback late, though. Instead the Bruins tied it just 1:10 into the third when Torey Krug beat Andersen with a rocket one-timer from the point.
Then DeBrusk gave the Bruins a 5-4 lead four minutes later with one of the most impressive and memorable goals in recent Bruins postseason history, as he stormed past Jake Gardiner one-on-one to the outside before beating Andersen while taking a hard hit from Gardiner that knocked him to the ice and into the end boards.
Pastrnak added some insurance with 8:21 to go after Brad Marchand won a battle on the forecheck, allowing Patrice Bergeron to dig the puck out and feed Pastrnak in the slot, where Pastrnak then patiently waited out a sliding Gardiner and down-and-out Andersen before finishing. The party was on in the Garden.
A Marchand empty-netter finished off the 7-4 win and sent the Bruins on to the second round. While that series ended up being a disappointing five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bruins’ Game 7 win over the Leafs -- their second of three in a seven-year span -- is still a fun game worth celebrating and remembering.
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