Game 7 heartbreak as Maple Leafs eliminated from NHL playoffs.
Toronto’s Cup dream ends in Game 7
BOSTON • There one day could be some Game 7 magic for the Maple Leafs at TD Garden.
Instead, there only was more horror on Wednesday night, not quite five years after the Leafs melted down in the third period of Game 7 and were eliminated from the first round by the Boston Bruins.
This time, the Leafs didn’t blow a three-goal lead in the third period like they did on the night of May 13, 2013.
No, it was just a one-goal lead that slipped from the Leafs’ grasp, as the Bruins scored four goals in the final 20 minutes to win 7-4 and advance to the second round to face the Tampa Bay Lightning.
David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, Torey Krug all scored on Frederik Andersen — Brad Marchand got one on an empty net — in the third period of a wild game in which the Leafs, sloppy at times in the defensive zone, had several leads but could not hold.
Four Leafs might have worn the Blue and White for the last time. Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Tomas Plekanec and Roman Polak are headed for unrestricted free agency, as are Leo Komarov and Dominic Moore, who were scratched.
The Leafs, who had a franchise-record 105 points in the regular season, were resilient in the best of seven, but could not fully recover after losing the first two games and then falling behind 3-1.
The Leafs have not won a Game 7 on the road since May 1, 1993, when Nikolai Borschevsky scored in Detroit in overtime against the Red Wings. Since, they have lost five Game 7s in a row on the road.
The Bruins scored twice in the first six minutes of the third to take a 5-4 lead, and both goals came while the teams were playing with four skaters aside.
DeBrusk, continuing an excellent series, scored his second of the game at 5:25 when he got a step on Jake Gardiner, who was not good on Wednesday night, and beat Andersen.
The game was tied at 1:10 when the Leafs could not recover after a defensive-zone faceoff and Krug blasted a shot past Andersen from the blue line.
Pastrnak scored with under nine minutes remaining, sending the already loud crowd into a frenzy.
The Leafs dodged a major scare at 11:05 of the first period when defenceman Morgan Rielly was hit in the mouth by a shot off the stick of Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara. Luckily, Chara did not get everything behind the shot, but Rielly fell to the ice and was bleeding from the mouth as he was helped off.
Rielly eventually retuned, but not until the start of the second period.
The Leafs erased a onegoal deficit in the second period with a goal on each of their first two shots on goal.
Both were easy on the eyes, but for different reasons.
Travis Dermott tied the game 3-3 at 2:07, his quick shot going high over Rask’s glove for his first career NHL playoff goal.
The go-ahead goal by Kasperi Kapanen has the potential to still be among the top 10 of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs by the time the postseason ends.
With the Leafs shorthanded, Kapanen outmuscled Marchand at the Boston blue line for a loose puck. Once Kapanen gained control, he skated in alone on Tuukka Rask, deked to his backhand and then to his forehand, completely fooling the goalie to slip the puck into the net.
Kapanen not only became the first Leaf to scored a shorthanded goal in a Game 7 since Dave Keon did so in the 1964 semis against Montreal, he became the youngest player in NHL history to score a shorthanded goal in a Game 7.
Kapanen scored at the age of 21 years, 276 days; the previous record was held by Kris Draper, who scored at the age of 22 years, 341 days, for Detroit against San Jose in the 1994 conference quarterfinals.
It was the first goal of the series for Kapanen, who had missed on several good chances in earlier games.
In the moments before the goal, Andersen made pointblank save on a Krug shot from the slot.
Patrice Bergeron had done a lot of good things in the series, but had not scored.
That changed with 37 seconds remaining in a terrific, entertaining first period when Bergeron deposited the puck in the net after defenceman Kevan Miller banked a shot off the end boards. Plekanec, who earlier saved a goal when he stopped the puck at the Toronto goal line, could not get his stick in the way of Bergeron’s shot in time.
The goal gave the Bruins their first lead of the night.
Patrick Marleau, with his first of two in the game, scored on an early Leafs power play, tipping a Gardiner shot past Rask at 2:05.
Rielly shot the puck over the boards 55 seconds later and as he served a penalty for delay of game, DeBrusk re-directed a David Pastrnak pass behind Andersen to tie the game at 4:47. Zach Hyman had had a chance to clear the puck, but could not.
But the game was not tied for long: Mitch Marner set up Marleau at 6:12 for the Leafs’ second goal, as Marleau went high on Rask’s blocker side.
A soft clearing attempt by Gardiner allowed the Bruins to regain control and Danton Heinen scored from the slot at 9:10.