Bruins pull away for Game 7 win
Maple Leafs still without playoff series win in 14 years
Jake DeBrusk’s go-ahead goal with 14:35 remaining in the third period led hosts Boston Bruins to a 7-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Wednesday night.
DeBrusk scored two goals and David Pastrnak added one, giving them a share of the team playoff lead with five. Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists while Pastrnak and Brad Marchand each had a goal and an assist. Danton Heinen and Torey Krug also scored for the Bruins.
Boston, who earned their first playoff series victory since the 2013-14 season, will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Patrick Marleau had two goals, giving him a team-best four playoff goals. Travis Dermott and Kasperi Kapanen each scored his first of the postseason for Toronto, who forced a decisive seventh game with back-to-back wins after falling into a 3-1 series hole.
The Maple Leafs have not won a playoff series since 200304.
“It’s always disappointing,” Marleau told reporters after the game. “Obviously, you’re trying to win the Cup. To fall short once again, it’s heartbreaking every time.”
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask finished with 20 saves and improved to 2-2 all-time in Game 7s. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves for Toronto.
DeBrusk skated end-to-end for his decisive third-period goal, finding Andersen’s fivehole.
Pastrnak made it a 6-4 game on his goal at 11:39 of the third. Marchand scored an emptynetter with 50.9 seconds left.
“We’ll have lots of time to look at those goals and get that figured out,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said of Boston’s third-period surge. “The bottom line is we went out for the third period and they scored and we didn’t. Once they scored, they tilted the rink, and I don’t even know how many looks we had if we had any.”
Marleau’s first goal with 17:55 left in the first period gave Toronto a 1-0 lead before Boston tied it on DeBrusk’s first goal with 15:13 to go in the first.
Marleau’s second tally at 6:12 of the first made it 2-1 before Heinen (at 9:10) and Bergeron (at 19:23) scored to put the Bruins up 3-2 after one.
Dermott scored 2:07 into the second and Kapanen struck at 6:05 of the second to restore a one-goal lead for Toronto.
Krug’s goal tied the game at 4-4 just 1:10 into the third.
Toronto’s Morgan Rielly left the ice with a bloody face in the first period after being hit by a Zdeno Chara slap shot, but he returned in the second. Boston’s Adam McQuaid exited in the second after spinning into the boards, but he also returned.