In the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs battled it out 7 games to decide who would move on to the second round against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the end it was the Bruins who would get the better of Toronto yet again in a game 7. In three out of the last seven playoffs, these two teams have matched up and each time it has gone the distance with the B’s winning game 7 and moving on. It’s no secret that when the playoffs come, the Maple Leafs really struggle inside the TD Garden especially in game 7, but there were always nervous moments throughout. For example, in 2013 the Bruins had to comeback from a three goal deficit in the third period to force overtime where they would go on to win and eventually reach the Stanley Cup Final.
When the time for puck drop came, the TD Garden crowd was rocking the house ready to watch the B’s take out the Maple Leafs yet again. In the first period it was all Bruins as they would jump out to a 2-0 lead after goals from Joakim Nordstrom and Marcus Johansson. From here on chants of “Anderson, Anderson” rained down from the crowd in a jeering manner towards Frederik Andersen the Maple Leafs goalie. Perhaps this didn’t get into his head the same way it has in the past, as the second period was all Leafs. The Bruins looked to be playing with some contentment with a two goal lead and it showed as Toronto would get a goal back to make the third period very interesting. In the third period “Anderson, Anderson” made its return from the crowd when the Bruins would get their two goal lead back after Sean Kuraly broke through the defense and sniped one past Andersen, celebrating with his notorious leap into the boards. From there the Maple Leafs would empty the net for the extra attacker but it wouldn’t pay off as the Weymouth native, Charlie Coyle would seal the deal. As time was expiring Patrice Bergeron scored on the empty net where I thought came after the buzzer, but the score counted and the Bruins went on to win it 5-1.
In the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins will be taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets. This may come as a surprise after Columbus swept the Tampa Bay Lightning who was the heavy favorites to win the Finals, now leaving Boston to have home ice until at least the Stanley Cup Finals. Columbus will be in Boston for the first two games starting at 7pm on Thursday night.
Video courtesy of NHL.com