The Boston Bruins are done, with a long off-season to reflect on their failure to capitalize on the biggest regular season in NHL history.
The Florida Panthers move on, thrown straight into their second round match against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Game 7. Win overtime. Against pretty much the best team in regular season history. It’s unreal,” said Panthers center Aleksander Barkov after Florida beat Boston 4-3 in OT to eliminate the record-breaking Bruins from the playoffs.
“Sure, it’s up there, and it’s hard to understand right now. I don’t think we need to understand now. We’ll understand later.’
Brandon Montour tied the score with 1 minute left in the rules, and Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner at 8:35 overtime. The Panthers won three in a row after trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Florida Panthers knocked out the record-breaking Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Panthers celebrate after defeating the Boston Bruins on a goal by Carter Verhaeghe
Boston, the Presidents’ Trophy winners with NHL records of 65 wins and 135 points, had not lost three straight all season.
“The fact that we were able to do what we did after what they did all year… they are an unreal team and the best I’ve played in my NHL career. The fact that we were able to beat them was insane,” said Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk.
“Let’s face it, no one in the whole world thought we’d win that series, except the guys in that room.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves for Florida, which advanced the postseason for the second time since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. They will face Toronto, which shut down the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games on Saturday.
“I don’t think you can find a harder team to play against than the Boston Bruins. They will test you,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice, who improved to 4-0 in Game 7 of his career. “The players here now have a shared experience of what is difficult. … It will make us better for five years. It was that hard.’
Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit to take a 3–2 lead, but Maurice pulled Bobrovsky back in the final minutes, calling a timeout with 88 seconds left to give his players a breather. Montour equalized with his second of the game.
Maurice, who sat on the Winnipeg bench as the Jets knocked out Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville in the second round in 2018, admitted his confidence was waning.
Sam Reinhart (13) watches the puck on teammate Brandon Montour’s tie-in goal
“We are one goal down with less than two minutes left against Boston. I wouldn’t bet everything because the match is not right,” he said. “But when that goal goes in, you think, ‘Ohhh, we’re going to win this game.'”
Verhaeghe won the ball with a shot from the right throwing circle that landed just below the crossbar.
That eliminated the Bruins, who became the second Presidents’ Trophy winner in five years, losing in the first round. No team with the best regular season record has won the Stanley Cup since 2013, when the Chicago Blackhawks defeated Boston in the final.
“It was an honor to coach that group,” said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, who took over in Boston this year after Bruce Cassidy was fired. “I know we didn’t get where we wanted. I get it. But their professionalism, their work ethic, their dedication to being pros. It was a pleasure to be around.’
Montour scored Florida’s first goal and Sam Reinhart made it 2-0 early in the second period. David Krejci and Tyler Bertuzzi scored to tie the score, and David Pastrnak gave the Bruins their only lead of the game on a power play goal 55 seconds into the third period.
Jeremy Swayman, making his first start of the series as a substitute for likely Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, stopped 27 shots.
The game could be the last for Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron, who teased into retirement last year but chose to return. He was the last Boston player on the ice and left after a baton swing to the crowd and a final hug with Brad Marchand.
Bergeron said after the game that he will take some time to think about his future. The five-time Selke Trophy winner missed the first five games of the series and played the last two with a herniated disc.
“I’ve learned a lot from him this year,” Montgomery said. “I hope you learn more from him next year.”
The Bruins’ Brandon Carlo and Jeremy Swayman are on the ice after losing to the Panthers
CRACK 2, AVALANCHE 1
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, Philipp Grubauer was great at stopping 33 shots as the Seattle Kraken knocked out the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win in Game 7 on Sunday night.
The Kraken became the first expansion team to defeat the reigning Stanley Cup champions in their inaugural playoff series, according to NHL Stats.
Bjorkstrand scored one goal after an accidental deflection – the puck hit a stick and glove – and another with a liner past goaltender Alexandar Georgiev that clattered against the post. Seattle took the lead in every game in the series.
Next up for the sophomore Kraken is a second-round series against the Stars that begins Tuesday night in Dallas. Seattle tied Dallas 1-1-1 in the regular season.
Mikko Rantanen was credited with a power play goal for Colorado after a shot from Nathan MacKinnon cut him off and went in. MacKinnon appeared to score early in the third period to tie the score at 2, but Seattle challenged the play and the goal was ruled out for offside to Colorado.
The Seattle Kraken eliminated the Colorado Avalanche to advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs
Jaden Schwartz, defender Jamie Oleksiak and goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer celebrate
The avalanche drew Georgiev with less than two minutes left, but could not get the equalizer. It enabled the Kraken to be the first to establish another franchise – a series-ending party.
Colorado has now lost its last six Game 7s. The last time the Avalanche won Game 7 was in 2002, when they beat San Jose 1-0 thanks to a goal by Hall of Fame forward Peter Forsberg.
Both teams lost players for the series to hard blows. Jared McCann was out of action after a hit by Cale Makar off the boards in Game 4, which earned the Avalanche defenseman a one-game suspension (Game 5).
Colorado was without Andrew Cogliano for Game 7 after suffering a fracture to his neck on a hit down the boards from Kraken forward Jordan Eberle, who received no additional discipline.
MacKinnon energized the crowd with what looked like a draw. But it was taken off the board after a successful challenge by the Kraken. Artturi Lehkonen was ruled in the zone before the puck came in.
It is the second time in this series that the Kraken use a challenge to nullify an Avalanche score.
The Kraken also drained the capacity crowd by doing what they’ve done in every game of this series: score first.
Bjorkstrand was held goalless throughout the series and picked a good time to find the net. He was credited with a goal in the second period that glanced Alex Newhook’s stick and then Ben Meyers’ glove into the net. Bjorkstrand scored again almost four minutes later with a lightning shot on a breakaway down the side to make it 2–0.
Bjorkstrand almost had a hat-trick, but his shot hit the post late in the game.
With 27.3 seconds left in the second period, MacKinnon passed a shot that went off Rantanen and went past Grubauer.
Kraken goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer celebrates with defender Jamie Oleksiak as time runs out
Kraken center Ryan Donato, below, is sent flying by Colorado Avalanche LW JT Compher
MacKinnon’s assist on the play was his 100th career playoff point. He joins the company of Joe Sakic (188) and Forsberg (159) as the only Avalanche players to reach the 100-point mark in the postseason.
Georgiev finished with 25 saves. Grubauer was sensational in the first period against his old team. He stopped 16 shots, including one with the top of his baton, to set the tone for the night.
The broken Avalanche missed forwards Darren Helm (upper body), Cogliano and Valeri Nichushkin (personal reasons), along with defenseman Josh Manson (lower body) in Game 7.
They have been without captain Gabriel Landeskog all season after he underwent knee surgery in October.