The Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers won their prospective game 7s Monday night, to set-up a meeting with each other in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime, while the Rangers had a much easier game, whipping the Washington Senators 5-0.
Boston staged a huge comeback in the third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs to even force overtime. With 11 minutes remaining in regulation, the Bruins were down 4-1. But at 9:18 into the third period, Nathan Horton scored his fourth goal of the series, to make it a 4-2 game. But they didn’t get any closer for the next 9 minutes. Milan Lucic scored with 1:22 remaining in regulation to bring the Bruins within a goal. 31 seconds later Patice Bergeron finished the shocking comeback by tying the game at 4.
Time ran out in regulation, and the teams went to overtime. 6 minutes and 5 seconds into the first overtime period, Bergeron did it again. He scored his 2nd goal of the game, and 3rd goal of the series, to win the first round series for the Boston Bruins. This was the first time ever that a team came back from a 3 goal deficit in Game 7 of a playoff series, and won the game. What a heartbreaking loss for the Maple Leafs, who were making their first playoff appearance since 2004.
The New York Rangers cruised to their Game 7, 5-0 victory over the Washington Capitals. This was the first game of the series in which the road team won a game. The Rangers scored once in the first period, and twice in both the 2nd and 3rd period to embarrass the Capitals in front of their home crowd. New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist recorded his second consecutive shutout in the series. Now the Rangers will meet the Bruins in the playoffs for the first time in 40 years.
In the other Eastern Conference Semifinal, the Pittsburgh Penguins will play the Ottawa Senators. I look at both series in a similar way. The Penguins and the Bruins, who have home ice advantage will win the series, unless the opposing goalie badly outplays their goalie. Craig Anderson of the Senators had the best goals against average, and save percentage during the regular season, and Lundqvist hasn’t given up a goal since Game 5 against the Capitals.
In the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings got past the Anaheim Ducks in the first round, and will face the top seeded Chicago Blackhawks. I see the Blackhawks winning this series in 6 games or less. The defending champion Los Angeles Kings face the San Jose Sharks in the other conference semifinal. While the Sharks heated up at the end of the season and through their first round sweep of the Vancouver Canucks, the Kings also have won 4 games in a row, after losing the first 2 games against the St. Louis Blues. With Jonathan Quick in goal, and home ice advantage, the Kings should win this series, but I think this series may go the distance.
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