BOSTON — The sky is blue, water is moist, and the Boston Bruins will likely be taking part in in a Recreation 7. So it goes.
Regardless of taking a 3-1 collection lead over the Maple Leafs simply over per week in the past, the Bruins have now misplaced two straight to arrange Saturday night time’s Recreation 7 again in Boston. However that is nothing new for the Boston Bruins.
Whereas most imagine that there aren’t any higher phrases in sports activities than “Recreation 7,” the Bruins would most likely argue in any other case. It is not that they are unhealthy in these winner takes all of it showdowns, they’re most likely just a bit sick of going through these high-pressure tilts 12 months after 12 months after 12 months.
Saturday night time would be the thirty first time in franchise historical past that the Bruins will take the ice for a Recreation 7, including to the staff’s NHL document. Half of their Recreation 7’s have come within the final 15 years, and Saturday night time will mark the third straight postseason the Bruins discover themselves in a do-or-die scenario.
At the least Bruins followers are seasoned veterans on the subject of this drill. There isn’t any higher fanbase ready for the lengthy, anxious await Saturday’s 8 p.m. puck drop, and the enjoyment or psychological anguish that lies forward. This marks the second straight postseason that the Bruins will want a Recreation 7 after going up 3-1 within the opening spherical, so Boston followers are battle examined.
Will Boston get to expertise the raucous celebration that follows a Recreation 7 victory on Saturday night time, or will Bruins followers have one other scar to heal?
What is the Bruins’ document in Recreation 7’s?
What’s actually wild about this Recreation 7 is that it is actually anybody’s recreation, regardless of the way you slice it.
Of their 30 earlier Recreation 7’s, the Bruins received 15 of them and misplaced 15 of them. And per the NHL, the Maple Leafs at the moment are the sixty fifth staff to pressure a Recreation 7 after falling behind 3-1 within the collection. In these earlier situations, the trailing staff received 32 instances, whereas the staff that led has additionally received 32 instances.
The right stability of every of these statistics is about to be thrown askew.
Getting again to the Bruins, Boston followers most likely do not want a reminder of what occurred final postseason towards the Florida Panthers. However right here we go in any case, as a result of historical past may be repeating itself.
Towards the Panthers, the Presidents’ Trophy winners let a 3-1 collection lead slip away to arrange a Recreation 7 at TD Backyard. After which they let a 3-2 lead slip away in that recreation earlier than dropping in additional time on a Carter Verhaeghe aim.
Two years in the past, the Bruins have been those forcing a Recreation 7, successful Recreation 6 at dwelling towards the Hurricanes to pressure a deciding recreation again in Carolina. The Canes received that 3-2 to finish Boston’s season.
At the least 2019 and 2018 have been a lot better for Boston, as was 2013, and we’ll get to these years in a second. However the B’s additionally misplaced a Recreation 7 to the Canadiens in 2014 and 2008, in 2012 to Washington, in 2009 to Carolina, and in 2010 to Philadelphia, the latter of which got here after Boston jumped out to a 3-0 collection lead.
So the current historical past of Recreation 7 has been somewhat tough for Boston. However not less than one 12 months was actually spectacular, if not somewhat nerve-wracking.
The 2011 Stanley Cup champion Bruins received three Recreation 7’s en path to their title, getting the higher of Montreal, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver — within the Cup Remaining, in Vancouver — to seize that unbelievable trophy.
Want somewhat extra positivity and good juju? Possibly the Maple Leafs can assist with that.
Bruins-Maple Leafs Recreation 7 historical past
Whereas the Bruins have given everybody loads of causes to stress about Saturday night time’s Recreation 7, let’s not overlook concerning the staff on the opposite facet. If anybody can out-Bruin the Bruins, it is the Maple Leafs.
The Leafs did not win a playoff collection for twenty years till final season, and the Bruins have been an enormous a part of that drought. The 2 groups performed three win-or-go-home Recreation 7’s within the final 11 postseasons, and the Bruins received all three.
The 2013 Bruins-Leafs collection is an all-timer, and Recreation 7 of that set is without doubt one of the finest Boston followers will reside via. The Leafs jumped out to a 4-1 lead at TD Backyard, just for the Bruins to come back storming again to pressure additional time. Patrice Bergeron ended it simply six minutes into the additional body to ship Boston onto the subsequent spherical, and the B’s made all of it the best way to the Cup Remaining that season.
That unbelievable Recreation 7 victory got here after the Bruins blew a 3-1 collection lead.
The B’s and Leafs additionally wanted a Recreation 7 to resolve their playoff collection in 2018 and 2019, and the Bruins received each of these too. Additionally they let a 3-1 collection led slip away in 2018, however bounced again to win Recreation 7 at dwelling, 7-4.
Of their three earlier Recreation 7 matchups, the Bruins have outscored the Leafs 17-9. Boston and Toronto at the moment are the primary franchises in NHL historical past to require a Recreation 7 in 4 straight head-to-head matchups within the playoffs.
The Bruins and Leafs have performed 5 Recreation 7’s towards one another, and the Leafs have received only one: Again in 1959. The Bruins additionally bought the most effective of the Leafs in a Recreation 7 in 1941.
However as hockey followers know, nothing however the current issues in a Recreation 7.
What the Bruins are saying about one other Recreation 7
This complete Recreation 7 factor is getting irritating to anybody who needed a stress-free first spherical. However we must always have recognized higher. That is the NHL playoffs, and extra succinctly, that is the Boston Bruins. That is type of their factor.
The staff has appeared tight on the ice within the final two video games, with Toronto’s protection all of the sudden changing into a suffocating unit and blocking 35 photographs of their two straight victories. The Bruins have scored simply two targets of their final seven durations of hockey (plus a couple of minutes of additional time) and a type of targets got here with lower than a second left on the clock Thursday night time.
After their 2-1 loss in Toronto, the Bruins mentioned their focus is on Saturday — not on something that has led up up to now.
“We’re not worrying about it,” mentioned coach Jim Montgomery. “We’re not dwelling previously, we’re not dwelling sooner or later both. We’re dwelling within the current. Proper now we’re not proud of our recreation, however we have to prepare for Recreation 7.”
“I may care much less the way it unfolded,” B’s captain Brad Marchand mentioned of the staff’s street map to Recreation 7. “We’re right here and it is a possibility. We have got to be thankful for it. These are the moments you dream about as a child. Recreation 7. That is the place heroes are constructed and made. We bought to be excited concerning the place we’re in and take advantage of it.”
The stress is absolutely on the Bruins although. With a loss on Saturday, they’d change into the primary staff in NHL, NBA, or MLB historical past to blow 3-1 collection leads in back-to-back postseasons.
The underside line is that if the Bruins win another recreation, they’re on to the second spherical. If not, their season is over. That is what all of it boils all the way down to on Saturday night time.
We have been right here earlier than, and chances are high we’ll be right here once more. Buckle up, as a result of Saturday night time goes to be one other emotional curler coaster in Boston.