May 13, 2013; Boston, MA USA; The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins shake hands after the Bruins defeated the Leafs in overtime in game seven of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The series between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs was an absolute nail-biter. We all sat back and had those moments where we would cheer like maniacs with a goal, and cringe with a goal scored against us. Game five made us worry. Game six made us scared. Game seven was a psychologist’s dream come true. We went through the ringer emotionally with that game. In the end, last minute goals by Horton, Lucic, and some guy name Bergeron getting us the tie, and then overtime win got us past the Leafs and won the series.

May 13, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins swarm around center Patrice Bergeron (37) after he scored a goal in overtime to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in game seven of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Last night the Boston Bruins defied all odds. After being written off by the fan base at large and being down 4-1 with 10 minutes left in the third period of Game 7, it was surely the end. All it took was a simple net crash play to open it up and the Boston Bruins would pull off the biggest and most important come back in their history. Never before had a team dropped a 3-1 lead in the third period of a Game 7, the Maple Leafs did. Now normally you could just pat the winning team on the back and say good job, you made history. But for the Boston Bruins, it’s bitter sweet retribution for the 2009-10 season collapse at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, who forced a Game 7 after being down 0-3 and staged an improbable come back over the Bruins who were leading 3-0 in Game 7 to win the game and the series 4-3.  Despite sweeping the Flyers in 2011, this shows that the Boston Bruins are not gonna back down from anything. Not a goal deficit, not an injury, nothing. The Bruins came together through the help of Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara to win Game 7.

Now, the part is over. Game 7 has come and gone and the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals are about to begin. Thursday night (5/16/13) marks the first time in 40 years that the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers have faced one another in a playoff series. That playoff series the Boston Bruins won in 6 games to capture their second Stanley Cup in 3 years and their 5th in franchise history. It’s been 40 years since, the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers have both won Stanley Cups since (2011 and 1994 respectively) and both are hungry for more. The New York Rangers dispatched the out played and all around demoralized Washington Capitals 5-0 in Game 7 on Monday night, and the Bruins are riding the best kind of emotional tidal wave they could  have. The Rangers might have grinded down the Capitals in the last match up, but now they go up against a Bruins team that is no longer afraid to throw themselves around and has finally come together.

If it wasn’t for Milan Lucic stepping up in the final 10 minutes of Game 7, the Boston Bruins would have lost 4-1. Lucic is definitely going to be repeating his game winning formula in Game 1 of this new series. People can hype up the goal tending match up (which is greatly important), but no one can forget how important Lucic will be. There have been plenty of other players who have been waiting to break out since Game 1 of the Leafs series started, those include Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin, and Jaromir Jagr. Jagr has had a history with the New York Rangers, he played with the team from 2005 – 2008 and served as team captain from 2006 – 2008. He played with the Rangers during Henrik Lundqvist‘s first seasons in a Rangers uniform and he should be a determining factor in how this series is won. Speaking of Lundqvist (and as previously mentioned), the goal tending match up this time around is even more of a Wall vs Wall then Rask vs Reimer. During the 2012-13 Regular Season, Lundqvist became a major thorn in the side of the Boston Bruins offense starting with the “questionable” save on David Krejci in Game 1 of this season. Despite taking the game, the Bruins haven’t been able to crack Lundqvist’s armor since. In this playoffs, “King Hernik” is 4-1-2 with a 1.65 GAA and a .947 SV%; on the flip Tuukka Rask is 4-3-0 with a 2.49 GAA and a .923 SV%. It must be said that Rask’s GAA shouldn’t all be put on him, he’s been the best he can be during the last 7 games but with inconsistent and sloppy defense in front of him, it’s been hard on the guy to keep the rebounds out and away. This is a big thing the Bruins need to improve on and with 3 defense men out with various injuries, they need to get the jump on it as soon as possible.

Another big match up for the Bruins is their top scorers in David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton vs the Rangers leading scorers in Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, and Carl Hagelin. Krejci is (5-8=13), Lucic is (2-7=9) and Nathan Horton is (4-3=7) and are going up against  Brassard (2-7=9) , Zuccarello (1-4=5), and Hagelin (2-2=4). The Bruins need to keep up their physicality especially around Henrik Lundqvist and if the Bruins defense can shut down these three and keep a good read on the rest of the Rangers team, the match up should be all Bruins after that.

Game 1 at TD Garden against the Rangers is set for Thursday at 7:30. They’ve proven they can make a come back, and they’ve proven they are the Bruins who should be feared. Go all the way, or go home.

May 13, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins swarm around center Patrice Bergeron (37) after he scored a goal in overtime to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in game seven of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

For a lot of us the biggest day in our hockey lives was June 15, 2011. That night, the Boston Bruins stamped ‘PAID IN FULL’ on the back of Roberto Luongo as they marched to a 4-0 game seven victory in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. For a lot of us, tonight is going to likely be our #2. The Bruins are the first team in NHL history to win a game seven after trailing by three goals in the third period.

Overtime in game seven during the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. We’ve been here the last three years now. In 2011, Nathan Horton pulled a rabbit out of the hat in overtime to beat the Montreal Canadiens. In 2012, Joel Ward did the same thing to the Bruins. This year, the Bruins got to exorcise a few demons of the past and of the series by doing it again tonight.

Patrice Bergeron was the star of this evening’s performance. He had only one goal during the first six games of the series. He was the center of a line that was much maligned for its lack of production. During the regular season, the Bergeron line (with wingers Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin) were the dominant performers in the shortened season. During this first round, we saw next to nothing from Bergeron. Well, he came through tonight. (He may have had the game of his life.) I could probably write a small book on Bergeron and his game tonight, but I’ll leave it up to Bergy to share it with us.  Here is his post-game interview.

There we were.  The Bruins were down several players. Andrew Ference was on crutches from a blocked shot in game five. Wade Redden was also out of the line up. So, it was time for a rookie’s baptism of fire. Dougie Hamilton had limited NHL playoff experience, and Matt Bartkowski had none. They were going to be needed to play some of the best hockey of their lives. The situation got worse when we lost Dennis Seidenberg in the first set of the game. Bruins defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara ended up playing 35:46 in game seven.

Things did look up for a while. Matt Bartkowski showed no rookie jitters as he put the Bruins up early in the first, earning his first NHL playoff point. After that though, things started to go sour. Cody Franson, who had missed his man allowing the Bartkowski goal came back swinging with two goals of his own. One a few minutes after the Bruins goal, and the other in the second period. At the end of two periods, the Leafs were up 2-1, and things were getting antsy in the Garden.

Then it got worse. Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri had scored in the third period. (I was glad with the Kadri goal, after all the “Thank You Kessel” crap we’ve given him, it would have sucked to have him put the nail in our coffin.)We were down 4-1. Fans could be seen leaving the TD Garden. (Personal Note: Shame on you! Seriously! My Bruins Brother told me that a true fan never leaves his(or her) seat. If we’re down 6-0 we stay and we support the team no matter what. 1.) You didn’t back the team and your fellow members of the Nation. 2.) You missed ten of the best minutes in professional hockey EVER!) The crowd was pretty silent in Boston, and they were beside themselves with joy in Toronto. (At that point, could you blame them?)

Then it started.  The Krejci line got on the ice and got us a goal at 9:18. Nathan Horton started the comeback for us. The Bruins kept coming. Reimer’s rebounds were getting worse and more pronounced. But the Leafs weren’t done yet. A last minute breakaway by Matt Frattin game within a single Tuukka Rask pad save of dooming the series for Boston. Two U’s, Two K’s, two pads, and one amazing save.

I’d type out what happened next, but it wouldn’t do it justice. It really wouldn’t “Can you believe this?!” I couldn’t.  So, rather than shame this historic moment, just watch it again. Two goals in the last ninety seconds. We got them to overtime and Patrice Bergeron made the miracle happen in overtime.  In the end, it’s one of the greatest games some of us will ever get to see. It’s a turned page in the history books.

The Bruins will be meeting the New York Rangers for another Original Six matchup. The first game will be at the TD Garden on Thursday night.