Over the past decade, the Boston Bruins have had some playoff success and some playoff failure. One of the teams that they have fared well against in the postseason is the Toronto Maple Leafs.
One of the Black and Gold’s most memorable playoff games in the last decade just happened to come about on May 13, 2013, at the Garden against the Maple Leafs.
Trailing 4-1 in Game 7 and 10:44 seconds away from being eliminated, the Bruins staged one of the greatest comebacks in their playoff history.
Boston scored three goals in the final 10:44 of the regulation to erase a 4-1 deficit and force overtime, only to win in the extra session to win their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Round series over the Leafs.
Nathan Horton began the Bruins comeback with a goal at 9:16 of the third period to cut the Toronto lead to 4-2. It would stay that way until 1:22 left in the game when Milan Lucic made it a 4-3 game.
Thirty-two seconds later, current Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron tied the game when his shot from the blue line found its way past Toronto goalie James Reimer.
In overtime, Bergeron’s second goal of the game at 6:05 completed the comeback and sent the Black and Gold to the next round and make them the first team in playoff history to win a Game 7 when trailing by three goals in the final period.
The Bruins would go on to Eastern Conference Semifinals and beat the New York Rangers in five games, before sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the Bruins would lose in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks, including Game 6 at home when Lucic gave them a 2-1 third period lead, only to have the Blackhawks two goals, 17 seconds apart in a minute left in the game to clinch the series and avoid a Game 7.