In Boston, the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs were never really a factor as a competitive force in their Game 7 with the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins moved on to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 5-1 victory.
“Well I think we’ve been there before,” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. “I think a lot of guys, we try to rely on our experiences, try to share that with other guys. Most of the young guys were with us last year and lived it also. So I think it’s definitely a great character win for us tonight against a really good team.”
Tuukka Rask made 32 saves in the win.
“Well, I personally felt good from the start of the series,” Rask said. “I felt good pretty much all year. You know, obviously the workload hasn’t been too much, so I feel fresh. It’s all about feeling confident and preparing yourself the right way, trusting your teammates. I thought we battled hard for each other all year, and you know, I think it showed again today.”
His only blemish on the record for the night was a second period goal to John Tavares.
“I thought we played real good and carried lots of the play and executed and played the way we wanted to play,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “So it’s disappointing. I thought our series this year compared to last year, we were a way better hockey club. In the end, we weren’t rewarded.”
Not clear what game Babcock was watching from the bench.
“We have to find ways to get better,” Tavares said. “We have a quality team, we have a lot of talent, we have a lot of youth, a lot of growth still ahead of us. … (You) really realize you have to make the most of every chance you get. It’s just difficult right now.”
Sean Kuraly and Joakim Nordstrom had multi-point nights with a goal and assist apiece.
“We were talking before the game that we wanted to have a shot-first mentality,” Nordstrom said. “I was just trying to get a rebound, [Kuraly] was crashing the net. It ended up going in, so we’ll take it.”
Marcus Johansson scored for the Bruins and Charlie Coyle and Patrice Bergeron added empty-net goals.
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Bruins highlights | Complete series coverage]
Frederik Andersen made 27 saves in the loss.
“We’ve got to push through this because you can’t be talking after a playoff series that you’re going home,” Babcock said. “That’s the bottom line. We’ve improved our team drastically, you’ve witnessed it. This series we were a way better team than we were a year ago, but we’re at the same point with the same result here today, and so that part is disappointing.”
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