On Saturday night, the Bruins avoided a repeat of last season’s loss in the first round after leading 3-1 on the Florida Panthers. 
At the same time, the Toronto Maple Leafs reverted to form, interrupted only by last season’s loss in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
David Pastrnak scored at 1:54 of extra time to send Boston to the second round of the playoffs with a 2-1 victory, and a 4-3 series win.
“Huge moment, obviously,” Pastrnak said. “A lot of excitement. You could say a little relief as well. It was a tight-checking game, so it was nice to get it. And obviously the happiness from the group and sticking together the whole series was unbelievable, and couldn’t be more proud of ourselves.”
Pastrnak won it on a set play with Hampus Lindholm firing the puck from center ice to the backboards to the right of the Maple Leafs’ cage.
Pastrnak swooped in, collected the puck, and put a backhand home for the win.
“When you’re not getting a lot of offensive chances, you lose your patience at times, and we talked about not losing our patience,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Being above, being behind, being physical and just being relentless with that kind of attitude, that’s why I was really happy to see the maturity of our group.”
For the Maple Leafs, it is another season of what-ifs.
“Obviously, this series [was] very close,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “That is the thinnest of margins you can get in Game 7 overtime. So, obviously very disappointing to not come on the right side of it. Loved how our team fought to put us in this position and compete and play in this game and have a chance to be one shot away.”
Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves to get the series clinching win.
“Just a pinch yourself moment that you’re in Game 7 overtime at home,” Swayman said. “It’s stuff that you dream of as a kid and that we could all get up for and be really excited about, but my mindset was just one shot at a time. Doing my job and enjoying the process.”
William Nylander scored the Maple Leafs’ lone goal. It came in the third period after the Bruins turned the puck over in their own zone.
Auston Matthews, who returned the Toronto bench for Game 7, passed to Nylander who went right to left for a shot from the left side of the cage and 1-0 lead midway through the third.
“We were right there,” the Maple Leafs’ John Tavares said. “I mean, it’s a very small difference. And just the type of hockey that we played, the way we needed to play to give ourselves a chance to win the series … there’s no doubt that we were right there.”
The lead lasted all of 81 seconds.
“Really proud of the way the guys battled back and hung in there being down 3-1 (in the series),” Matthews said. “I don’t think there was any doubt that we could get to this point and climb our way back in the series. And it was really hard to watch those two games, but just really proud of the guys to fight and battle back and give ourselves a chance.”
Hampus Lindholm picked up an errant puck in the left circle and lifted a soft shot on goal for 1-1 tie.
“Just try to get pucks to net,” Lindholm said. “I think I’ve been a little holding onto pucks, try to make it a little too hard on myself, so just try to find that little opening and just get it there, and then good things usually happen.”
Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves in the loss.
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