In Boston, the unheard of happened on Sunday night.
Carter Verhaeghe scored at 8:35 of extra time to send the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Bruins to win the first round series, 4-3.
“It just feels good to get the win, for sure, in Game 7,” Verhaeghe said. “The way we battled back through the series, even through this game, it’s been a ride.”
The Bruins set all sorts of regular season records, but the playoffs proved a different animal for them.
The Panthers rallied back from a 3-1 series deficit to take the win.
The Panthers’ Brandon Montour scored his second of the game with 60 seconds left on the regulation clock to force the extra session .
“We’re down a goal with under two minutes to go against Boston, I wouldn’t bet everything [on us to win] because the math doesn’t add up,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Except when that puck goes in, you go, ‘Oh… we’re going to win this game.'”
The Panthers held a 2-1 lead coming out of the middle frame.
“[Florida] played well,” Boston’s Patrice Bergeron said. “They played solid. I think they checked really well. They were in our face a lot. Obviously, we didn’t play our best, but I’m not gonna take any credit away from them.”
Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak scored to give the Bruins a 3-2 advantage.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves for the win.
Montour opened the scoring in the first period, off the power play, to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
“I think we’ve been doing that all year,” Montour said. “Especially this last half (of the) year, but we had all the confidence. It’s getting pucks on net. … Whoever was on the ice, guys wanted to make that next big play, and everyone on our team had a great game.”
This was not a series the Bruins lost as much as it was a series the Panthers wrested away from Boston on sheer force of will.
“I guess the words that come to mind right now [are] disappointment, confusion,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “And then I would say the other part is if you start looking at the season, it was an honor to coach that group. I know we didn’t get to where we wanted, I get that, but their professionalism, their work ethic, their commitment to being pros, it was a joy to be around.”
In the middle frame, Sam Reinhart doubled the lead to 2-0 with 74 seconds gone in the frame.
Boston’s David Krejci scored a power play goal at 7:52 of the second period to trim the deficit to 2-1.
“It’s third-period goal, leading goal, so you’re definitely thinking that [we’re going to win],” Pastrnak said. “We were very close to closing it. … A lot of emotion is running, so that one definitely hurt.”
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Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves in the loss.
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