BOSTON – The Bruins have shown resiliency, skill and a third period dominance all season long, and all three of those character traits came out for them in Game 7 against the Maple Leafs.
Jake DeBrusk scored two goals including the game-winner and the Bruins poured on the offense against Frederik Andersen with a 7-4 win over the Leafs at TD Garden to eliminate them from the best-of-seven series.
It was a wild opening period with a pair of Patrick Marleau goals giving the Leafs an early lead. He scored one a tipped puck on the power play and then netted the second on a bullet from the right circle off a Torey Krug turnover that Tuukka Rask probably should have had.
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The second Marleau goal arrived less than two minutes after Jake DeBrusk had scored on his own power play tip in front to get the Bruins on the board, and pull some of the momentum their way. The Bruins were far from done in the first period, however.
Danton Heinen scored his first goal of the playoffs when he collected a Rick Nash dish from behind the net, spun around and fired a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Andersen for the game-tying goal. Then the Bruins really got it going when Patrice Bergeron also got into the playoff scoring act. The Bruins top center collected a wild bounce off the end boards from an errant Kevan Miller shot, and then stuffed it inside the post beating Andersen to the spot.
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Things tilted to the Leafs' favor in the second period as they scored two goals on six shots against Rask. The first was a Travis Dermott shot that beat Rask to the far corner, and the second was a Kasperi Kapanen shorthanded breakaway where he beat Brad Marchand to the puck before slowly curling a shot around the over-committing Rask.
As they did all season, the Bruins saved some of their best stuff for the third period. Torey Krug tied things up just 1:10 into the third period with a long bomb from the high point during 4-on-4 play. Then DeBrusk was at it again on a bull rush down the right wing where he turned around Jake Gardiner, and then pushed a shot past Andersen for his second goal of the game.
The Bruins added one for good measure later in the third as Bergeron outmuscled Nikita Zaitsev for a puck behind the Toronto net, and then fed David Pastrnak for his fifth goal of the postseason. Brad Marchand added the empty net goal in the closing minutes of the third period to give all three members of Boston’s top line goals in the big elimination game victory.