The Vegas Golden Knights have blown their 3-1 series lead over the San Jose Sharks and will be taking an early shower in the playoffs this time around. Oh…and…the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in a Game Seven…again.
Boston Bruins 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 1
Boston wins series 4-3
- Zdeno Chara played in his 13th career Game Seven, tied for the most in NHL history with Patrick Roy and Scott Stevens. The only other active players who have played in more than 10 Game Sevens are Patrice Bergeron, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alex Ovechkin who have all played in 11.
- The Bruins won their sixth consecutive series against the Leafs dating back to a four game sweep in 1969. Brutal.
- Toronto’s defeat means that Canada will go another year without the Cup bringing the streak to 26 years.
- With that said, the Leafs are the only Canadian team to never win a series in the salary cap era.
- Jake Gardiner is now a minus-ten in Game Sevens, tied for worst all time in NHL history. In his last four Game Seven appearances, Frederik Andersen has allowed 16 goals and has a 85.5-percent save percentage. Nazem Kadri has been suspended for more games than he has played the past two postseasons. Auston Matthews played only 18:02 in the game. Mike Babcock has not coached a team to the second round of the playoffs since 2012-13.
San Jose Sharks 5, Vegas Golden Knights 4
San Jose wins series 4-3
- The Sharks scored four power play goals in a span of 4:01 to take a 4-3 lead in the game. That matches the NHL record for power play goals in a playoff period.
- Kevin Lebanc scored a goal and assisted on three others in the third period to match the NHL record for most points in a single playoff period. He however is the first player in NHL history to do so in a single Game Seven period.
- Jonathan Marchessault scored the third latest game tying goal in Game Seven history at the 59:13 mark of the third period.
- The overtime winner was scored by Barclay Goodrow, who did not play in the first 15 minutes of overtime and was only taking his second shift of the period.
- In a game that lasted over 78 minutes, Ryan Reaves played less than six minutes. In a similar game for the Caps, I believe Tom Wilson would have neared 30 minutes played.
Headline photo: NBC Sports
