Bruins Postgame: Pastrnak ‘Steps Up’; Bruins Beat Leafs 2-1 IN OT

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery asked his star winger David Pastrnak to step up after Game 6, and that’s exactly what he did in Game 7.

Pastrnak scored the overtime winner 1:54 into the extra frame to give the Bruins a 2-1 overtime win and eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After neither team scored in the first two periods, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs traded goals in a span of 1:21 midway through the third period. Maple Leafs winger William Nylander scored his third goal in two games when he took an Auston Matthews feed and buried it past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman at 9:01 of the final frame. Tyler Bertuzzi got the secondary assist. Just 1:21 later, though, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm rifled one past Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov 10:22 into the period. James van Riemsdyk and Justin Brazeau got the helpers.

Both Swayman and Samsonov made 30 saves each.

The Boston Bruins will now head south to Florida for a rematch with the Panthers, with Game 1 set for 7 p.m. ET on Monday night.

Here’s your Boston Hockey Now Bruins Postgame:

CLUTCH: For the last 48 hours, local radio hosts and plenty of Bruins fans trashed David Pastrnak, with some saying the Bruins needed to trade their superstar winger, who was a finalist for the 2023 Hart Trophy. Pastrnak hadn’t scored since Game 3 and had gotten no more than four shots off in each game since. He still only had four in Game 7, but that fourth one was the biggest goal he’s scored in his illustrious career and sent the Bruins to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2021.