Boston Bruins | Photo: NHL
Last night, the first round of the Stanley Cup of the National Hockey League (NHL) was won by the Boston Bruins, who beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime in the decisive seventh game and won the series 4-3.
The Maple Leafs are back from 1-3 in the series, but managed to win the previous two successes with Joseph Wall in goal. Before the decisive game, it became known that Vols had settled down with an injury, and Ilya Samsonov had to go on the field. At the same time, Toronto received other good news, as Auston Matthews returned to the lineup after missing two games.
The Bruins started the match more actively, making 11 shots on goal in the first period, which was more than in the first periods of the fifth and sixth games of the series in total. However, as befits a seventh game, the teams did not get carried away with reckless play and the first goals did not come until the third period, with Maple Leafs star William Nylander first.
However, Toronto was in the lead for a short time, as “Bruins” forward Hampus Lindholm equalized after 81 seconds. No more goals were scored in regular time and extra time was needed, in which none other than the Boston team leader David Pastrnőaks became the protagonist. The author of the first goal, Lindholm, threw the puck from the neutral zone in such a way that it hit the edge of the field and bounced in front of the goal, it was caught by the Czech forward Pastrňák, who played filigree over Samsonov and brought his team the victory in the match and the entire series.
As a result, the Bruins avoided achieving an anti-record – that is, becoming the first team to miss a 3-1 lead in the first round two years in a row. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs lost their sixth straight game seven.
In the second round, “Bruins” will meet the Florida “Panthers” represented by Uvja Balinskas, the team against which they lost last year.
NHL Playoffs
West
Dallas Stars – Vegas Golden Knights 3-3
Vancouver Canucks – Nashville Predators 4-2
Edmonton Oilers – Los Angeles Kings 4-1
Winnipeg Jets – Colorado Avalanche 1-4
East
New York Rangers – Washington Capitals 4-0
Florida Panthers – Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1
Boston Bruins – Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3
Carolina Hurricanes – New York Islanders 4-0
