5 best NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game sevens of the 2010s

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 2013 First Round

It was 4-1. It’s a game that will forever live on in hockey infamy as one of the biggest collapses in the history of the sport. Nobody knows heartbreak and disappointment like the Toronto Maple Leafs, and their Game 7 collapse in 2013 against the Boston Bruins personified the franchise’s existence since their last Stanley Cup in 1967.

The series between the Bruins and Maple Leafs was their first playoff meeting since 1974, and the first time that the Maple Leafs had made the playoffs since 2004. The Bruins were heavily favored in the series and pushed Toronto to the brink after taking a 3-1 series lead, but two consecutive spectacular efforts from James Reimer in goal was enough to force a Game 7 back in Boston.

Outside of allowing the first goal of the game, the Maple Leafs were surprisingly in control for most of regulation, getting two goals from Cody Franson and leading in just about every category to head into the third period with a 2-1 lead.

Early in the third, Phil Kessel scored to make it 3-1 to take the life out of the building, followed in short order by Nazem Kadri to make it a 4-1 lead for Toronto with under 15 minutes to go in the third period. The viewing party at Maple Leafs Sqaure back in Toronto was going crazy, while the Bruins looked like they were heading for a second consecutive Game 7 loss in the first round on home ice.

The Game 7 Mantra That Lives in Infamy

The Bruins were clearly desperate and needed a spark, which Nathan Horton was able to provide not too long after the Kadri tally to cut the Maple Leafs’ lead to two goals with over half the period still to play. Even with the Bruins turning up the pressure in the final half of the period, the Maple Leafs still held strong with Reimer shutting down everything thrown his way. As the clock bled down to the final two minutes of the game, surely the game was over.

As fans filed out of the building, Milan Lucic put a rebound behind Reimer to make it a one goal game with 1:22 left to play, stopping everybody in their tracks. Now the Leafs were on their heels, and the Bruins kept swarming. Just thirty seconds later, Patrice Bergeron would let a shot from the point fly through traffic, beating Reimer above the shoulder to tie the game. TD Garden exploded, as fans who had already left the arena scrambled to get back inside.

In overtime, Toronto would have their scoring chances, but it was once again all Bruins. It was only a matter of time until Bergeron found a loose puck and a wide open net to complete the comeback for the Bruins. It was the first time in NHL history that a team had come back from three goals down in the third period to win a Game 7, and didn’t happen again until 2019 when San Jose pulled it off against Vegas.

The Bruins would carry the momentum from this historic comeback all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, losing only one game over the next two rounds before giving up a historic comeback of their own in Game 6 of the Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Bruins and Maple Leafs would meet again in the first round in 2018 and 2019, with both series going seven games in Boston. The Bruins would win both, and forever mark TD Garden as a house of horrors for the Maple Leafs and their fans.