Here We Go Again: 'If Someone Told Us That It Would Be Game 7 At Home Against The Maple Leafs, We’d Take That All Day'

Here we go again.

For the fourth time in 12 years, Toronto and Boston will play each other in a Game 7. And considering how those other first-round meetings went, Brad Marchand isn’t exactly dreading it — even if the Bruins are one loss away from yet another first-round collapse.

“If someone told us at the beginning of the season that it would be Game 7 at home against Toronto, we’d take that all day,” the Bruins captain said following a 2-1 loss in Game 6. “It doesn’t matter how you get there — we’re there.”

Marchand might not think it’s relevant, but how the Bruins got themselves into this mess does matter. And it should make fans a little nervous. 

Just like last year, when Boston blew a 3-1 series lead against the Florida Panthers, they’ve let the foot off the gas. They’ve given life to a Leafs team that came apart in Game 4 and has been without its leading 69-goal scorer in Games 5 and 6. 

They’re blowing it. And everybody knows it.

"I think everybody's frustrated over there," said Leafs forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who played for the Bruins last season.

In the first four games of the series, Boston was the better team. It wasn’t even really close. 

Things were looking so bleak for Toronto that fans were already looking toward the off-season and dreaming up trade scenarios for Mitch Marner and wondering who would be replacing Sheldon Keefe as coach. But then Joseph Woll replaced Ilya Samsonov in net — a move that mirrored what Florida did a year ago when Sergei Bobrovsky replaced Alex Lyon in net — and the Leafs started to play their best hockey at a time when the Bruins started to play their worst.

In Game 5, Toronto held Boston to two shots in the first period and won a defensive battle 2-1 in overtime. In Game 6, the Bruins managed just one shot in the first period of another 2-1 win for the Leafs. 

Suddenly, it's now the Bruins who are now on the ropes and feeling the pressure.

“It’s understanding the magnitude but not being overwhelmed by it,” said Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman. “I think we all understand that in the playoffs, every game is a Game 7. That’s the intensity that we want to bring every night and when we do get to a Game 7 it should be another day in the office for us, because we’ve prepared the right way.”

The fact that it the Leafs have done this without Auston Matthews, who continues to be out of the lineup with a mysterious ailment, has made this comeback all the more surprising. 

Though that was not the word the Bruins were using following Thursday’s loss.

“It’s unacceptable, our start again,” said Boston coach Jim Montgomery, who brushed aside the idea that the Bruins are letting last year’s loss to the Panthers affect their play. 

“We’re not living in the past. We’re not living in the future either. We’re living in the present. Right now, we’re not happy with our game.”

In particular, Montgomery hasn’t been happy with David Pastrnak, who had two goals and two assists in the first four games of the series. But with no points since then, he’s now getting the same treatment that Toronto’s Mitch Marner had been receiving two games earlier.

“Pasta needs to step up,” said Montgomery. “He needs to be the dominant player that we’re used to. He’s doing it in flurries. He’s not doing it as consistently as he did during the regular season."

Pastrnak has had four shots in each of the past two games. But, like many of his teammates, he hasn't been able to put any past Woll.

“It’s definitely not good enough of a job from our group, obviously starting with me," he said. "We got one goal in two games. We need to create more offense.”

Luckily for the Bruins, history is on Boston’s side. The rosters on both sides obviously have changed, but there are enough star players on either team who remember how things have played out in the past. 

The Bruins have had the Leafs’ number. Time and time again.

There was the Game 7 in 2013 when the Bruins erased a three-goal deficit in the third period and won on an overtime goal that Marchand assisted on. It was not as close in 2018 when Marchand and Pastrnak teamed up with two goals and four points in a 7-4 blowout win. A year later, it was 5-1 for the Bruins.

In other words, Boston should hold the psychological edge. Not that it feels that way. Not after how things have unfolded in the past two games. And not with last year’s blown lead hanging over the Bruins’ heads.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Marchand said of the previous Game 7 wins against the Leafs. “It doesn’t matter how things played out in the past. It doesn’t matter how we got to this point.”

"These are where rivalries are built and formed… we have to be grateful for it. It’s what you dream about as a kid. Game 7 — it’s where heroes are built and made."