It’s a day the Toronto Maple Leafs would like to forget. It’s a day the Boston Bruins will never forget.
It was on this date three years ago that the Bruins, down 4-1 in the third period of their first-round Game 7 showdown with the Leafs, rallied for the biggest third-period comeback in National Hockey League history before they ultimately crushed Toronto’s playoff hopes in overtime.
By now, you know the game notes and everything that came with it. Nazem Kadri scored to make it 4-1 in favor of the Maple Leafs, Nathan Horton scored midway through the third period to cut the deficit to two, Milan Lucic scored a net-front goal late, and Patrice Bergeron came through with a goal even later than Lucic did to force overtime. The Bruins nearly scored again before the period was over, too, but settled for the dramatics of overtime behind Bergeron’s second strike.
But what was it like to cover that game? In a word: Insane.
First of all, when the Leafs went up by three, TD Garden emptied out by a good 4,000 or so. So when your friend or a stranger who was at Game 7 tells you ‘they stuck around to the end’, know that there’s a strong possibility that they’re lying through their teeth. I can’t say I blame them for leaving at that point, but the crowds that have left since this game baffle me, as this game was the only proof needed to know that literally anything could have happened when the game was on Garden ice. It’s weird.
Here’s another weird thing that happened to me that series: My seat in the press box was next to all the Maple Leafs coaches and scouts. And these dudes were grouchy. That part did not surprise me.
They spent most of the series banging on the counter, swearing at this one ref, or yelling at their own players (This one guy yelling, ‘Get ‘em Jake!’ every time Jake Gardiner was near a body wearing a Bruins jersey will be forever burned into my mind. I can still hear the voice and the demeanor.) I believe some of them were actually part of the first Maple Leafs team -- y’know, like ever -- but I didn’t want to ask.
And as the lead expanded, scouts from other NHL teams were coming over and congratulating them. They wished them luck against the New York Rangers, who had blown the doors off the Washington Capitals that same night, and gave them this raised eyebrow look and deep exhale as if to suggest, “Wow, you were able to get through the Bruins. Kudos.” They all smiled and laughed.
The ‘Get ‘em Jake!’ Man continued to pound his catchphrase out, even in a 4-1 game.
I thought about how this would be the last hurrah (if you wanted to call it that) for a franchise two years removed from a Stanley Cup. Horton, a pending unrestricted free agent, was gone. Lucic, whose regular season was straight-up abysmal, was probably gone via trade. The coach, Claude Julien, on the heels of his second consecutive first-round exit, was absolutely gone.
A month removed from the Boston Marathon bombing, and with the playoff pregame intros involving first responders and a flag that read ‘Boston Strong’, a lifeless Game 7 loss just didn’t feel right.
Then Horton scored. “Nice, the box score will look like you tried,” I said.
Then Lucic scored. “Yeah, could have used that in Game 6,” I thought to myself.
Then Bergeron scored. The floor beneath my feet shook. The building, with thousands of fewer voices than it had just hours before, was the loudest it had been all night. No, strike that, all season.
An agonizing intermission followed.
Those in the crowd belted out every single word to “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey as it played over the Garden PA. I still get chills just thinking about that moment and the raw energy in the building.
Then, in a frantic overtime that seems like one big blur three years later, the Bruins somehow won.
And as the Maple Leafs coaches and scouts left the building to begin their summers earlier than they had expected less than 40 minutes prior, I too left the building, but not before finding a handwritten note on the ground below one of their seats that read, “This Rangers lead may not be safe.”
That guy was onto something.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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