SAD NEWS: Pastrnak scores in OT of Game 7, putting an end to Maple Leafs’ season

The comeback clock struck midnight for the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The Boston Bruins were leading the best-of-seven series 3-1, and the Leafs were unable to completely recover.

David Pastrnak’s goal at 1:54 of overtime at TD Garden in Game 7 caused even more suffering for the Bruins.After Hampus Lindholm sent the puck into the Leafs’ zone, Pastrnak cleared the boards, dribbled past Morgan Rielly, and beat Ilya Samsonov with a backhand deke to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory that eliminated Toronto from the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The loss extended a string of Game 7 losses to six in a row for the organization. Toronto has not won a Game 7 since April 20, 2004, against the Ottawa Senators in the first round.

The Leafs were the 65th team in National Hockey League history to force a Game 7 after being down 3-1 in a series. The Bruins, though, became the 33rd team to win Game 7 after allowing the opposition to tie the series.

The Leafs showed great character in rallying from being down 3-1. But in a series in which they didn’t have their full set of their stars for all of it, they could not complete the comeback.

The Bruins are headed to the Sunshine State to clash with the Florida Panthers in the second round, with Game 1 set for Monday night in Sunrise.

The game served as a proper snapshot of what the series had become. It was tight-checking, with scoring chances mostly coming only after diligence. 

The suspense had observers on edge from the opening faceoff, and there was nothing to show on the scoreboard through 40 minutes.

William Nylander scored the game’s first goal at 9:01 of the third period, hitting an open net behind Jeremy Swayman on a pass from Auston Matthews after Tyler Bertuzzi got control along the boards.