Editor’s note: Starting Tuesday, March 24, NESN will re-air memorable games from the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup run. Up next is Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Montreal Canadiens. Get the full schedule by clicking here.
Ah, Game 7.
In hockey, there’s nothing better. And in terms of the Boston Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup playoff series with the Montreal Canadiens, it was one of the best Game 7s of the decade.
The Bruins advanced to the second round with a 4-3 overtime victory against the Canadiens, capped off with Nathan Horton’s game-winner in OT.
Here are five things you might have forgotten about Game 7, which can be seen at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday night on NESN.
1. Series hero Nathan Horton was playing in his first playoff series
Because Horton had spent the first six seasons of his career with the Florida Panthers, he had never played in the postseason prior to 2011.
As a result, his game-winner was an all the more special end to his first playoff series.
“Just getting to the playoffs is all I was really thinking about. This has been a dream come true,” Horton said after the game, via the AP. “I’m really enjoying it. I’m enjoying it more every day.”
That also prompted a nice joke from Claude Julien.
“He’s been saving it for seven years, right?” Julien said. “So he had a lot of game-winning goals in him.”
2. The Bruins were looking pretty sharp off the opening puck drop
The entire series was highlighted by goals being scored in the early going, and it was the Bruins that benefitted from the trend in the deciding game.
Johnny Boychuk’s absolute rocket for the game’s first goal came at 3:31 in the opening frame, then Mark Recchi scored at 5:53.
3. The Bruins, again, did not get a power play goal
The Bruins had three chances on the power play in the win, and all three times they came up short.
As a result, they finished the seven-game series without a single goal on the man advantage in 21 attempts. And in Game 7, the power play almost sank them, as Tomas Plekanec’s tying goal in the second period was a shorthanded tally off a gift of a giveaway from Mark Recchi in the neutral zone.
4. Horton had to get his game-winner through a wild amount of traffic
Yes, we all remember Horton’s game-winner against the Habs.
But the moment moved so quickly that it’s easy to forget the nuances of the goal. Like the fact that it was a busted clearing attempt from PK Subban that allowed the Bruins to stay in their zone.
And after a closer look at Horton’s clincher, it really is incredible that there were three Canadiens skaters right in the high slot.
Look at this!
Ultimately, that traffic is what sank Carey Price in that moment, as the three Canadiens did a better job screening their goalie than getting in the way of their shot.
5. The win resulted in this downright electric wrap from Jack Edwards
The fun didn’t stop after Horton’s goal.
Jack Edwards’ postgame wrap following the victory remains a wildly entertaining couple of minutes.
