Gotta Believe: Bruins’ Familiar Message Fueled Game 7 OT Win

BOSTON — The Bruins had every right to feel nervous entering overtime of their Game 7 matchup with the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

It was kind of happening all over again.

Toronto had followed a script that (unfortunately for Boston) was written one year prior by the Florida Panthers. The Maple Leafs had rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to force a winner-take-all matchup and even pushed the Bruins to overtime like the recipe said. It was just time for them to deliver that final blow.

The B’s weren’t going to let that happen, though.

“It was just belief,” Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said postgame, sharing the team’s message entering the extra period. “It was belief all day today, all night last night. It was just a matter of time, because one play is all it takes and someone was going to make a special play. It took a lot of balls from our group.”

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It could be argued that past experiences actually helped Boston, as their plan on the ice was drawn from what it knew about being in a similar situation and ultimately ended in a trip to the next round thanks to David Pastrnak.

“It felt like we had better momentum, and we just wanted to continue that,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “… I think — this time of year, especially in overtime, you can’t pass up a shot or on attacking the net. You can see it on (David Pastrnak’s) goal. He did a great job getting inside and turned a nothing play into an overtime winner.”

It would have been totally understandable for the Bruins to have doubt given their most recent playoff blunder, but belief carried much more weight Saturday at TD Garden.

“When we believe in what we do, we believe in each other, we trust each other, it eventually pays off,” Charlie Coyle said. “… There was never a doubt in here.”