It has been just over two years since the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs met in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The heated Atlantic Division rivals matching up in the opening round of the playoffs was just what the NHL needed.
However, for the second straight season, the Bruins took a commanding 3-1 series lead. The season before, in the postseason, after posting the NHL record for wins and points in a regular season, the Black and Gold grabbed a 3-1 series lead over the Florida Panthers. They would lose Game 5 at home in overtime and Game 6 in a shootout in South Florida. Florida scored late in regulation to force overtime in Game 7 in Boston before winning it in overtime.
A historic collapse in the playoffs after a historic regular season. They couldn't even get by one round of the playoffs.
Fast forward one year later, and history was close to repeating itself, this time against the Maple Leafs. However, this time, they avoided disaster for a second year. However, the question must be asked: what if the Bruins lost Game 7 to Toronto in the 2024 playoffs?
What if the Bruins had lost Game 7 to the Maple Leafs in the 2024 playoffs?
Scoreless entering the third period, the Maple Leafs opened the scoring midway through the final period on a William Nylander goal. Just 1:21 later, Boston tied it on a goal from Hampus Lindholm. Then came overtime. Lindholm dumped the puck into the Toronto end, and David Pastrnak outraced Mitch Marner to the puck to pot the game-winner and keep Boston from a second straight playoff elimination with a 2-1 victory.
However, what if the result had gone the other way? Jim Montgomery kept his job after the Game 7 win, despite the Black and Gold getting bounced by the Panthers in the second round. Then the disaster of 2024-25 happened. Montgomery was fired in November and hired a week later by the St. Louis Blues. Joe Sacco was named interim coach to finish out the season.
Boston hit rock bottom by finishing tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Sacco was let go, replaced by Marco Sturm last summer. General manager Don Sweeney had a fire sale at the 2025 trade deadline, shipping out Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, and Charlie Coyle, to name a few.
However, how different could things be today for both Boston and Toronto had the result gone in favor of the Maple Leafs? Moves would have been made earlier by the front office in Boston, and just maybe things are different in Toronto today. It's amazing what one third period and overtime meant to both teams.
