Nathan Horton scores game winner as Boston Bruins defeat Montreal Canadiens in game 7 – NHL playoffs
Boston Bruins were motivated to advance to the next round and that is exactly what they did on Wednesday night in game seven against Montreal Canadiens.
The Bruins right winger Nathan Horton fired the game winning goal in overtime to eliminate the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Horton, who finally made it to the playoffs after six years of hard work, was amazed at his performance throughout the postseason. After his second overtime game winning goal, the former Florida Panther found it hard to control his emotions.
“Just getting to the playoffs is all I was really thinking about. This has been a dream come true,” said Horton. “I'm really enjoying it. I'm enjoying it more every day.”
Johnny Boychuk and Mark Recchi both scored their first goals of the playoffs to give Boston a 2-0 lead within the first five minutes of the initial period. Yannick Weber replied for the Canadiens to bring down the deficit on their first power play opportunity.
Instead of maintaining that lead, the Bruins went into their usual mode and started giving penalties. Michael Ryder was booked for high sticking while Shawn Thornton was sent packing for elbowing but they managed to kill the second.
It seemed like Montreal could only score on a power play but they proved it otherwise. They tied the score in the sixth minute when Tomas Plekanec levelled the match shorthanded and unassisted. It was another added man opportunity for the Bruins who were
5-on-4, but the Canadiens still managed to score with a player out. Boston closed off the series against the Canadiens on a 0-21 record during power play chances.
The National Hockey Leagues’ leading goalie Tim Thomas blocked 34 of 37 shots for the Bruins. He was playing in top form and made a few shocking saves that could have ended the match in disappointment for the home team. Montreal’s Carey Price managed to
block 30 of 34, but it was not enough.
“We're disappointed with the end result but you have to give credit to the Bruins,” Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. “Yes, we did have some injuries. We missed some soldiers, but the ones that were dressed gave a really good effort.”
Chris Kelly sent the sell out home crowd into frenzy when he made the tie-breaker nearly halfway through the final period. At that moment, all one could hear in the stadium was “Kelly! Kelly!” as fans chanted on. Time was running out for the Canadiens but
their high-scoring defenseman P.K. Subban silenced the crowd with less than two minutes remaining. Montreal were able to capitalise on Boston’s only penalty of the period when they gained the advantage after Patrice Bergeron was sent out for high-sticking.
Nathan Horton set the roof on fire after firing the game winner six minutes into the overtime period and sparked an emotional celebration. Boston won against the Canadiens for just the third out of eight times in postseason history and because of their bitter
rivalry, the victory could not have been sweeter.
The Bruins will be playing against Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. On Saturday, they will have a chance to overthrow the Flyers after a shocking loss against them in last year’s postseason when Philadelphia bounced back from a
3-0 deficit.
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