Before the Rangers and Devils squared off in a Game 7 Monday night at Prudential Center, as the final contest of the first round of the NHL playoffs, brackets were busted left and right as other series around the league wrapped up.
“As we always talk about, the NHL is close,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said before the teams took the ice for Game 7. “I mean, seeing Boston have the great season that they had and then, you know, it’s tough to see a team lose like that. That’s the NHL. The teams are close and on any given night anybody can beat anybody.”
The mighty Boston Bruins, who finished the regular season with a league-record 65 wins and 135 points, were shockingly taken down by the middle-of-the-pack Panthers.
Brandon Montour scored for Florida with less than a minute left in regulation to send it to overtime before Carter Verhaeghe netted the game-winner 8:35 into the extra period, which brought the Bruins’ miraculous season to a screeching halt.
The 43-point difference between the Panthers and Bruins represented the largest upset in Stanley Cup Playoffs history for a best-of-seven series.
Florida will now face the Maple Leafs in Round 2.
In the Western Conference, the Seattle Kraken, in their second-year of existence, upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche, with a 2-1 win in Game 7 Sunday night in Colorado.
The Kraken whiffed on their first chance to close out the series, but Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer was spectacular with 33 saves in Game 7 as Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice to punch his team’s ticket to the second round.
They will take on the Stars in the second round.
“I just think that’s the NHL for you today,” said Patrick Kane, who skated in his sixth career Game 7 Monday night with the Rangers. “There’s so much parity in the league. Any given team can win. Usually the best team comes out on a best-of-seven series, but anything can happen.”
The Rangers know better than any team just how unpredictable a playoff series can be.
Aside from last season’s early deficits in the first and second rounds against the Penguins and Hurricanes, respectively, which they persevered through and ultimately advanced, the Blueshirts also lost four straight after taking a 2-0 series lead over the Lightning in the conference final.
The Rangers had the script flipped on them again this season, as well.
After pulling ahead two games to none at the start of this first-round series against the Devils, the Rangers let New Jersey waltz right back into the series by taking two straight victories at the Garden.
Suddenly, the Rangers were facing elimination way earlier than expected after the Devils rolled over them with a 4-0 win in Game 5.
The Rangers, however, were able to force a Game 7 with a convincing 5-2 victory at the Garden.
With the Lightning and Bruins both eliminated, the East appears to be wide open.
The Kraken were the only upset in the West, but as history has shown, it’s always anybody’s game.
“That’s hockey, right?” Chris Kreider asked rhetorically. “Try to put your best foot forward and trust each other. Trust the process. Trust the dynamic that you build over the course of the year.”