Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara, left, and left wing Milan Lucic celebrate the game-winning goal by Nathan Horton, centre. The Bruins won 4-3 to win the series. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)
For the second time in the series, Nathan Horton finished a game with an overtime goal. In Game 5, Horton ended the night in double overtime when he tapped home the rebound of an Andrew Ference shot.
In Game 7, Horton took a pass from Milan Lucic and winged a slap shot through Carey Price - the puck deflected off traffic and past the Montreal goalie - at 5:43. It was Horton's first shot of the game.
"It felt pretty good," Horton said. "I don't remember too much. I remember [Lucic] coming up with the puck, and I just tried to get open. I tried putting the puck toward the net. Luckily it got deflected off someone and it went straight in. That's all I remember. It was pretty special. It doesn't get any better."
Prior to arriving via Florida last June, Horton had never appeared in the playoffs.
"He's been in the league a handful of years and he was excited about getting to Boston, excited about playing in the playoffs," said president Cam Neely. "He's scored a couple big goals for us. I think if you look at hockey players' careers, the first thing you look for is their playoff career more so than their regular-season career. I think guys understand that and they know that. They know what playoff hockey is all about. They get excited about playoff hockey. Nate is no different. He's come in here, held his game, and scored big goals for us."
Subban plays big
P.K. Subban finished the playoffs averaging 28:33 of ice time per game, second-most among all postseason players behind Zdeno Chara (28:48). Subban and Hal Gill logged most of their minutes against Boston's top line of Lucic, Horton, and David Krejci. They held Lucic without a goal in seven games.
"I think P.K. made some progress," Jacques Martin said. "But this is not a place for me to start evaluating my personnel."
Subban wiped out a 3-2 Boston lead in the third period to send the game into overtime. With Patrice Bergeron in the box for high-sticking James Wisniewski, Subban took a pass from Tomas Plekanec and catapulted a one-timer over Tim Thomas at 18:03 of the third. It was Subban's second goal of the series.
"I think we had a great year this year," Subban said. "In terms of the game, we had an opportunity in overtime. Things happen. But we can't be upset with our effort. The effort was there. We took it to seven games. As a team that has gone through a lot of injuries this season and ups and downs, I think a lot of guys gained experience in this year's playoffs. There's a lot of things to look forward to and for the years to come."
Subban emerged amid season-ending knee injuries to Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges.
Wisniewski was also hobbled toward the end of the series. Wisniewski missed Game 6 because of an undisclosed injury. Wisniewski played in Game 7, logging 26:29 of ice time. But Martin said Wisniewski was not 100 percent.
Price so close
On Horton's game-winning goal in overtime, Price had to fight through a four-man screen of his own teammates. The puck hit off traffic -- the guess is that it bounced off Jeff Halpern -- and into the net.
Price wrapped up the series with a 3-4 record, 2.11 GAA, and a .934 save percentage.
"We gave it our all," Price said. "We gave it all we got. We can be proud of our effort. We can be proud of the way we played. The guys in front of me played excellent tonight. I thought we deserved better throughout the whole series. We lose three overtime games and we're just a hair away from winning. It's frustrating. But at the same time, I guess we can hold our heads high and say we gave it everything we had."
Bruins break Game 7 skid
Under Claude Julien, the Bruins had lost their three previous Game 7s. Last year, after taking a 3-0 series lead over the Flyers in the second round, they lost four straight games. Two years ago, they lost to Carolina in Game 7 of the second round. In 2007-08, Montreal claimed a 5-0 win in Game 7 of the opening round.
"We're very happy to get that win," Patrice Bergeron said. "We never doubted ourselves. We always believed."
In Game 7, Horton took a pass from Milan Lucic and winged a slap shot through Carey Price - the puck deflected off traffic and past the Montreal goalie - at 5:43. It was Horton's first shot of the game.
"It felt pretty good," Horton said. "I don't remember too much. I remember [Lucic] coming up with the puck, and I just tried to get open. I tried putting the puck toward the net. Luckily it got deflected off someone and it went straight in. That's all I remember. It was pretty special. It doesn't get any better."
Prior to arriving via Florida last June, Horton had never appeared in the playoffs.
"He's been in the league a handful of years and he was excited about getting to Boston, excited about playing in the playoffs," said president Cam Neely. "He's scored a couple big goals for us. I think if you look at hockey players' careers, the first thing you look for is their playoff career more so than their regular-season career. I think guys understand that and they know that. They know what playoff hockey is all about. They get excited about playoff hockey. Nate is no different. He's come in here, held his game, and scored big goals for us."
Subban plays big
P.K. Subban finished the playoffs averaging 28:33 of ice time per game, second-most among all postseason players behind Zdeno Chara (28:48). Subban and Hal Gill logged most of their minutes against Boston's top line of Lucic, Horton, and David Krejci. They held Lucic without a goal in seven games.
"I think P.K. made some progress," Jacques Martin said. "But this is not a place for me to start evaluating my personnel."
Subban wiped out a 3-2 Boston lead in the third period to send the game into overtime. With Patrice Bergeron in the box for high-sticking James Wisniewski, Subban took a pass from Tomas Plekanec and catapulted a one-timer over Tim Thomas at 18:03 of the third. It was Subban's second goal of the series.
"I think we had a great year this year," Subban said. "In terms of the game, we had an opportunity in overtime. Things happen. But we can't be upset with our effort. The effort was there. We took it to seven games. As a team that has gone through a lot of injuries this season and ups and downs, I think a lot of guys gained experience in this year's playoffs. There's a lot of things to look forward to and for the years to come."
Subban emerged amid season-ending knee injuries to Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges.
Wisniewski was also hobbled toward the end of the series. Wisniewski missed Game 6 because of an undisclosed injury. Wisniewski played in Game 7, logging 26:29 of ice time. But Martin said Wisniewski was not 100 percent.
Price so close
On Horton's game-winning goal in overtime, Price had to fight through a four-man screen of his own teammates. The puck hit off traffic -- the guess is that it bounced off Jeff Halpern -- and into the net.
Price wrapped up the series with a 3-4 record, 2.11 GAA, and a .934 save percentage.
"We gave it our all," Price said. "We gave it all we got. We can be proud of our effort. We can be proud of the way we played. The guys in front of me played excellent tonight. I thought we deserved better throughout the whole series. We lose three overtime games and we're just a hair away from winning. It's frustrating. But at the same time, I guess we can hold our heads high and say we gave it everything we had."
Bruins break Game 7 skid
Under Claude Julien, the Bruins had lost their three previous Game 7s. Last year, after taking a 3-0 series lead over the Flyers in the second round, they lost four straight games. Two years ago, they lost to Carolina in Game 7 of the second round. In 2007-08, Montreal claimed a 5-0 win in Game 7 of the opening round.
"We're very happy to get that win," Patrice Bergeron said. "We never doubted ourselves. We always believed."
