Nobody Wins on the Blue: Shocker: Bruins host Game 7 tonight

Well, the Bruins find themselves in an all-too-familiar spot tonight… facing elimination on home ice in a Game 7.

Heard that before? Of course you have. Take a look at these amazing stats/tidbits surrounding the Bruins and tonight’s game 7 vs the Leafs:

Here’s the recent history of Bruins in Game 7:

2008: Lost game 7 in Montreal in the first round after trailing 3-1 in the series

2009: Lost game 7 at home to Carolina in OT in the 2^nd round after falling behind 3-1 in the series

2010: Lost game 7 at home to the Flyers after a 3-0 lead in the series and again in game 7

2011: Won game 7 at home vs Montreal in OT. Won game 7 at home vs Tampa Bay. Won game 7 on the road vs Vancouver

2012: Lost game 7 at home to Washington in OT after leading the series 2-1.

2013: Forced to a game 7 by Toronto after blowing a 3-1 series lead.

-8 out for the past 11 Bruins playoff series have gone to 7 games. That’s 72%. Insane. All time, only about 28% of all NHL playoff series have gone to the full length of 7 games.

-Since 2008 (including this year) there have been 27 series that went the distance… The Bruins have been involved in 8 of them. Far more than any other team.

-The team scoring first in game 7 has won 74% of the time. (106/144, including 75 of the last 94 times)

-Home teams are 87-58 all-time in Game 7’s

Bruins vs Leafs Round 1 Summary:

Game 1 in Boston: Bruins win 4-1 in dominant game

Game 2 in Boston: Leafs win 4-2 on Lupuls two goal game

Game 3 in Toronto: Bruins win soundly 5-2

Game 4 in Toronto: Bruins win 4-3 in OT courtesy of a Krejci hat trick

Game 5 in Boston: Leafs win 2-1 with their backs against the wall

Game 6 in Toronto: Leafs win 2-1 and force game 7

Enough stats. Here’s my take on tonight:

Coach Julien admitted after the game the Bruins have been playing “Jekyll and Hyde” all year long, so a string of 2 bad games doesn’t necessarily mean they continue that trend tonight. This Bruins team has tons and tons of playoff/ game 7 experience. They are the better overall team. They have the better goalie and despite some of the things I’ve read on-line… Rask is currently playing better than Reimer and has outperformed him all series long. If it wasn’t for Rask the Bruins would have lost 5-0 last night.

All the Bruins have to do is show up and play Bruins hockey for 60 minutes. If that happens, they will win. Simple, right? They have to win tonight. They have to come out hot. They have to score first. This game is basically going to define this entire era for the franchise…. So who are the Bruins? We will find out tonight. I happen to believe in them still. Remember- it’s about not getting to high on the highs and too low on the lows. And God I hope Seguin scores the game winner.

(Tentative) Prediction- Bruins win 3-1

Just for fun and to make everyone feel awesome about tonight's game, here are the game 7 goals that ended the Bruins season on home ice in the past few years:

Scott Walker 2009: