The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to complete an improbable comeback when they face the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the NHL playoffs tonight.
Toronto has only come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win a series once — in 1942 when the club was down 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final.
The Maple Leafs will once again be without centre Auston Matthews. The 26-year-old was pulled from Game 4 in the second intermission with a mystery illness and did not play in either Game 5 or 6 as he recovers from an undisclosed injury. The Maple Leafs have won both games that Matthews has missed.
Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was clear in expressing that his top players needed to perform as such after Boston’s 2-1 Game 6 loss to the Leafs on Thursday.
He specifically called out star forward David Pastrnak, who has been held pointless the last two games, both of which Boston has lost.
Pastrnak acknowledged that he “should maybe have a little bit more of a shooting mentality,” but with the season on the line in Game 7 Saturday, the entire Bruins offence could use more to prevent an early start to the off-season.
The winner moves on to play the Florida Panthers.
Watch all the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.