This is where the Toronto Maple Leafs try to change the ending.
After beating the Bruins in back-to-back elimination games to force their first-round playoff series to the limit – just like they did in 2013 – the Maple
Leafs are hoping to finish the job on Wednesday in Game 7 in Boston.
That’s something they couldn’t do five years ago
Michael Hoomanawanui Jersey , when they became the first team in NHL history to blow a three-goal, third-period deficit and lose a Stanley Cup
playoff game.
”We’ve got some more work to do,” said goalie Frederik Andersen, who stopped 32 of 33 shots in Game 6 on Monday to help Toronto win 3-1 and prolong its
season.
”It’s the same kind of pressure we’ve felt these last two games, where we’ve been facing elimination,” he said. ”Game 7 should be the same. It’s something
that you all dream of – those big moments – and you also want to perform.”
So do the Bruins, who have struggled to put away Toronto for the second consecutive time. In ’13, the Maple Leafs won two straight and then opened a 4-1
lead in the third period of Game 7, but Boston scored a pair of goals 31 seconds
apart in the final 2 minutes of regulation before winning in overtime.
Patrice Bergeron
Alec Ogletree Jersey , who scored the game-winner, is one of seven Bruins remaining from that team, compared with four players wearing Toronto
jerseys.
”It’s nice to have those guys,” said Boston forward David Pastrnak, who had four goals and five assists in the first two games of the series this year but
only two assists since. ”They’ve been here a bunch, so they know what to expect.
It’s good for our young guys to have them around.”
The winner of Wednesday night’s game will play Tampa Bay, which eliminated New Jersey in five games. The Lightning will host the first two games,
regardless of which opponent advances.
”I don’t think there’s any panic at all in this group,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Toronto feels the same way.
”We think we’re going to win
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lifetime. This is where you want to be.”
PRESSURE
Both teams paid their respects to the victims of the rental van attack in Toronto that killed 10 people and injured 15 more. There was a moment of silence
before Monday night’s game, and Babcock opened his postgame remarks by sending
support to those affected. Asked on Tuesday about the pressure his team faces
heading into a winner-take-all game, Cassidy said he has tried to keep things in
perspective.
”Listen, yesterday in Toronto, the first-responders, they were under pressure. That’s pressure to me, that’s real-life pressure,” he said. ”This is a
game that players dream about being in this situation
Joe Thuney Jersey , Game 7, playing road hockey in a small town in Canada or a big city in the United States or somewhere in between. That’s what it’s all
about. … Now you’ve got to go out and embrace it.”
GAME 7 HISTORY
The Bruins are 13-12 in Game 7s, with a 12-8 record at home. Toronto is 12-10 and 5-9 on the road. Boston is 2-1 in Game 7s against Toronto, including 2013.
Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara will be playing in his 12th career Game 7 – the
most for any active player, and just one shy of the record held by Patrick Roy
and Scott Stevens.
ROUND TWO
The Capitals and Penguins await the start of the second round, when they will play each other for the third straight postseason. Pittsburgh is 9-1 all-time in
playoff series against Washington.
In the West, the pairings are Vegas against San Jose and Winnipeg against Nashville.
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Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving was suspended for four games Friday for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, the second straight year
the pass rusher is facing a ban to start the season.
The punishment announced by the league will not keep Irving from participating in training camp starting next month in California. The
24-year-old Irving’s four-game suspension to start last season was for violating
league policy on performance enhancers.
Irving was away from the Cowboys most of the offseason tending to personal issues before showing up for the mandatory three-day minicamp that ended
Thursday. He declined to go into details but did mention that he was solely
responsible for the care of his 5-year-old daughter.
His former girlfriend, the daughter’s mother
Kevin Faulk Jersey , accused Irving of domestic abuse before recanting in April. Police in the Dallas suburb of Frisco didn’t file charges, but the NFL is
investigating.
”I don’t have time to be messing around and getting in trouble like I have been,” Irving said the day before the suspension was announced. ”I have to make
a lot of changes. My whole life basically changed this offseason, quickly all at
once in a lot of different aspects. I just got to change. And I have been.”
After last season’s suspension, Irving had seven sacks in eight games before sustaining a concussion that kept him out the remaining four games. He has 11
sacks in 35 games over three seasons for Dallas. The first game he is eligible
is Oct. 7 at Houston.
The latest suspension comes as defensive end Randy Gregory awaits word on his bid for reinstatement. Gregory was suspended all of last season over multiple
violations of the substance-abuse policy. He met with Commissioner Roger Goodell
in New York this week.
Between Irving, Gregory, DeMarcus Lawrence and former Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy, the Cowboys are set to start the season with at least one suspended
defensive lineman for the fourth straight season.
Irving signed a second-round tender worth $2.9 million as a restricted free agent and is set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Cowboys
signed him off Kansas City’s practice squad in 2015.
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