BOSTON—They say anything can happen in sports.The exception to that rule is the Maple Leafs playing the Boston Bruins in a Game 7 at TD Garden. It would appear a Bruins victory in such circumstances is pre-ordained.The Bruins did it again, defeating the Leafs 5-1 on Tuesday night, ending Toronto’s season for the third time since 2013.Boston gets to play Columbus in the second round. The Leafs will clean out their lockers, wondering what might have been.While Boston-Toronto in round one seemed inevitable from the time the puck dropped on the season and as Tampa pulled away from the pack, the stakes rose as the path to the Stanley Cup seemed to open up when the Blue Jackets upset the Lightning.Both the Leafs and Bruins considered themselves Cup contenders, even moreso after Tampa was eliminated. Boston has the chance the Leafs wanted.This Game 7 was different than the other two, with Boston taking a 2-0 first-period lead, feeding off Toronto turnovers, and taking a 2-1 lead into the third. The Leafs had led in the third period in their previous Game 7 meetings.But it was still intense with the fireworks, big hits, big plays and big saves that a Game 7 should have. The Leafs held Boston’s big guns off the scoreboard, but the Bruins put in a better effort, clearing pucks and getting goals from role players.In the first period, Leafs defenceman Travis Dermott had all kinds of time and space to clear the puck, but shot it straight at a Bruin on the sequence that led to Joakim Nordstrom’s goal. Just over three minutes later, defenceman Jake Gardiner gave away the puck behind the Toronto net, leading to Marcus Johansson’s goal.The Leafs took control in the second period, and were rewarded with a goal by John Tavares that cut the Boston lead to 2-1. Tyler Ennis managed to dig the puck away from Brandon Carlo on the play that led to Tavares’ second goal of the playoffs.Boston got its mojo back to start the third, though, with Sean Kural ...
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