BOSTON — Toronto coach Mike Babcock thinks his Maple Leafs should cherish the chance to play in Wednesday night’s Game 7 of their first-round series with the Boston Bruins.
“You’re a kid playing outside road hockey Maxx Williams Jersey , it’s the seventh game and you’re scoring a winning goal in overtime,” Babcock said after his Leafs won their second straight and evened the series with a 3-1 victory in Toronto on Monday night.
“That’s just the way it was your whole life,” he continued. “No one else in hockey is playing right now, they’re all stopped and watching and that’s always some, but I think just the opportunity, you get to go on. I think there’s obviously a lot on the line that way and we’d like to play in the next round, Boston wants to play in the next round, something’s got to give. We’re excited for the opportunity and enjoy the rest of today. Get ready tomorrow.
“…Let’s embrace it.”
The Boston Red Sox dedicated the 2013 season to being “Boston Strong.” Tuesday, Toronto joined the long list of cities attacked in some way when a van jumped a curb and mowed people down. The Leafs paid the proper tribute to the victims before the game, and then rode Frederick Andersen to the win.
Does it carry over in Game 7?
The winner faces the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Bruins surrendering the top spot in the conference with a shaky finish to the regular season.
Also in 2013 Bob Griese Jersey , the Maple Leafs, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2004, led the Bruins 4-1 late in Game 7 and wound up losing in overtime. Tuukka Rask gave up four goals on 28 shots and was not brilliant in that game and his record in elimination games is 5-11, 1-2 in Game 7s.
Tim Thomas won three seventh games and led the Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup. Rask lost to Philadelphia in 2010 and to Washington in 2012.
He was poor in Game 5 and guaranteed he’d be better in Game 6. He was, keeping his team in the game in the third period.
His teammates were not as good. The top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, on fire with 20 combined points in the two wins that started the series, have been scoreless in the last two games (plus Game 3) — Bergeron was out of Game 5 with an upper-body injury and being ineffective in Monday night’s game.
The trio has no points and is a combined minus-16 in the Bruins’ three series losses.
“It’s always how it should be. When you’ve lived it, you want to share that experience,” Bergeron said of playing in another Game 7 (he scored the tying and winning goals in the 2013 comeback). “We have some amazing young players in this locker room and I know they’re going to step up. That’s the approach that we have.
“Everyone just needs to go out there and play and step up their game up and rely on everybody else to do the same. Do your job, I guess Joe Berger Jersey , is kind of the cliche, but that’s how you have to approach (a Game 7).”
Andersen, 10-1-0 lifetime against the Bruins coming into these playoffs, shook off a shaky start in the series and has been great since.
The Bruins are trying to win their first playoff series since 2014.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have completed their plan to turn over their kicking duties to rookie Daniel Carlson, releasing veteran Kai Forbath with two weeks remaining in the preseason.
For all the training camp drills and exhibition game extra points the Vikings can give Carlson, there’s no way for him to experience the pressure and scrutiny that comes with the job on a championship-chasing team.
For all the calm the Southeastern Conference’s all-time scoring leader has exhibited around Vikings headquarters since they drafted him out of Auburn in the fifth round in April, there’s no way for them to know how he’ll handle the enormous responsibility until September.
“We’ll just see how it goes,” coach Mike Zimmer said on Monday after Forbath was let go. “You make your decision, and you live with it.”
Forbath took both field goal tries in Minnesota’s exhibition game on Saturday against Jacksonville and missed one when it hit the right upright. In 25 games with the Vikings, including the playoffs Daniel Kilgore Jersey , Forbath made 48 of 56 extra points and 50 of 57 field goals.
He stabilized the position when a struggling Blair Walsh left it in disarray midway through the 2016 season and made his share of clutch kicks, but the 30-year-old never quite found enough of a groove to gain the team’s full trust.
The Vikings were looking for more depth on their kickoffs as well as consistency on field goals and extra points, and the 6-foot-5 Carlson has the stronger leg.
“At the end of the day it’s who can make the important kicks and who the team has confidence in, so I feel really good that the coaches and the staff have entrusted me with that confidence,” Carlson said.
He was quick to credit Forbath for his class in handling a dynamic that could’ve been awkward from the day the Vikings took Carlson with the 167th overall selection. Forbath has kicked for three NFL teams, mostly with Washington.
“Kai’s given me a run for my money, and he’s had a lot of success here and elsewhere. So it was a great competition,” Carlson said, adding: “I wish him nothing but the best, but I’m excited to be staying around here and get ready for the real work.”
The Vikings invested a sixth-round draft pick in Walsh in 2012 and watched him become an All-Pro as a rookie. He never repeated that performance, though B.J. Goodson Jersey , and four seasons later the team had no choice but to start fresh. Now they’re counting on not having to make any more changes with the role for many years.
“Every kick’s a pressure kick, and you know your job is going to be on the line and it’s probably going to be decided on a few different kicks,” Carlson said, adding: “You want to be on a winning team. … I’m just going to take that and run with it.”
The game on Saturday was particularly painful for the bottom of the roster, with five players injured and needing assistance off the field. Defensive end Ade Aruna (right knee) was placed on injured reserve on Monday. Offensive lineman Cedrick Lang (right leg) and fullback Johnny Stanton (left leg) were waived with an injured designation, meaning they must clear waivers before being placed on injured reserve. Tight end Josiah Price (right knee) was also waived-injured, after getting hurt in practice last week. The Vikings signed two players to fill open spots, including fullback Kobe McCrary, who played in college at Minnesota.
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