When the Boston Bruins’ playoff runs go sideways, they tend to do it in unforgettable fashion. Some losses linger because of one bad bounce.
Others stick because a series that looked buried somehow slipped away. And then there are the ones that leave a bruise for years.
Here are the three biggest Bruins playoff choke jobs, ranked.
3. 2019 Stanley Cup Final Game 7
This one can be debated, but there’s no debating the pain level. A Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at home is about as good as it gets in the NHL. Boston had the kind of setting every team wants for the biggest night of the year.
The Bruins had chances to finish off the Blues before it got to that point, but they couldn’t close the door. Then came a rough Game 7 at TD Garden.
Some questionable in-game decisions, including one from Brad Marchand on a questionable shift change, helped lead to a key goal late in the first period. St.
Louis then pushed the lead to 4-0 before Boston finally got on the board too late, with Matt Grzelcyk scoring in a 4-1 loss. That one is going to linger for a long, long time.
2. 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Philadelphia Flyers
This was the kind of collapse that sounds impossible until it actually happens. Boston jumped out to a 3-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers and still had two home games left. At that point, the series felt over.
It wasn’t. The Bruins not only let the series get to Game 7, they also gave up a 3-0 lead in that deciding game at home.
That made the collapse even uglier. It was painful, embarrassing, and impossible to shake.
In a strange way, it also became part of the lead-up to the 2011 run that ended with a Stanley Cup championship. Still, 2010 remains a brutal one for Bruins fans.
1. 2023 First-Round Series vs. Florida Panthers
The 2023 loss to Florida tops the list because it managed to outdo the 2010 disaster. Boston had just set the NHL record for wins and points in an 82-game regular season in 2022-23 after firing Bruce Cassidy.
The Bruins were the clear pick to win the Cup against the field. Never pick against the field.
Then came the series against the Panthers, the last team into the postseason as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed. Boston built a 3-1 series lead, but it couldn’t finish the job.
Game 5 at home went to overtime and ended in a loss. Game 6 in South Florida turned into a high-scoring loss.
Then, in Game 7 at TD Garden, the Bruins couldn’t hold a 3-2 lead late in regulation and eventually lost in overtime.
That defeat helped launch a run for Florida that has since produced two Stanley Cups. It also came with another gut punch for Boston: Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Panthers for the Cup in June.
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