Bruins Daily: Bruins, Avalanche Out After Crazy First Round

Who had the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins and the defending Stanley Cup champions, Colorado Avalanche out after the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils will play a Game 7 tonight to finish off what has been a crazy first round!

That and more in the latest BHN Daily:

Boston Bruins

What the hell just happened?

That would be the collective question amongst the Boston Bruins, their fans, likely the Florida Panthers and definitely the NHL Betting public. The winningest team in NHL regular season history blew a 3-1 series lead to the eighth-seeded Florida Panthers who beat the Bruins in Game 7, 4-3 in overtime on a Carter Verhaeghe goal to complete one of the greatest comebacks in Stanley Cup Playoffs history.

After what may have been his final NHL game, Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron – while stressing it wasn’t an excuse – told reporters postgame that he was playing with a herniated disc that kept him out of the first four games of the series.

Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark never really looked like the Vezina Trophy candidate that became the first Bruins goalie to win 40 games since Pete Peters in the 1982-83 season, and Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery and his staff decided to switch to Jeremy Swayman for Game 7.

Speaking of Jim Montgomery, not making that switch to Swayman earlier in the series was ironically, as of now, not one of his biggest coaching regrets in this series.

Florida Panthers

Here’s the Florida Panthers game perspective from our colleagues at Florida Hockey Now.

Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe may be one of the quietest 40-goal scorers in NHL history but after scoring the overtime winner against the Boston Bruins in Game 7, he’s front and center.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Colorado Hockey Now: As mentioned above, the Colorado Avalanche are out, and there will be a new Stanley Cup champion in June. The Seattle Kraken pulled off an epic upset in their second year of existence with a 2-1 win over the Av’s in Game 7.

LA Hockey Now: Kings general manager Rob Blake discussed the future of the Los Angeles Kings after watching his team fall in six games to the Edmonton Oilers.

Vegas Hockey Now: How do the Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers shape up in the Western Conference Divisional round?

NHL

Montreal Hockey Now: What will the goaltending situation look like for the Montreal Canadiens next season

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: What the Pittsburgh Penguins have to do to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs next season after missing the postseason for the first time since 2005-06?