(Welcome to the TD Garden for tonight's decisive Game 7 showdown between the Boston Bruins and visiting Toronto Maple Leafs...)

Anybody that tells you that a Game 7 is fun is absolutely out of their tree. It's a crippling sickness that leaves you incapable of thinking of anything else besides hockey. You don't enjoy the sun, you don't enjoy beverages, you don't enjoy your lunch. Your head and heart are consumed by the idea that you're going to end the night one of two ways: You're going to be beyond thrilled with your team's ability to muscle it out and survive, or your heart is going to be ripped out of your chest, stomped on, and set ablaze.

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For a Boston club that's had two chances to bury the Maple Leafs (and failed), avoiding the latter is not only ideal, it's mandatory. There's no other way to say -- this is Game 7. Win and move on, lose, and the summer is officially at your doorstep.

"There’s no need to look behind us now, we’ve got to look at what’s ahead of us, and that’s a big game tonight that’s going to decide our fate," Boston coach Claude Julien said this morning. "I don’t have worries about the confidence of our team, we’ve just got to go out there and play the kind of game that we can, which we haven’t in a while. If we do that, our chances are very good."

Scoring just two goals in their last two games, the Bruins will go with a bit of a lineup tweak, as Tyler Seguin and Jaromir Jagr will switch. The 41-year-old Jagr moves up to the Bergeron line with Brad Marchand on his opposite wing. As you can recall, Jagr and Marchand had a solid (sans Bergeron) connection when the future Hall of Famer first arrived to Boston in April.

On the point, the Bruins will sit Wade Redden in favor of the inexperienced Matt Bartkowski, while Dougie Hamilton will suit up for the injured Andrew Ference (who was in a walking boot and on crutches).

In net, it'll be much of the same as Tuukka Rask gets the nod for the B's for Game 7. The 26-year-old Rask has only been in one Game 7 before (a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia in 2010), but enters this matchup with a 2.28 goals against average in the series. He'll be opposed by the Leafs' James Reimer, who comes into play with 72 saves on the last 74 shots thrown his way.

Game 7 -- No retreat, no regrets.

First Period

20:00 - The Krejci line gets the start for the B's to begin this one. Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Seidenberg on the point. Toronto counters with Jay McClement centering with James van Riemsdyk and Matt Frattin on the wings. Jake Gardiner and Cody Franson on the points.

19:17 - B's with three shots in the opening 43 seconds. They're buzzing.

18:00 - Leafs going on the power-play here. Begins with Nazem Kadri getting tripped up by Rich Peverley. Peverley gets whistled for the initial penalty, but drags Kadri to the box with him on a rough. Peverley gets a double-minor, Kadri just the two.

16:00 - Bruins kill it off. Refs let 'em play on too as James van Riemsdyk got tangled with Zdeno Chara and the 6-foot-9 Boston captain tosses him down like a ragdoll. No call.

14:21 - Bartkowski opens it up for Boston. He had all the time in the world there, wrists an absolute bullet through Reimer, and it's 1-0 in favor of the Black-and-Gold. That's the first playoff goal of his career. 50-foot laser, my friends.

12:19 - Absolutely huge save by Rask on Joffrey Lupul on a break, but the B's will be shorthanded as Chara gets whistled for the (absolutely mandatory) hook.

12:19 - Actually a high-stick, my bad.

10:25 - Leafs strike back! Chaos in front of the net, and Rask is unable to control it. Cody Franson will get the credit for the goal. B's were brutalized by a monstrous shift for Greg Campbell and Danny Paille there with Adam McQuaid and Dougie Hamilton stuck on the blue-line. Wheezing. Tied up.

4:46 - Definitely a bit of a slow-down in the pace of this one. The Leafs lead in shots, 12-7.

0.0 - First period comes to an end without a shot for the B's in the final seven minutes and change. Not good.

Thoughts after one...

Defensive depth is a tricky thing -- Lose one guy and your entire d-core is aloof. Without Ference, and with a late scratch to the 35-year-old Wade Redden, the Bruins' blue-line is without question reeling, as you saw on the penalty-kill with Chara in the box. As exposed by Toronto's power-play, the Bruins can simply not afford any ruts to the sin-bin for the captain or even Dennis Seidenberg. Even worse news for B's fans -- Seidenberg barely played in the first period after suffering what appeared to be a lower-body injury.

Second Period

20:00 - Seidenberg skates before the period. Looks like he's laboring hard.

19:27 - B's going on the power-play here. Kadri sits once again. Interferes with Johnny Boychuk, who got up pretty gingerly after that one. Not what the B's need.

14:12 - Leafs strike again -- Cody Franson with the blast through traffic and it's 2-1 in favor of the Leafs. Bruins look defeated right now.

12:31 - Rask with a huge glove-save on Gardiner. Holy.

7:45 - Nobody's going to the front of the net for the B's right now.

6:58 - Lucic is going to the box. He and Phaneuf exchange shoves, but only No. 17 in black-and-gold will go to the box this time around. Not a good call in a Game 7.

5:33 - Refs are losing control of this one. Grabovski with the post-whistle cross-check to Campbell, but they're sending them both. Campbell's guilty of sliding into his own crease after that shot. No roughing, but he's whistled for one. Makes sense.

4:46 - Lupul gets shoved into the net, Rask loses his helmet, throws a blocker at Lupul. No penalties coming out of this one.

1:52 - Lupul to the box. Tripping Brad Marchand is the call. No. 63 with the successful sell. This has been a rough game for the officials. This is a Game 7!

0.0 - Horrible. Just horrible execution from the Bruins' second power-play unit once again.

Thoughts after two...

Through two periods, the B's have 13 shots. They're on pace for 20 shots in this game. Talk about not showing up. Ugly, ugly hockey.

Third Period

17:51 - Phil Kessel on the third chance opportunity. 3-1, Leafs.

16:08 - Thornton with an open net, but can't put it in the cage. One of those nights...

14:31 - What are your summer plans? Nazem Kadri makes it 4-1, Leafs. The Bruins undoubtedly deserve to lose this game. In this fashion, too. Just a complete no-show on all levels of the game.

10:42 - Bruins bring themselves within two. Nathan Horton, the playoff hero of 2011, in what will very likely be his final game in a B's sweater. He's been a playoff hero for this club in the two postseason runs he's suited up in.

1:22 - Lucic scores on the rebound. B's within one now. Boston will take their timeout.

:50.2 - BRUINS TIE IT. UNBELIEVABLE. Bergeron! This building is literally shaking.

0.0 - Overtime on the way....

Overtime

20:00 - Krejci vs. Grabovski to start.

16:55 - Boychuk blast stopped.

13:55 - Bruins win! Bergeron! Again!

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