Who wins Game 7 of Bruins-Maple Leafs? Key players to watch, final score predictions
It all comes down to this. After it looked like the Boston Bruins were going to breeze right by an imploding Toronto Maple Leafs team, the blue and white stormed back to take Games 5 and 6.
Now it’s 3-3 in the series, and a trip to the second round is on the line between the rivals as they face off in Game 7 Saturday night in Boston (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+).
Which players will be most critical to their team’s success? And who wins the game?
Who is the one key player you’ll be watching for the Bruins?
Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: Charlie Coyle. Coyle has two assists and zero goals through six games against the Maple Leafs. It’s a bit jarring, considering he scored a career-high 25 goals and 60 points this regular season (both third most on the team). That allowed the Bruins to get by without more established top-six options down the middle.
This also goes back to Jim Montgomery saying he needs more from his stars. Although he was talking mostly about Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, the regular-season numbers Coyle put up mean there are expectations for him as well.
Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: Jeremy Swayman. That’s assuming Jim Montgomery doesn’t go completely off the deep end and start Linus Ullmark in Game 7. Swayman has been the Bruins’ backbone in this series and their most consistent performer — with the .947 save percentage and 1.60 goals-against average to prove it.
But while Swayman has been excellent in these playoffs — and was great in Boston’s last postseason go-around, too — he has never won an elimination game. That will obviously have to change in Game 7 for the Bruins to advance. Montgomery said earlier in the first round he thought Swayman was in the Leafs’ heads a little bit. Well, now it’s time for Swayman to show that script hasn’t flipped to where Toronto is messing with his mojo.
Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: Brad Marchand. These are the moments that define a player’s captaincy. I spoke with Marchand before the season, and no one was more disgusted with Boston squandering its series against the Florida Panthers than he was, feeling that the Bruins cost two of their players — Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — the “fairy-tale ending” that they deserved.
Marchand didn’t have a point in Game 7 against the Panthers last season. He hasn’t hit the score sheet in the past two losses to the Maple Leafs. He didn’t have a shot on goal in Game 5, and he has six penalty minutes combined in those two losses. He’s the heartbeat of the Bruins. If he’s not a difference-maker in Game 7, it’s another “fairy tale” with “THE END” printed on page one for Boston.
Who is the one key player you’ll be watching for the Maple Leafs?
Clark: Max Domi. What Domi accomplished in the playoffs last year by helping the Stars get to the Western Conference finals showed he can be a key player for a playoff contender. He leads the Maple Leafs in points, and he has looked like one of their better players to this stage.
Three of his four points have been assists, which means he’s able to facilitate play for others. But it also goes back to what he did last year. The 13 points Domi had in 19 playoff games with the Stars is what made him such an attractive option in free agency. Now it’s about seeing whether Domi can continue building his postseason résumé with the sort of performance that can get the Leafs into the second round.
Shilton: Mitch Marner. There’s something about Auston Matthews not being in the Leafs’ lineup — it just brings out the best in Marner. He was sensational for Toronto in Games 5 and 6, revealing a confidence and determination at both ends of the ice that was lacking in his previous playoff performances.
Where Marner could have more of an impact is on the scoresheet. He has just one goal and two assists through the six games, and while Toronto has benefitted in its comeback from contributions outside the core, it would be a boost for both Marner and the Leafs to see him capitalize on those golden opportunities (like when his shot went off the post in Game 6). It feels like Marner is still on the cusp of a breakthrough, production-wise. There’s no time like Game 7 to make that a reality.
Wyshynski: Joseph Woll. Stanley Cup playoff history includes a number of rookie goalies popping off and becoming postseason heroes. I’m not saying Joseph Woll is going to be Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy or even Cam Ward, but he has given the Leafs everything they need in goal right now: a .964 save percentage and an 0.86 goals-against average in his two games since replacing Ilya Samsonov.
The huge goaltending advantage Boston had with Jeremy Swayman has been mitigated. We’ve got some proof of concept now with Woll, as he played well in last season’s playoffs, too. The Leaf-iest thing would be for Woll to melt down and give up three goals in the first 10 minutes in Game 7 on the road. But at this point, I’d be surprised if the rookie goalie costs them the game — and not surprised at all if he’s the reason they win it.
The final score will be _____.
Clark: 4-3 Bruins in OT. How much did the Bruins learn from last year’s first-round exit, and can they avoid a similar fate Saturday? Those are the two major questions they’ll be seeking to answer. One way to answer those questions is by establishing the “big period” like they did in Game 1, when they scored three goals in the second period and again in Game 3 when they scored three in the final frame.
Maybe that happens. Or maybe it’s too late given how they’ve looked in Games 5 and 6. But if the Bruins want to win this game, it’s about trying to find that one period in which they can pump in multiple goals, with those goals coming from different parts of their lineup.
Shilton: 2-1 Leafs. Scoring has been at a premium lately in this series, and given how well Swayman and Woll are playing, Game 7 doesn’t project as a barn burner. Boston was in control, but now the Bruins look lost at times.
Toronto has played with Game 7 levels of urgency twice already, and Boston will have to match that on the fly come Saturday — while grappling with how they went from dominant to docile so quickly. The Bruins have had their chances to close the Leafs out, but Toronto has snatched all the momentum; plus, the Leafs have been a terrific road team all season (and in this series).
Wyshynski: 3-1 Leafs. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery went from calling their first-round disaster last season a teachable moment after Game 5 to declaring that Boston is not living in the past after Game 6. Sorry, but the déjà vu is simply too strong here: 3-1 lead, overtime loss at home, loss on the road, back to Boston for Game 7.
The Bruins look slow. They look ineffective. The Leafs are playing the kind of simple, straight-ahead game the Bruins used to be known for playing: dominating zone time and the face-off circle. I’m not sure Boston can flip the script. The Bruins have lost six straight games with a chance to clinch a playoff series, tied for the seventh-longest streak by any team in NHL history.
We all assumed the pressure of a Game 7 in Boston would crush the Maple Leafs. At this point, is there any question that the Bruins are the ones with the flop sweat?
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Michael Rothstein
SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels agreed Friday to a last-minute settlement with the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs after jurors, deliberating for more than two days, sent queries that suggested the verdict might go in the family’s favor.
The amount and terms of the settlement — ending a yearslong battle over culpability in Skaggs’ death — were not immediately disclosed. The Skaggs family had been seeking $118 million in potential lost earnings plus added damages.
“The Skaggs family has reached a confidential settlement with Angels Baseball that brings to a close a difficult six-year process, allowing our families to focus on healing,” the family said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to the members of this jury, and to our legal team. Their engagement and focus gave us faith, and now we have finality. This trial exposed the truth and we hope Major League Baseball will now do its part in holding the Angels accountable. While nothing can bring Tyler back, we will continue to honor his memory.”
Skaggs’ family sued the Angels after Tyler Skaggs died in 2019 after an Angels employee, Eric Kay, gave him a fentanyl-laced pill that killed him. Kay is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence for his role in Skaggs’ death. If Kay hadn’t provided that pill, jurors were instructed, Skaggs would not have died that night.
Lawyers for the Skaggs family and the Angels were in discussions Friday morning both outside the courtroom and privately in front of Judge H. Shaina Colover as the jury began its third day of deliberations. Settlement talks picked up in earnest Thursday, according to a source.
On Wednesday, the jury asked questions about the testimony of the five wage experts and about whether the jury would also be allowed to award punitive damages. Throughout the trial, the jury heard baseball wage experts testify that Skaggs’ lost career wages ranged from $21 million to nearly $125 million.
Jurors sat through 31 days of courtroom drama, which included testimony and depositions from 44 witnesses and arguments from attorneys. They viewed 312 exhibits.
The jury instructions required answers of up to 26 questions that varied from easy-to-answer stipulations of fact to more complicated assessments of negligence or culpability. Nine of 12 jurors had to agree on each question — but not necessarily the same nine jurors.
In the end, the jury did not get to render a verdict or assign “percentages of responsibility” among Skaggs, Kay and the Angels.
Angels lead attorney Todd Theodora argued it was “undisputed in this case that Eric was doing this on his own” and that the Angels were unaware Kay was distributing pills.
Plaintiffs attorney Daniel Dutko argued that the Angels knew of Kay’s drug problem, pointing to a Drug Enforcement Agency interview with Kay after Skaggs’ death that stated Kay had told his superior in 2017 that he and Skaggs were doing drugs.
The Skaggs family argued the Angels did nothing to prevent or monitor Kay’s drug abuse and did not discipline or terminate him. By doing so, the family said, the team put Skaggs in harm’s way.
“We’ve spent two months in trial,” Dutko said during his closing argument. “At any point have the Angels taken any responsibility?”
The Angels claimed they were not aware of Skaggs’ drug addiction and that he concealed it from the team. Theodora said the club signed Skaggs “under false pretenses” because he did not disclose his prior addiction to Percocet and that not even his wife knew about his previous addiction.
Angels attorneys said Kay was not operating in the scope of his employment when he provided pills to Skaggs and other players and that team officials were unaware of Kay’s illicit drug activity. The Angels argued it was Skaggs’ reckless decisions that led to his death.
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