Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner at 8:35 of overtime to lead the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 Game 7 victory and eliminate the record-setting Boston Bruins from the playoffs. Brandon Montour tied it with 1 minute left in regulation to force the overtime. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves as the Panthers won three in a row after falling behind 3-1 in the series. They advance in the postseason for just the second time since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. They will open the second round against the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday night. Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead. The Bruins set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points in the regular season but become the second Presidents’ Trophy winner in five years to lose in the first round.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, Philipp Grubauer was stellar in stopping 33 shots and the Seattle Kraken eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win in Game 7. The Kraken became the first expansion team to beat the reigning champs in their inaugural playoff series, according to NHL Stats. Bjorkstrand scored one goal off a fortuitous deflection — the puck hit off a stick and glove — and another with a liner past goaltender Alexandar Georgiev that clanged off the post. Seattle grabbed the lead in every game in the series. Next up for the second-year Kraken is a second-round series against Dallas. Colorado has now lost its last six Game 7s.