Bruins choke in first round of playoffs after best regular season in NHL history

The Boston Bruins gave their fans the greatest regular season in NHL history, but they couldn’t follow it up with a Stanley Cup run.

After winning 65 games in the regular season and setting a league record with 135 points, the Bruins lost 4-3 in overtime of Game 7 at home against the Florida Panthers on Sunday to lose their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

The Bruins not only lost in the first round, but they blew a 3-1 series lead and a 3-2 lead with a minute remaining in the third period of Game 7, adding to the sting of the defeat.

Carter Verhaeghe scored the winning goal at 8:35 in overtime:

IT'S OVER! FLORIDA COMES ALL THE WAY BACK FROM A 3-1 SERIES DEFICIT! 😱 #Game7

They've taken down the Presidents' Trophy winners‼️ #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Ex1r07SR6P

— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2023

Jeremy Swayman, who replaced a struggling Linus Ullmark in net, allowed four goals.

The Bruins join the 2010 Washington Capitals as Presidents’ Trophy winners to blow a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs. They are the eighth team to win the Presidents’ Trophy and lose in the first round of the playoffs.

Since the Presidents’ Trophy began being awarded, eight teams that won the trophy also went on to win the Stanley Cup, though none have accomplished that feat since 2013. Prior to the Boston Bruins, the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning were the most recent team to win the trophy and then lose in the first round. The Lightning were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets but then won the Stanley Cup the next two seasons.

Incredibly, Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was also the goalie for Columbus in their upset over the Lightning.