NHL20 Playoffs Sim Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7: Mission Complete

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Calgary wins best of 7 series 4-3

Leaders:

Goals

BOS: Marchand (13)

CGY: Monahan (15)

Assists

BOS: Bergeron (18)

CGY: Backlund (16)

Points

BOS: Bergeron (24)

CGY: Monahan (28)

Goalies

BOS: Rask (14-8-1) 2.62 GAA .918 SV% 2 SO

CGY: Rittich (17-6-1) 2.75 GAA .921 SV% 2 SO

Calgary Flames 5 – Boston Bruins 2

Scoring

Calgary Flames

1st: 14:12- Brodie (1) (Gustafsson [12], Bennett [8])

2nd: 6:46- Czarnik (7) (Bennett [9], Gustafsson [13]), 13:53- Mangiapane (13) (Tkachuk [6], Dube [7])

3rd: 8:46- Backlund (6) (N/A), 15:13- Gaudreau (10) (N/A)

Boston Bruins

1st: 7:48- Nordstrom () (Ritchie [], McAvoy []), 11:18- Lindholm () (Nordstrom [], Krug [])

2nd: None

3rd: None

Recap

A season of adversity would only be fitting to end with just as much. A season that saw the Flames unexpectedly change coaches due to heinous misconduct, the suspension of the season and subsequent morph into virtual players, and a grueling 5 round playoff series. At the end of the day, the Calgary Flames emerged as the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Champions.

All playoffs, not a single goal for Calgary nor their 5 opponents was reviewed nor called back. In this game alone, the Flames had 2 goals called off. On the Flames lone powerplay of the night, Sean Monahan’s five-hole goal was called off after Elias Lindholm made alleged contact with Tuukka Rask, on what would have been the opening goal.

Minutes later, Joakim Nordstrom emerged from the penalty box, took a nice pass, and walked in to score backhand on David Rittich to officially open the scoring of Game 7. The Bruins weren’t done there, as Par Lindholm (the bad Lindholm) squeezed off a shot through traffic, which beat Rittich high to make it 2-0. For the second straight elimination game, Rittich did not allow a goal after the first period.

The Flames would narrow the gap in the first. TJ Brodie, the only remaining everyday Flame without a goal in the playoffs, ripped a slapshot through traffic, and beat Rask high. The goal cut the Boston lead to just 1 after the first period, but Calgary was thoroughly outshot 16-6.

It would be former Bruin and doghouse specialist Austin Czarnik who would tie the game. He carried the puck in from the neutral zone, and sniped a beautiful shot over former teammate Rask’s blocker.

The Flames weren’t done in the second. Likely Conn Smythe runner-up Andrew Mangiapane scored what would be the eventual game, and Cup winner in the second period, and became the second Flame to hold such a title, after Doug Gilmour’s beauty in 1989. Dillon Dube and Matthew Tkachuk played catch in the corner, before Tkachuk found Mangiapane free for a split second in the slot. Mang made no mistake ripping a wrist shot under Rask’s blocker.

The Flames appeared to open a quick 2 goal lead off the ensuing faceoff. Milan Lucic’s shot trickled through Rask, and was knocked in by Derek Ryan. However, upon review, Ryan was deemed to have kicked the puck into the net.

The game remained 3-2 after 2, and well into the third. Mikael Backlund gave Calgary fans a tiny amount of breathing room, as his wrist shot just barely tricked through Rask midway through the third.

Finally, things seemed to be definitively in Calgary’s favour. Johnny Gaudreau’s centering pass deflected off Torrey Krug’s stick with just under 5 minutes to go, and would be the final goal of the season.

Sean Monahan is your 2019-20 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, as his 15 goals and 28 points lead the NHL in the playoffs. His 15 goals falls second all time in Flames playoff history to Joe Mullen (16) in 1989, and his 28 points also falls second to Al MacInnis (31) in 1989.

Calgary went 17-7-1 in a 25 game playoff run spanning 5 series, defeating the Arizona Coyotes, Vegas Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and finally the Boston Bruins.

Boston loses their second straight Cup appearance, and third in the last 8 seasons. It was also Boston’s second straight Game 7 home ice Cup Final loss in a row.

Flame of the Game

David Rittich (G): Big Save Dave was a leading candidate for the Conn Smythe through the first few rounds of these playoffs, but his game steadily declined the deeper the run went. Still, he played his absolute best over the final two games of this series which is all that really matters, stopping 44/46 in this game alone and 80/83 over the final two games, as the Flames were badly outshot. He went 17-6-1, and is the second Flames starting goaltender to win the Cup, joining Mike Vernon.

by Gordie Taylor