Carter Verhaeghe scored 8:35 into overtime as the Florida Panthers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in professional sports history, defeating the Boston Bruins 4-3 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at TD Garden.
Brandon Montour scored twice, including the game-tying goal with under a minute to play, Sam Reinhart also had a goal and Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves for Florida.
The Panthers won the final three games of the series after falling behind 3-1, including Games 5 and 7 on the road in overtime.
Florida will square off with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference Semifinals as Game 1 is set for Tuesday night in Toronto.
David Krejci had a goal and two assists, David Pastrnak and Tyler Bertuzzi each scored and Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots in his first start of the series. Dmitry Orlov had two assists for Boston.
The Bruins set the NHL records for wins (65) and points (135) in the regular season, but blew a 3-1 lead in this series and are stunningly headed home after the first round.
"I guess the word that comes to mind right now are disappointment", said Boston head coach Jim Montgomery. "And then I would say the other part is if you start looking at the season, it was an honor to coach that group.
"I know we didn't get to where we wanted, I get that, but their professionalism, their work ethic, their commitment to being pros, it was a joy to be around."
Verhaeghe, Panthers send Bruins home early, move on to East semis
Montour put Florida in front 1-0 with 7:37 left in the first period. With the Panthers on the power play, he skated end-to-end and five-holed a backhand past Swayman.
"I think we've been doing that all year", Montour said. "Especially this last half (of the) year, but we had all the confidence. It's getting pucks on net. ... Whoever was on the ice, guys wanted to make that next big play, and everyone on our team had a great game."
Reinhart doubled the Panthers' lead 74 seconds into the second period, taking a drop pass from Eetu Luostarinen and scoring from the slot.
Krejci cut the lead to 2-1 with a one-timer from the left face-off circle on a power play, and Bertuzzi tied it as he redirected a shot on a power play 55 seconds into the third period.
"[Florida] played well", said Boston captain Patrice Bergeron. "They played solid. I think they checked really well. They were in our face a lot. Obviously, we didn't play our best, but i'm not gonna take any credit away from them."
Pastrnak put the Bruins in front for the first time in the game 4:11 into the third period as he scored off a rebound from the left circle after the puck took a bounce to him off of Bobrovsky's pads.
"It's third-period goal, leading goal, so you're definitely thinking that [we're going to win]", Pastrnak said. "We were very close to closing it. ... A lot of emotion is running, so that one definitely hurt."
With exactly one minute to go and Bobrovsky pulled for the extra attacker, Montour scored with a quick shot from the left circle after Bergeron blocked Aleksandar Barkov's initial shot.
"We're down a goal with under two minutes to go against Boston, I wouldn't bet everything [on us to win] because the math doesn't add up", said Florida head coach Paul Maurice.
"Except when that puck goes on, you go 'Oh... we're going to win this game."
Barkov stated "that's what playoff hockey is. You play hard, you play simple. You take what they give you, and like [Matthew Tkachuk] said, live to fight another day."
In overtime, Sam Bennett won a puck battle behind the net and found Verhaeghe, who roofed a shot from the right faceoff circle past a screened Swayman.
"It just feels good to get the win, for sure, in Game 7", Verhaeghe said. "The way we battled back through the series, even through this game, it's been a ride."