BOSTON -- For the Bruins, it was a defining moment. For the Maple Leafs, it was a shocking step into a playoff abyss that one day will go down as a learning experience. But for now, a lockout-shortened NHL season is long on pain for Toronto. And for coach Randy Carlyle, the post-mortem on Monday nights 5-4 overtime collapse against Boston will have to wait until the swelling, so to speak, goes down. "Well losing is tough and losing the way we did after a 4-1 lead, theres nothing you can say to explain how and why it happened," he told reporters at TD Garden. "It happened. And for us as a coaching staff, well take some time in the next couple of days and well evaluate and let the emotions subside here a little bit before we meet. Well be doing a lot of assessing between now and the (June 30) draft, Im sure." The Leafs played Game 7 without injured top-line centre Tyler Bozak and tough defenceman Mark Fraser. But the Bruins were missing defencemen Wade Redden and Andrew Ference, and Dennis Seidenberg played just 37 seconds before limping off the ice. Mondays roller-coaster ride, while hard to stomach, provides Carlyle valuable data with which to rate his young, playoff-green club. "When you get in situations like this you see the character, you see the clawing and scratching and fighting for space on the ice," he said. "And there are some people that really elevated their play. It does change your opinion on some individuals and then (for) some other people, it reinforces what you thought." Goalie James Reimer faced 272 shots in the series and made 251 saves, the most of any goalie in the first round. At times, he seemed in the head of the Bruins shooters. The Boston media, meanwhile, pointed to Reimers rebounds throughout the series. At times like Monday night, you hope your goalie stands on his head. Reimer did that earlier in the series. And it was not his fault that his defence failed to clear the puck or -- on the tying goal -- move the colossal figure of six-foot-nine Zdeno Chara from in front of him. Torontos defence remains very much a work in progress. Carlyle relied heavily on captain Dion Phaneuf (28:17 minutes ice time in Game 7), Cody Franson (27:31), Jake Gardiner (25:55) and Carl Gunnassson (23:48). John-Michael Liles (13:28) and Ryan OByrne (13:11) were restricted in their role. The smooth-skating Gardiner was a revelation. Given a chance to play big minutes in big situations, he dazzled, although there is an element of defensive risk attached to his offensive skills. He earned rare praise from Carlyle, who called him a "puck-moving NHL elite-level defenceman." Franson showed off his shot, scoring twice in the finale and finishing the series with three goals and three assists. The much-maligned Phil Kessel, who had been largely anonymous in the past when playing his former Boston teammates, stepped up with four goals and two assists. James van Riemsdyk (two goals, five assists) also contributed. Star winger Joffrey Lupul had three goals and one assist, exiting the final overtime period early after blocking a shot. Injury has been his companion all season, but when healthy he can be electrifying. Mikhail Grabovski was held to one assist during the series -- and was minus-3 in Game 7 -- but his speed and commitment to sacrifice his body in a defensive role deserved more. Fellow forward Clarke MacArthur answered the bell after Carlyle sat him as a healthy scratch. Young centre Nazem Kadri went largely unnoticed for the first five games but made his presence felt in the final two. Marlies graduates Joe Colborne and Matt Frattin offer promise for the future. Finding centres with faceoff skills must be a priority. In the absence of Bozak, Toronto lost the faceoff battle 43-18 to Boston in Game 7. The Leafs, as Carlyle has often said, can compete when they skate and execute their physical game. But they do not have the depth or experience of the Bruins. In the end, the Toronto coach noted, losing two of three games on home ice proved to be a mountain too big to climb. Costly mistakes were punished. For the Bruins, Monday night was a turning point in what coach Claude Julien called a Jekyll and Hyde season. While Bostons regular season ended in disarray, due in part no doubt to the tragic news events that unfolded around them, the Bruins could have lost and further cemented their reputation as a team that makes life difficult for itself by not closing our series. Instead, a snarling Milan Lucic and resurgent Patrice Bergeron stepped up and helped carry Boston to the second round. Aided perhaps by an opponent short on experience, the Bruins dug deep at the last second to extend their season. "Theres lots to look forward to and what could have been disastrous here tonight ends up going in our favour," said Lucic. Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaugnessy called it "one of the great moments in Boston sports history." The NHL confirmed it was historic. The Bruins become the first team in league history to win a Game 7 after trailing by three goals in the third period. Only one other team has overcome a two-goal deficit in the third period to win a Game 7 -- the Montreal Canadiens did it to Boston in a 1979 semifinal, rallying from a 3-1 deficit at the Forum. Yvon Lambert scored the winning goal 9:33 into overtime and the Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup over the Rangers. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time a team won any playoff game when trailing by three or more goals with 11 minutes or fewer remaining in regulation time was April 18, 2001, when the Los Angeles Kings rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime of Game 4 of the Western Conference quarter-finals. The last time a team won a playoff game trailing by two or more goals with two or fewer minutes remaining in the third period was on April 18, 1993, when the Quebec Nordiques rallied from 2-0 down with 89 seconds left to edge the Canadiens 3-2 in overtime of Game 1 of the Adams Division semifinals. Bergeron, meanwhile, becomes only the third player in NHL history to score a Game 7 overtime goal after recording the final goal of regulation in the same game. The others were Bostons Brad Park in 1983 against the Sabres and Buffalos Derek Plante against Ottawa in 1997. Derek Grant Jersey . 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Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Andy McDonald Jersey .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. India Red 161 (Abhinav 77, Sandeep 4-62) and 486 (Abhinav 169, Chatterjee 114, Gurkeerat 82, Gopal 5-123) beat India Green 151 (Tiwary 50, Nathu 6-53) and 277 (Raina 90,Uthappa 72, Kuldeep 6-88) by 219 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIndia Green dint even venture a batathon on the final day as they lost their three remaining wickets in less than an hour to hand India Red a 219-run victory in Greater Noida. Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav added one wicket to his five-for on day three to finish with nine wickets in the match, which lasted only 10.2 overs on the final day.With the match all but out of grasp, Suresh Raina, resuming on 42, dashed towards a hundred but eventually fell ten runs short; it was Kuldeep, after being caned around by Raina, who got him out. Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha offered no illusions of sticking it out, as they were removed either side of Rainas dismissal. India Red secured six points by virtue of the outright win in the countrys maiden first-class game with the pink ball. Rainas patience against Kuldeep in the first over of the day was a red herring; in the next over he took two fours off Nathu Singh, the second of which saw him back away and glide a short ball uppishly over third man. Raina had hit top gear and Kuldeep would bear the brunt of it in his next over as he conceded three fours. Raina hared out of the crease on all the three occasions, and alternated between hitting straight and inside out.While Dinda had been shielded from the strike all this while, he could last no more than two balls against Nathu in the next over as his meek pull only went as far as mid-on. Nathu then welcomed Ojha by pinging him on the helmet, but he stuck around to watch his captain play a few more shots. Raina continued to taake a liking to his Uttar Pradesh team-mate Kuldeep, and smashed his way to three more boundaries.ddddddddddddHowever, it was Kuldeep who would eventually come out on top of this tussle. In the last ball of the 56th over, Raina tried to follow a six with a controlled lob, but it was snaffled at mid-off. Akshay Wakhare helped himself to Ojhas wicket in the next over to bring the match to a close after India Green managed 60 runs in the session.At the presentation ceremony, Raina lauded Kuldeep and provided a positive appraisal of the pink ball. He was also appreciative of the crowd, which made its presence felt - in numbers and decibel levels - over the four days. I was discussing with Yuvi pa [Yuvraj Singh] as well, the more we play, the better well get at it, Raina said. India Red captain Yuvraj Singh felt the pink ball moved a lot more than the SG ball. It was pretty exciting, the pink ball doesnt go old. It was coming onto the bat nicely, he said.Abhinav Mukund, who was named Man-of-the-match for his 77 and 169, said he didnt have any issues with sighting the ball throughout the game. I was getting into good positions. Ive been training well back home, especially batting under lights, he said.That experience helped me here. I think a lot of people had issues sighting the ball, but I didnt have any issues with visibility. The wicket was damp, thats perhaps why so many wickets fell on the first day. I worked hard during the off-season. I got leaner and stronger. I worked on my batting as well. Hopefully this season marks a turnaround for me.India Red next play Gautam Gambhirs India Blue from August 29 at the same venue. ' ' '