Leafs Nation is sweating bullets right now, hoping that "it was 3-1" doesn't become the new "it was 4-1."

Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored with just under five minutes left in the first overtime period to send Montreal to a Game 7 in Toronto on Monday.

OH BABY! 😱😱😱

JESPERI KOTKANIEMI ENDS IT IN OT TO FORCE GAME 7! #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/w6kdPd6Z5V

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 30, 2021

The first two periods of this game provided no goals. Then Corey Perry broke the ice in the third period with a goal that Sheldon Keefe unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference. The resulting delay-of-game penalty for the challenge was compounded when Mitch Marner took his own delay-of-game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass. On the ensuing 5-on-3 power play, Tyler Toffoli scored to make it 2-0, making Leafs fans wonder if a Game 7 was imminent.

Both Perry and Toffoli broke goal-scoring slumps with their goals. Toffoli hadn't scored in nine games dating back to the regular season. Perry's goal was his first since April 7, which if you count both regular season and playoffs spanned 25 games.

With under 10 minutes left in regulation, Jason Spezza scored for the Leafs (his third of the playoffs), giving them hope for a late comeback. Then with under four minutes left, T.J. Brodie scored the tying goal to send the game into overtime.

Perhaps surprisingly, Tomas Tatar was made a healthy scratch for this game. Jake Evans replaced Tatar in the lineup and on his line with Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault. Tatar had just one point (an assist) in his previous five playoff games. Tatar was the Habs' fourth-leading scorer this season (30 PTS in 50 GP) and leading scorer the season before (61 PTS in 68 GP), but he also finished the regular season with just one point in his last seven games and no goals in his last 12 games. With Tatar a UFA after the season, he already doesn't seem to be in Montreal's future plans. Danault is also a UFA at the end of the season.

Nick Foligno returned to the Leafs' lineup in Game 6 following a three-game absence because of a lower-body injury. Foligno slotted in on a line with William Nylander and Alex Galchenyuk.  

Unfortunately for the Leafs, Jake Muzzin left this game with a lower-body injury. Keefe did not provide an update on Muzzin after the game, so we will have to wait and see what his status is for Game 7. Morgan Rielly played 11 minutes in the third period with Muzzin out.

Not surprisingly but confirmed by Chris Johnston on the Saturday Headlines: John Tavares won't return to the Leafs' lineup in Game 7.

This game was also notable because it was the first NHL game in Canada since March 2020 that fans were allowed to attend. Attendance was restricted to just 2,500, but it included many passionate Habs fans as well as a few Leafs fans sprinkled about. As a Canadian citizen, I'm happy that this is another step on the path to normalcy. As you'd expect, it wasn't cheap. According to CBC, tickets on the resale market cost no less than $1,500, with tickets as high as $12,000. I'll stick to watching the game on TV, thanks.  

Even though the Leafs have watched a 3-1 series lead disappear, I still think they will win this series. Montreal has proven resilient, taking the lead in both Games 5 and 6 before winning both in overtime. However, Toronto is the more talented team here and will show that in Game 7, ending their long streak of not winning a playoff series. It has to happen sometime. It would only be fair that the Leafs could have some fans as well, but life during the pandemic has been anything but fair. In order for that to happen, they’ll probably need more from Marner and Auston Matthews, who have combined for one goal over the six games.

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It's a strange dynamic having a series in one round not finished when another series in the next round has already begun. That's what we had on Saturday, with the Bruins and Islanders also facing off in Game 1 of their East Division final.

David Pastrnak was the scoring star, recording a hat trick in Boston's 5-2 win. All three goals were nice snipes – no empty net for the third goal. Pastrnak now has goals in three consecutive games, as well as multiple points in each of those three games. What's more, he also leads the playoffs with 36 shots. That means he's averaging six shots per game. Pasta took seven shots in Game 1. With five goals and nine points in six playoff games, he's getting the job done for you in your playoff pool.

David Krejci pitched in three assists, giving him five assists in six playoff games. He has yet to score a goal in the playoffs, though.

Patrice Bergeron recorded two assists while taking eight shots. All in all, Ilya Sorokin faced 40 Bruins shots, so the Islanders will need to do a better job of limiting the scoring chances in Game 2 and beyond.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, Craig Smith left this game with a lower-body injury.

Anthony Beauvillier scored again for the Islanders, giving him goals in three consecutive playoff games and in four of his last five playoff games. He also has a five-game point streak and points in six of seven playoff games. He finished the regular season with 13 points in his last 11 games, so he's been on a point-per-game pace for a while. He leads the Islanders in playoff scoring with eight points in seven games.

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The Dobber Experts Panel has weighed in with its second-round predictions. Well, sort of. We've provided predictions of three of the four series with the North Division still undecided. You can check back after Game 7 of Montreal/Toronto for predictions of which team will represent Canada in the conference final.

By the way, are we still allowed to use the term "conference final" if it's simply four division winners being seeded by record? Also, to my knowledge, we still don't know whether the North Division winner and its US-based opponent will be allowed to travel back and forth across the border during this series. Is this something they're going to figure out after the second round? Justin Trudeau, if you're reading this, you better make your mind up soon on this.

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According to Elliotte Friedman, Seth Jones has told the Blue Jackets that he won't be re-signing right now. Jones has one year left on his current contract, so this news has potential implications for next summer's free agency period. Will Jones be the most coveted defenseman on the market? If the Jackets aren't in the playoff hunt next season, will they shop Jones before the deadline? It might be time to start thinking about some potential destinations for Jones, although as Friedman said nothing is absolute.

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Charlie McAvoy came through for me as a Pick 3 in the Tim's Hockey Challenge, scoring his first goal of the playoffs on Saturday. That starts a one-game win streak for me, yay! I'll try to make it two wins in a row with the following picks.

Pick 1: Mikko Rantanen – Usually the star players don't show up on this list, as everyone would simply pick Nathan MacKinnon if he were listed here. Yet I couldn't believe that 30-goal scorer Rantanen showed up here. "Just" one goal in the four games against St. Louis, but he took nearly four shots per game in the series. His linemate Gabriel Landeskog is another worthwhile option here.

Pick 2: Anthony Cirelli – The Lightning center scored two goals in the first-round series against Florida, and I think there's room for more. He currently leads the Bolts with 18 shots during the playoffs, with nine of those up close between 0-15 feet. Playing on a line with Steven Stamkos seems to be helping. There's no shortage of high-scoring d-men (Cale Makar, Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Dougie Hamilton) if you're not into Cirelli.

Pick 3: Devon Toews – This came down to several Avalanche players, including Tyson Jost, Samuel Girard, and Toews. I've picked Toews before and he hasn't scored in the playoffs yet, so call this a hunch where I think he's due.

For more on the Tim's Challenge, see this Forum thread.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding