There was a time where the Bruins thrived when they had their backs against the wall. Three years ago today, they were in that same position against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After holding a 3-1 series lead over the Leafs, Toronto won the next two games, including Game 6 the night prior at the Air Canada Centre, to force a Game 7. They overcame an early Matt Bartkowski goal and held a 4-1 lead in the third period.

At that point, Milan Lucic was thinking about whether or not the majority of the team would be back next season. Little did he know — along with everyone else — that he’d be a part of history.

Lucic would play a pivotal role. The former Bruin assisted on Nathan Horton’s third period tally to pull the Black and Gold within two. Late in the third, Lucic banked home a James Reimer rebound and pulled the Bruins within a goal with 1:22 left in regulation.

Thirty-one seconds later, the TD Garden went into a frenzy when Patrice Bergeron tied things up with his shot from the point. At that moment, the Bruins would not be denied.

With momentum on their side and a young and inexperienced Leafs squad on the other side, Bergeron finished the comeback in overtime taking a brilliant feed from another former Bruin, Tyler Seguin, to complete the historic comeback. From Dave Goucher’s call of “Bergeron! Bergeron!” to Jack Edwards jumping up and down with joy, the immediate reactions from Bruins and Leafs fans, the heavy emotions displayed from both sides capped off a thrilling night at TD Garden.