At 9:18 of the third period, the hard-charging Lucic carried the puck around the Toronto net, then fed Nathan Horton in the slot for a one-timer. Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 2.
Julien: "I remember Lucic on the bench saying, 'We got this boys, we got lots of time.' Right after that, there was a TV timeout. And right after that, his line scored the goal, him and Nathan Horton and [David] Krejci. At that point, it was 4-2 and we felt the momentum was going our way."
James Reimer, Maple Leafs goalie: "I don't remember when the second goal was. But you could kind of sense it was changing. All the big heavy teams, like this year's Bruins, you can tell when the momentum is changing like that. They start chipping it in and getting zone time. And they start rolling and start rolling. … When the big boys started rolling, it was just a matter of time."
Chara: "All of a sudden, with that second goal, there was a little spark. Then it was 'OK, guys, let's get another one.' And suddenly, we started playing on our toes. Suddenly that little spark became a flame. And then a fire."
Toronto had a chance stop Boston's momentum and go back up by three when forward Matt Frattin had a breakaway with 3:35 remaining. But Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask got a piece of Frattin's shot that went wide of the net.
Nazem Kadri, Maple Leafs forward: "People like to bring up [Frattin's] breakaway. We were up by two goals. He couldn't beat Tuukka Rask. You get asked how different things would have been had he scored. You can't put that on any single individual. Obviously, he was trying to score. Regardless, that's a lead you should hold."
With Rask pulled for an extra attacker, Lucic scored on the rebound of a Chara point shot at 18:38 to make it 4-3. As his teammates mobbed him, he looked up at the clock to see there was 1:22 remaining, then shouted, "Let's go!"
Julien: "You could sense the third goal was coming even before we pulled the goalie. Lucic was a man possessed. And that's what everyone remembers about [him]. It was a defining moment for him. We made it a one-goal game. And what I sensed was that there was panic on the Toronto side while our confidence was at an all-time high."
With Rask back on the bench, Chara (6-foot-9) planted himself in front of Reimer and proved to be the perfect screen when Bergeron's shot from the point tied the game 4-4 at 19:09, 31 seconds after the Lucic goal.
Reimer: "Chara was screening me on that play when Bergeron shot it. That's not fair. There should be a rule against that. They were just coming in wave after wave after wave. I should have just stood up and looked through his legs. I just tried to make save after save after save and keep your team in it."