Friday’s Three Stars: Horton hears a goal, sends Bruins to Final

No. 1 Star: Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins

As controversy swirled around him about whether or not he should be suspended for Game 7 after a water bottle incident with a fan at the end of Game 6, Horton played the role of hero as it was his goal with 7:33 remaining in the third period that sent Boston to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1990:

No. 2 Star: Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning

Game 7 was a pure goaltender's duel and Roloson played lights out for Tampa stopping 37 shots. While he officially takes the loss due to Horton's goal, it was the 41-year old who impressed everyone with his stellar play, like on this rob job of Michael Ryder:

No. 3 Star: Tim Thomas Boston Bruins

As Roloson marveled, Thomas played equally as well posting a shutout with 24 saves as he went toe-to-toe with the Lightning netminder in a game of who would blink first.

Honorable mention: David Krejci assisted on Horton's winner and was 14-for-17 in the dot ... Commend the referees for letting them play and calling zero penalties ... Dennis Seidenberg led all players with eight blocked shots ... Steven Stamkos took a puck to the face, but that didn't stop him from finishing the rest of Game 7.

Did you know? This was the seventh 1-0 Game 7 in NHL playoff history. (VERSUS)

Dishonorable mention: Dishonorable mention? Did you watch the game?

Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks; 2. Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins; 3. Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; 4. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; 5. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks; 6. Kevin Bieksa, Vancouver Canucks; 7. Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins; 8. David Krejci, Boston Bruins; 9. Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; 10. Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins.

Ottawa Fury El Paso Patriots Portsmouth Milwaukee Wave Birmingham City