Brad Marchand was the Bruins’ all-time chief playoff goal-scorer and added an help as Boston suffocated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Saturday to jerk a 3-1 govern within the groups’ first-round playoff sequence.
James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak had the alternative objectives for Boston, which is able to akin out the best-of-seven sequence at house on Tuesday in Sport 5. Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves.
Mitch Marner responded for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov blocked 14-of-17 pictures in 40 mins of motion. Joseph Woll performed the 3rd and completed with 5 saves. Leafs big name Auston Matthews, who ignored observe Friday, performed two sessions, however didn’t pop out for the 3rd.
Sport 6, if essential, could be again in Toronto on Thursday.
Leafs winger William Nylander made his 2024 playoff debut then lacking the primary 3 video games with an hidden trauma.
Swayman, who additionally performed Video games 1 and three, were given the beginning over Linus Ullmark because the Bruins strayed from their wrinkle rotation that had not hidden the goaltenders rotate begins since February.
Ahead of the puck dropped, the Leafs paid tribute to past due play-by-play guy Bob Cole — the famed broadcaster used to be the accentuation of hockey for generations of Canadian enthusiasts — with a video montage of a few of his memorable cries. Cole died Wednesday at presen 90.
Toronto, which received a post-season sequence for the primary age since 2004 latter spring, used to be not able to fix on two first-period energy performs — losing to 1-for-13 within the sequence — with the folk humming earlier than the guests driven forward.
Leafs tricky man Ryan Reaves had the puck within the defensive zone, however had it knocked off his stick through Bruins rookie defenceman Mason Lohrei. Van Riemsdyk, who performed in Toronto from 2013 although 2018, jumped at the miscue and outwaited Samsonov to attain his first target of the sequence at 15:09.
Toronto winger Max Domi took a cross-checking penalty seven mins into the second one, and Boston’s red-hot energy play games took benefit when Marchand one-timed his 2nd of the playoffs — and the 56th of his post-season profession — at 8:20, surpassing Cam Neely for the govern spot in franchise historical past.
The target used to be additionally Marchand’s twelfth playoff target at Breeze Canada Centre/Scotiabank Area, to join Bryan Trottier for probably the most through a visiting participant at an opposing enviornment in NHL historical past. Trottier scored 12 occasions within the post-season at Washington’s Capital Centre.
Frustration began to creep onto the Leafs bench because the era stepped forward, with Matthews and Mitch Marner coming into an animated dialogue. William Nylander used to be stuck on digicam muttering to himself earlier than Marner slammed his gloves.
The Bruins — who crowned Toronto in seven video games within the opening around of the 2013, 2018 and 2019 playoffs — put issues to mattress with 41.6 seconds left within the era on every other sequence of Leafs miscues that resulted in a 2-on-0 the place Marchand fed Pastrnak for his 2nd.
Lovers had been inspired to put together noise then some grievance concerning the climate in Sport 3, however channelled that power into a noisy refrain of boos because the clock ticked right down to the interval.
The Leafs made the goaltending trade and had been with out Matthews when Toronto defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin rattled Swayman’s crossbar 3 mins into the 3rd.
Marner after all were given the house aspect at the board when he slid his first of the playoffs week Swayman at 5:42.
The Bruins goaltender later denied Joel Edmundson on two successive possibilities with the Leafs urgent.
Toronto were given every other energy play games with lower than six mins to progress in legislation, however slightly won keep watch over within the offensive zone to fall to 1-for-15 within the sequence.
The boos returned within the ultimate little to ship the Leafs — who now want 3 instantly victories towards a workforce that has received 10 of the latter 11 head-to-heads — to hold their season alive.
Metro Morning4:59The force at the ice for the Leafs anthem singer Natalie Morris