As for the game, the Boston Bruins may have shed even more talent from two years ago but they STILL find ways to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs opened the scoring in the second period when Matthew Knies scored just 35 seconds into it. David Pastrnak answered on the power play but Morgan Rielly scored to put the Leafs ahead again. Justin Brazeau and Mark Kastelic both scored to put the Bruins ahead going into the third period. Just 77 seconds away from victory, Auston Matthews scored to tie the game and send it to overtime. The demons of Leafs past reared their ugly head as it was the captain, Brad Marchand who won it for the Bruins with the overtime goal. The dominance continued with a 4-3 victory over the Leafs at TD Garden.
The first period was a whole barrel of nothing although Boston got the first power play when Ryan Reaves went off for interference 3:40 into the period. David Pastrnak threw the puck in front to Pavel Zacha but Pavel failed to put it past Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. Hampus Lindholm fired on net but Stolarz saved it and denied Morgan Geekie as well. With 12:27 to go in the period, Pastrnak was wide open in the slot but chose to pass to Matthew Poitras. Poitras hit the crossbar and eventually Cole Koepke was denied as well. Halfway through the period, Pastrnak tried to set up Zacha in front but Pavel couldn't get his stick on it. Zacha got another chance but his slapshot was denied. The Leafs didn't even get their first shot on goal until Geekie went off for interference with 9:26 left. A minute and a half later, John Beecher was called for hooking to give Toronto a 5 on 3 for thirty-one seconds. Auston Matthews shot caromed off Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and a scrum in front of the net ensued. The puck went behind the net and then sent right to William Nylander. Nylander's drive was blocked by Swayman and out of the zone to free Geekie. The Bruins killed off the Beecher penalty and Poitras fired on the net down the other end, but the shot was saved by Stolarz. With 3:41 left, Elias Lindholm was robbed point blank by Stolarz. Beecher had a partial breakaway with 35 seconds left but Stolarz made the save to send the game scoreless into intermission.
Suddenly the game went from scoreless to shooting gallery immediately in the second period. Mitch Marner passed down low to Matthews who fired on net. Knies collected the rebound and scored to put the Leafs on top just 35 seconds into the period. Trent Frederic and Geekie were denied by Stolarz down the other end but oh wait! We got a penalty. Jake McCabe went to the box for interference 2:31 into the period to put the Bruins on the power play. Charlie McAvoy passed to Marchand in the slot who noticed three guys coming so he passed to a wide open Pastrnak for the one-timer goal to tie the game. Down the other end, Nick Robertson passed to Morgan Reilly but Swayman denied the shot. Swayman also stopped Robertson's rebound shot attempt. Things got chippy when Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Charlie Coyle ruffled each other's feathers for matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties just 7:11 into the period. While on the four on four, Chris Tanev passed to Marner. Marner passed to a wide open Reilly who scored to put the Leafs back on top. Just over a minute later, Nylander was sent to the box for high sticking to put the Bruins on the power play. The Bruins failed to score on that one but with 7:22 left in the period, Poitras fired on net but Stolarz stopped it. Frederic scooped up the rebound and shot a puck off of Stolarz. The puck found Justin Brazeau who finally beat Stolarz to tie the game. Just 36 seconds later, Nylander slipped on the ice in the Bruins zone and Koepke took the puck down the other way. His shot went wide but Beecher went and got the puck. He passed to a wide open Kastelic in the slot who scored his third goal of the season to put the Bruins ahead. With 3:40 remaining in the period, Marner passed to Mathews who passed to a wide open Knies. Somehow Swayman denied the shot but Brazeau and Knies fell into each other in front of Swayman. The second period ended ominously when Frederic was sent to the box for cross-checking with just 13 seconds left in the period. The Bruins took a 3-2 lead into the break but would be on the penalty kill to start the third.
The third period was the Bruins playing defense although Brazeau was robbed about nine minutes into the period by Stolarz. The Bruins then caught a break when Robertson was sent to the box for tripping with 10:02 remaining in the game. The Bruins failed to score on the power play and that loomed large as the game wound down. With 4:44 left, Poitras had a wide open breakaway but Stolarz denied him. Disaster struck with 1:17 left in the period when Tavares brought the puck up ice. He passed to Marner who shot the puck, deflected in by Matthews to tie the game. That was it for regulation as both teams brought a point to overtime.
Unfortunately for the Leafs, they now had to face their kryptonite, overtime at the TD Garden. Sure enough, with 2:39 remaining Matthews passed the puck up ice not realizing there was nobody there. Pastrnak faked a shot to draw Stolarz out of the crease then passed to a wide open Marchand to score the game winning goal. The Bruins had beaten the Leafs 4-3 in overtime.
Reaction:
That was a damn good win in the end to give them two badly needed points but giving the Leafs the point they got might haunt them in the end. If the Leafs end the season a few points ahead of the Bruins for either home ice in the playoff first round against Boston or to knock Boston off top (or into a wild card) into a series with Florida, games like this are the reasons why. Still, the Bruins were down 1-0 and 2-1 to rally back both times. They didn't quit or give up and they got the break they needed in overtime. TD Garden continues to prove to be a boogeyman for the Leafs now that Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask and Zdeno Chara are long gone. Marchand is the only one left from 2013 while Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak was there for the 2018 win while Charlie Coyle joined the fun for the 2019 teeth bashing in Game 7. The Bruins needed a bounce back win after getting smashed by Nashville and Dallas. Hopefully this win continues the momentum.
For a hilarious take on the game, here's Steve Dangle with his LFR.
The Bruins look to continue their winning ways this Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.
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