STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
TORONTO -- Brad Marchand had a relatively quiet -- at least by his in-yourface standards -- start to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sure, the Bruins captain drew some key penalties and picked up three assists through six periods against the Maple Leafs.
He’d also yet to truly leave his mark. And it felt like only a matter of time before one of the NHL’s best both with the puck on his stick, and at hockey’s dark arts when it isn’t, properly entered the fray.
The moment arrived Wednesday. Marchand scored twice, including the winner, in a three-point performance as Boston picked up a 4-2 victory to grab a 2-1 lead in this first-round series on a night where the home side was left frustrated by a player who’s spent a lot of his career doing exactly that.
“The gamesmanship and everything, it’s world class,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s been in the league long enough … he gets calls.
“It’s unbelievable, actually, how goes. We’ve got to play through that.”
Game 4 of the best-of-seven matchup goes Saturday at 5 p.m. in Toronto.
Marchand got tangled up with Tyler it
Bertuzzi in the second period with Toronto up 1-0. A frothing Scotiabank Arena crowd clamouring for a penalty, the referees took no issues before Trent Frederic scored the tying goal seconds later.
“I don’t think there’s another player in this series that gets away with taking out Bertuzzi’s legs the way that he does,” Keefe continued. “It’s an art and he’s elite at it.
“We have to manage our way through that.”
Jake DeBrusk had the other goal for Boston. The Bruins got 28 stops from Jeremy Swayman, who made 35 saves in his team’s 5-1 victory in Game 1 before giving way to crease counterpart Linus Ullmark in the Leafs’ 3-2 triumph two nights later.
“We stuck with it all game,” Marchand said. “We elevated to another level.”
Bertuzzi and Matthew Knies replied for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves. Leafs winger William Nylander missed a third straight contest with an undisclosed injury.
Moments after Toronto tied things 2-2 in the third, and then nearly grabbed the lead off a Swayman turnover, Marchand took a pass from Danton Heinen and ripped a shot past Samsonov’s ear at 11:53.