NHL REFS STAY BUSY IN PLAYOFFS
Devils pour it on late to win Game 3
Plenty of penalties being called in the NHL postseason.
TORONTO — Auston Matthews scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, Patrick Marleau had two goals, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 on Monday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
James van Riemsdyk also scored and Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly added two assists each ti help Toronto pull to 2-1 in the best-of-seven set. Frederik Andersen stopped 40 shots.
Adam McQuaid and Zdeno Chara had the goals for Boston, Sean Kuraly had two assists, and Tuukka Rask finished with 26 saves.
The Maple Leafs will look to even the series at home in Game 4 on Thursday night.
Matthews was held without a point through 120 minutes where Toronto was outscored, outmuscled and outplayed in losing by a combined 12-4 margin at Boston. However he came through to snap a 2-2 tie with 5:13 left in the second when he rifled a shot short-side highs on Rask from a sharp angle after a great feed down low by William Nylander.
Boston’s top line of David Pastrnak (four goals, five assists), Brad Marchand (one goal, five assists) and Patrice Bergeron (five assists) totaled 20 points through the first six periods of the series while also holding Matthews and Toronto’s top unit off the scoresheet.
DEVILS 5, LIGHTNING 2: In Newark, N.J., Taylor Hall had a goal and two assists, setting up Stefan Noesen’s game-winner with 7:05 play, and New Jersey scored four times in the third to claw their way back into their first-round series with Tampa Bay.
Rookie Will Butcher had a power-play goal earlier in the third to tie the score 2-all, and Blake Coleman and Ben Lovejoy added empty net goals late. Cory Schneider made 34 saves while starting in place of Keith Kinkaid and giving the Devils a chance in their first playoff series since 2012.
Schneider, who seemed to hurt his groin in a collision with Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh midway through the final period, survived a late power play to nail down the win.
Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos each had a power-play goal and an assist for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov added two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves in the game that had a major scrum with 23 seconds to go. Tampa Bay leads the series 2-1. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be Wednesday night at the Prudential Center, which was stuffed with fans wearing red.
SHARKS 8, DUCKS 1: In San Jose, Calif., Joonas Donskoi scored one goal and set up another to start a four-goal barrage in the second period and San Jose raced past Anaheim for the third straight game, beating the Ducks for a 3-0 series lead.
The Sharks used their superior speed to create odd-man rushes that paid off when Donskoi scored and then set up Marcus Sorensen in the opening four minutes of the second period to seize control of the game.
Eric Fehr and Tomas Hertl added goals later in the second to turn this all-California series into a rout. Logan Couture had a goal and two assists, Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane and Chris Tierney scored power-play goals in the third period, for the Sharks, who have outscored the Ducks 14-3 through the first three games of the first-round series.
Martin Jones made 45 saves, the most for a Sharks goalie in a regulation playoff game.
San Jose will look to complete the sweep in Game 4 at home Wednesday night. Only four NHL teams have lost a bestof-seven series after winning the first three games with the Sharks the last to do it in 2014 in the first round against Los Angeles. AVALANCHE 5, PREDATORS 3: In Denver, Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, including one as part of a three-goal first period and another to chase Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne from the game, and Colorado held off the Predators in Game 3 to pull to 2-1 in the first-round series.
Blake Comeau and Gabriel Bourque also scored in a furious opening period that revved up a pom-pom waving capacity crowd. Gabriel Landeskog was credited with an empty-net goal for the Avalanche, who snapped a 12-game skid against the Predators.
Game 4 is Wednesday in Denver.