Brewers end Mets’ streak, beat Harvey
David Pastrnak had a hat trick and three assists to help Boston blow out the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second straight game, leading the Bruins to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series. Pastrnak shattered his previous career high of four points, scoring his third goal with 1:36 left to bring two trash cans full of caps and winter hats fluttering down to the ice. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron each had four assists, and Torey Krug had three. Tuukka Rask stopped 30 shots for Boston, and David Krejci, Rick Nash, Jake DeBrusk and Kevan Miller also scored. Two nights after Frederik Andersen allowed five goals in the series opener, he gave up three more on five shots in the first 12:13 before he was replaced by backup Curtis McElhinney. The Bruins added another power-play goal — their second of the night and fifth of the
series — to make it 4-0 after one. Mitch Marner, Tyler Bozak and James Van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs, who never got closer than three goals down after that. McElhinney stopped 19 of the 23 shots he faced. The series moves to Toronto for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday. Game 5 would be back in Boston on Saturday, if necessary. It doesn’t look like it will be. Already struggling on offense, Toronto lost No. 4 scorer Nazem Kadri for three games when he was suspended by the NHL for boarding Tommy Wingels in Game 1. Wingels, whose injury was not disclosed, skated in practice Saturday but did not play. The Leafs could have used Kadri — and a few other scorers like him. Pastrnak gave Boston a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game when he corralled a bouncing puck in the slot with his back to the goalie, settled it down, spun around and backhanded it in. After
DeBrusk made it 2-0 on the power play four minutes later, Miller bounced one in off the back of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to give the Bruins a three-goal lead and chase Andersen. Just 11 seconds after Ron Hainsey was given a double-minor for roughing, Nash made it 4-0.
Alex Killorn scored twice during a fourgoal second period, helping Tampa Bay beat New Jersey for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference series. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 41 shots, limiting the Devils to rookie Nico Hischier’s unassisted goal in the opening period, Sami Vatanen’s sixth career playoff goal late in the second and Blake Coleman’s third-period tally that trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-3 with eight minutes left.
Ryan Hartman’s empty-net goal with 1:09 left wound up the winner as the Nashville held off Colorado.
New York — Chase Anderson breezed into the seventh inning, Jonathan Villar sliced a three-run homer inside the foul pole and the Milwaukee Brewers stopped the New York Mets’ nine-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory Saturday night. Jett Bandy also went deep against Matt Harvey on a windy Fireworks Night at Citi Field as Milwaukee finally cooled off the Mets and improved to 6-2 away from home. Slumping shortstop Orlando Arcia came off the bench and homered in the ninth inning.
About the only bit of bad news for the banged-up Brewers was another injury: Ryan Braun was removed in the fifth inning with back tightness.
The only offense the Mets (11-2) could muster came on a bloop RBI single by Yoenis Cespedes off Anderson (1-1), who allowed just two hits in 6 1/3 innings. The first was Amed Rosario’s single up the middle on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the fifth.
Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader finished the three-hitter. Hader retired all six batters he faced, striking out the first five, for his first major league save.
Harvey (0-1) gave up a leadoff double to Travis Shaw in the second and walked Domingo Santana. One out later, Villar curled an opposite-field drive just inside the left-field foul pole.
Bandy, subbing for injured catcher Manny Pina, homered to left in the fourth.
Harvey was charged with four runs and eight hits in five innings. He threw 95 pitches and has gone 11 consecutive starts without getting an out in the sixth, the longest current streak in the majors.
Up next
With rain in the chilly forecast this afternoon, RHP Jhoulys Chacin (0-1, 6.59 ERA) is scheduled to make his fourth start for Milwaukee in the series finale. Opponents are hitting .333 with three homers against Chacin, who signed a $15.5 million, two-year contract after going 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA for San Diego last season. He is 2-5 with a 6.10 ERA against the Mets, including an 8.38 mark in five outings at Citi Field. New York tagged him for nine earned runs in six innings last year.
RHP Noah Syndergaard (2-0, 3.94) is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two career outings against Milwaukee, both at home. He has struck out 16 and walked one in 13 innings this season. Rookie catcher Tomas Nido will get his third major league start and first this season, manager Mickey Callaway said.