Bruins outmuscle Leafs to even series
BOSTON — Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle scored during a raucous first period as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
Danton Heinen and Patrice Bergeron had the other goals for Boston, which flexed its muscle following a lacklustre effort against the speedy Leafs in Thursday’s opener. Tuukka Rask stopped 30 shots, while Marchand added an assist.
Nazem Kadri, who could be facing another suspension after cross-checking Jake DeBrusk in the head late in the third, replied for Toronto.
The Leafs centre was banned three games in last year’s firstround series against the Bruins following an ugly boarding incident. Boston won that series in seven games.
Frederik Andersen made 37 saves in defeat. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series goes Monday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
“I just didn’t think we executed as well, weren’t as crisp with the puck,” Leafs centre John Tavares said. “That didn’t allow us to really generate as much on the forecheck as we did in Game 1.
“We knew they were going to come hard and respond at a high enough rate, high enough level. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes. You’ve got to stay with it and find your game.”
The Leafs neutralized Boston’s top line of Marchand, Bergeron and David Pastrnak at 5 on 5 in their 4-1 victory in Game 1, while also using their superior quickness to expose 42-year-old defenceman Zdeno Chara.
There was no repeat of that on Saturday. Boston came out of the gate with a purpose, hitting every Toronto player in sight and building a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes inside an electric TD Garden.
Andersen made terrific early stops on Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk, but could do nothing on Coyle’s opener.
Inserted into the lineup after getting healthy scratched for Game 1, veteran winger David Backes was first to a loose puck behind Toronto’s net after a Nikita Zaitsev turnover before feeding Coyle in front to bury a shot past Andersen at 4:44.
The Bruins continued to push the physical side, much to the delight of the boisterous Boston crowd. DeBrusk and Kadri went off for roughing after wrestling on the ice, although Kadri did little to warrant a penalty, save for getting punched in the face.
DeBrusk then went after Leafs defenceman Travis Dermott near the benches, punching the rookie blue-liner repeatedly in a sequence that didn’t result in a penalty.
Boston went ahead on another Toronto defensive miscue at 16:04 when Jake Muzzin whiffed on the puck with his glove in the neutral zone. Pastrnak promptly fed a nolook-behind-the-back pass on a 2on-1 to Marchand, who delayed before sliding a shot through Andersen’s pads as Boston led 2412 in shot attempts after one.
“That first 10 minutes, they were physical, tried to make a statement,” Leafs centre Auston Matthews said. “We weathered the storm as well as we could.”
The Leafs could do nothing with a power play that stretched between the first and second periods before Andersen made two more big stops on DeBrusk and Karson Kuhlman.
Muzzin crushed Torey Krug along the boards midway through the period on a hit that sent the wobbly Bruins defenceman to Boston’s locker room.
Krug did not return, but the Bruins scored just 11 seconds later when William Nylander inexplicably lost the puck at the side of Toronto’s net, leaving an easy tap-in for Heinen behind a helpless Andersen at 10:39.
Andersen — by far the best Leaf — robbed Heinen with an exceptional glove save before Rask made a toe stop on Andreas Johnsson at the other end.