Leafs bring out B’s best
Marchand scores twice to snap skid
TORONTO — There’s nothing like the sight of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ blue and white to cure whatever ails the Bruins.
Riding a four-game losing streak punctuated by an embarrassing 5-4 shootout loss to Florida in which they coughed up a four-goal third period lead, the B’s captured a 4-2 victory over the struggling Leafs (now losers of four straight themselves) on the strength of Brad Marchand’s two goals in the third period. They lost two onegoal leads before finally clamping down after Marchand’s second goal of the period and 14th of the season put them ahead for good.
Whatever it is, Toronto tends to bring out the best in the B’s.
“I think it’s a game that we get up for, a lot of history with this team, especially over the last few years. It definitely adds to the games,” said Marchand. “But we know when we come in here, we’re going to have to skate and we have to compete. That’s what those guys do. They can all fly and they’re all talented. They’re blowing the zone and creating a lot of opportunities. We know that, so we have to make sure we’re playing well and at the top of our game.”
Also helping to elevate the B’s game was a “tweak” from coach Bruce Cassidy between the second and third period after he watched his highly skilled top line being a little too fancy in the second.
“We just challenged a bit about ‘Are we tired of losing? Do we want to get back to playing the right way? And I think they responded,” said
Cassidy.
Tuukka Rask also stopped his own three-game losing streak with a solid 29-save performance. He had little chance on the two goals on which he was beaten.
“Just for the team, we let our game slip a little bit the last four or five games, played parts of good hockey but collapsed a little bit too much. For myself, too, it was good to bounce back and get a win,” said Rask.
After entering the third period tied 1-1, the Bruins came out of a wild opening 5:08 of the third with a 3-2 lead.
First, Marchand tallied just 11 seconds into the period when he scored off the rush, tapping home a fat
Frederik Andersen rebound of his own shot.
But the Leafs drew even again at 3:56 with some good work behind the B’s net. Zach Hyman pushed the puck past Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy. John Tavares collected it on the right side of the net and, with the slot wide open, he hit Kasperi Kapanen. With plenty of time, Kapanen took a shot that Rask got his blocker on but it trickled behind him.
The B’s took their third lead of the game at 5:08, and again it was Marchand who pushed them ahead. During a line change, Coyle fed Marchand in the slot for a great chance. Andersen did well to get his glove on it, but
Marchand kept coming and scored on his own rebound again.
This time, the B’s were able to protect the lead and Zdeno Chara sealed it with an empty-netter with 1:30 left.
For the second game in a row, the Bruins were able to get out of the first period without giving up a goal in what was a fairly quiet, uneventful opening 20 minutes. But this time, the B’s were able to take a 1-0 lead.
Charlie Coyle scored at 13:48 off a nice play by Matt Grzelcyk. Operating behind the Toronto net, Grzelcyk hit the wide-open Coyle with a pass at the bottom of the right circle and he buried it over Andersen’s glove.