With one final probability to hold a loss on the Bruins within the common season and a possible first-round playoff collection looming, the Toronto Maple Leafs got here into the Garden seemingly intent on making some type of assertion.
The solely message that was delivered, nevertheless, was that the Leafs nonetheless had no answer to the Bruins.
The B’s scored three second-period targets to tug away and beat the Leafs, 4-1, in a hard-hitting affair that needed to make the 2011 Stanley Cup group, the evening’s honorees, crack a little bit little bit of a smile. The B’s accomplished the four-game season sweep of the Leafs and notched their seventh straight win over Toronto.
A complete of 91 hits had been recorded, with the B’s holding a 46-45 edge. And these numbers didn’t really feel inflated.
“It was a response to getting cross-checked in the throat,” mentioned captain Brad Marchand of the game-long chippiness. “That’s where it all starts, right? And then after that, emotions are high with everybody and it just carries through the game. And that’s what happens in playoff time. It was a great opportunity for us, a great test. They tried to play hard tonight. They competed and we pushed back, they pushed back again. Those are the types of games that you love to be a part of.”
While the glove-to-the-face hockey was enjoyable to see, the B’s, extra importantly, have put collectively three good defensive video games. It’s muted a little bit with the late blown result in Edmonton on Tuesday however, whereas going through Auston Matthews twice and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as soon as, the B’s have allowed simply three regulation targets in three video games after being blown out on Long Island final Saturday.
“I think it was everybody realizing we weren’t being sharp,” mentioned coach Jim Montgomery. “Again, I can’t give enough credit to our leaders. They hold everyone in the room accountable and people follow suit, because we do have good leaders and we do have real good people under them that are sub-leaders.”
In an emotion-filled first interval, the B’s took a 1-0 lead however, due to Toronto goalie Joseph Woll, the Leafs stored any additional injury at bay within the opening 20 minutes.
It appeared Toronto’s early technique was to go at Marchand. Calle Jarnkrok gave him a great, clear test on the Boston blue line early within the sport. Then, after a pending interference name approaching Jake McCabe, Matthew Knies simply leveled Marchand behind the online with successful that was removed from clear, the aforementioned cross-check to the throat. After the following scrum, the B’s had been rightly given a two-minute 5-on-3.
They wanted practically all of it to take benefit. At 5:37, with 17 seconds left on the two-man energy play, Jake DeBrusk discovered David Pastrnak for a backdoor objective for his thirty ninth of the season.
The B’s had a number of possibilities to construct on that lead within the hard-hitting first. First, Trent Frederic deflected a Morgan Geekie feed simply broad. Then Woll made a terrific cease on a play that will have led many of the hockey highlights. Mason Lohrei dangled via Morgan Rielly after which made a pleasant backhand move to Justin Brazeau on the prime of the crease however Woll was capable of kick out his redirect.
Thanks to a handful of misplaced defensive zone faceoffs, it appeared as if the Leafs had been poised to tie the sport early within the second interval. But when William Nylander did one too many dipsy-doo strikes close to the blue line, Frederic made him pay. Frederic swiped on the puck and Nylander misplaced it, permitting Frederic to take off on a breakaway with Nylander in sizzling pursuit. From the excessive slot, Frederic beat Woll with a low wrister between the pads at 4:16. It was Frederic’s seventeenth, tying his profession excessive he set final season.
But bother was awaiting.
In a net-front battle, Tyler Bertuzzi and Charlie Coyle had been going at till Coyle went excessive on Bertuzzi and the short-term Bruin hit the deck. Coyle was given a pair of minors and the B’s had 4 minutes to kill. They killed off the primary penalty however acquired too cute on the second. Marchand and Danton Heinen performed round with the puck on the Toronto blue line Heinen’s return move to Marchand was too far. Timothy Liljegren made a wise learn and despatched Mitch Marner off on a breakaway, which he buried previous Jeremy Swayman’s blocker at 7:56.
Emotions continued to run sizzling, with Bertuzzi and Parker Wotherspoon squaring off (Bertuzzi getting the unanimous resolution). Then the B’s didn’t like a Noah Gregor’s leg journey on Charlie McAvoy and Geekie took a roughing penalty to nullify the facility play.
It didn’t matter. Toronto took a high-sticking penalty through the 4-on-4 and, after 4-on-3 time expired, Geekie got here out of the field and gave the B’s their two-goal lead again off a Kevin Shattenkirk feed at 17:16 on the 5-on-4, his fifteenth of the 12 months.
Then they pushed the benefit to 3 targets 1:07 later when Brandon Carlo’s blue line shot acquired previous Woll, his fourth of the season.
The tried message-sending by the Leafs continued into the third. After the B’s killed a penalty, Max Domi roughed Marchand alongside the board and one more scrum materialized. As the skaters had been going at, Swayman got here out to the impartial zone and signaled to Woll to get it on, however the Leaf goalie stayed within the web.
“It probably didn’t call for it, but to see my guys go in, it’s a team effort. We all go in,” mentioned Swayman. “(Woll) is my buddy and I respect the hell out of him. It was just an opportunity, but nothing happened.”
The Leafs by no means acquired nearer on the scoreboard however Domi went after McAvoy another time with 1:31 left. It did nothing to alter the outcome.
“I like our physicality,” mentioned Montgomery. “Theirs was a little too late.”
The B’s have now opened a nine-point lead on the Leafs, which implies if the B’s can’t catch the white-hot Panthers, they most definitely have house ice benefit. One would additionally suppose they’ve a psychological edge over the Leafs, given the current historical past. Not so, mentioned Marchand.
“No matter what happens in the regular season, it means nothing,” mentioned Marchand. “Once playoffs start, it’s a new season, you’re scouting each other way more. You don’t scout each other much in the regular season, but once the playoffs start, you really bear down in your defensive game, you tighten up, you play more physical. The game tonight has no bearing on the next game.”
And in terms of the Bruins, nobody would admire a clear sheet greater than the Leafs.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”