TORONTO — With tight defensive play and an ability to capitalize on their chances, the Boston Bruins stormed back from down 2-1 and earned a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 and swung the momentum back in their favour.
There was plenty to like about the Leafs play early in the game after Matthew Knies gave them a 1-0 lead. But once the Bruins earned a 2-1 lead, they did Bruins things and nullified nearly every opportunity the Leafs had through the neutral zone, taking a once-vociferous crowd out of the game.
Without William Nylander for the third playoff game in a row, the Leafs looked more and more like a team hurting for offence. They were outshot by the Bruins 34-30 and now find themselves without the momentum in the series they once enjoyed.
Special teams sink Leafs again
The Leafs allowed a power-play goal for the third game in a row. As it stands, the team’s lack of proper penalty-killing personnel is now at risk of sinking them in the series. The Bruins had just two power plays and Jake DeBrusk capitalized once again with his third power-play goal of the series. Down a man, the Leafs haven’t done a good enough job cutting off passing lanes and have allowed the Bruins too easy a path toward their goal. Ilya Samsonov gave up a tasty rebound on DeBrusk’s goal but how he was allowed to corral that rebound without any resistance from the Leafs is something that will have to be reviewed by the Leafs.
And on the other end: How a highly-potent Leafs offence could get five (!) power plays and not bury a single goal is a testament as much to the Bruins’ ability to swarm the Leafs as it is the Leafs own hesitance to shoot the puck and hope for chaos. The Leafs continually looked too tentative with the man advantage and now find themselves with just one power-play goal in the series after 11 opportunities.
Leafs can’t contain Brad Marchand
Brad Marchand is quickly becoming the most-hated man in Toronto by doing exactly what he had to do in Game 3.
First, he sneakily tied up Tyler Bertuzzi and took him out of the play as the Bruins stormed toward the Leafs’ goal. Could Marchand have been called for a tripping penalty on Bertuzzi? Possibly, but Marchand is still a master of the dark arts and knows how to influence the game with his pesky play. The Leafs felt distracted and stood frozen as Trent Frederic fired an easy shot past Ilya Samsonov for the game-tying goal.
“You just have to be smart,” Keefe said before the game of Marchand’s ability to draw penalties. “You have to recognize the moment and the player or players you are playing against.”
Marchand continued to get in the face and then under the skin of multiple Leafs as the game wore on.
But late in the third period, Marchand showed the different elements of his game and why he’s a future Hall of Famer. With too much time and space on his hands, he wired a nasty shot past Samsonov to take the lead. And as he skated toward an empty Leafs goal with less than a minute remaining, he could have done the cheeky thing and wired a shot home for a goal. But he simply pushed the puck into the empty net because that was all he needed to do. He was one of the difference-makers, but the Leafs inability to shut him down also needs to be questioned.
Ilya Samsonov doesn’t make the stops he needs to
Did Samsonov play one of his better games as a Leaf in Game 2? Yes.
Did he allow one, arguably two goals in Game 3 that in part let the game get away from the Leafs? You could also, confidently, say yes as well.
Samsonov simply has to make a save on the Bruins’ first goal. Trent Frederic’s shot wasn’t all that powerful or doused with that much mustard, but it still found its way under Samsonov.
A save on either the second or third goal would have gone a long way too. The consistency in Samsonov’s game has long been lacking this season, even though he’s still the unquestioned No. 1 in Toronto. The Leafs will need Samsonov to steal a game for them this series to get by the Bruins, just as Jeremy Swayman did for Boston in Game 1. Game 3 wasn’t that kind of game from Samsonov, and was far from his best.
Mitch Marner is visible
Heading into Game 3, the concerns about Mitch Marner and his poor production in this series (he didn’t have a single point after scoring 85 points in 69 regular season games) had very quickly become a talking point.
“It’s just about doing the same thing you’ve done all year,” Marner said of the increased attention that comes his way during the playoffs. “Just trusting your team and yourself.”
When it mattered, with Game 3 knotted in a scoreless draw midway through the second period, Marner worked his magic on the ice in a way few NHL players can.
Staring down two Bruins, Marner deftly pulled the puck away from the play to buy his winger, Matthew Knies, some time to get to the net. He then utilized his high hockey IQ to send a pass through three different players and right onto the tape of Knies’ stick.
It was Marner’s 48th playoff point, the most of any Leaf since 1994.
(Photo of Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi: John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)
