Bruins Dominate Leafs 4-1 To Even Series
The Bruins came out absolutely pounding the Leafs and evened the series up with a 4-1 win. Complete team effort.
Rob Gronkowski was your banner captain for tonight.
David Backes in strong on the forecheck fed Charlie Coyle for the opening score. 1-0 Bruins.
Jake DeBrusk was fired the fuck up in the 1st.
David Pastrnak spins and passes to Brad Marchand who waits out Freddy Andersen. Five hole. 2-0 Bruins after 1.
Pastrnak was called for charging on Muzzin late in the 1st.
Torey Krug got lit up by Jake Muzzin, helmet flew off and his head hit the boards. Not good. He didn’t finish the game.
Hell of a first period for the Bruins.
William Nylander fumbles a puck behind the net and Danton Heinen gets a gift. 3-0 Bruins after 2.
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Jake DeBrusk and Nazem Kadri collide knee on knee late in he 2nd and Kadri headed to the locker room. To me, DeBrusk was preparing for the hit with his shoulder and got him with the knee. Dirty, no doubt but not a suspendable offense. Didn’t look like he was leading with his knee.
Good news Kadri wasn’t hurt after that collision.
Nazem Kadri redirection got the Leafs on the board with 9 minutes left in the 3rd. 3-1 Bruins.
Jake DeBrusk hit Patrick Marleau and Nazem Kadri skated right to DeBrusk and crosschecked him in the head.
Kadri got 5 and a major and will most likely be hearing from player safety. (Kadri is a repeat offender, too).
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JD got up looking for blood.
Patrice Bergeron added a PPG (during Kadri penalty) to make it 4-1 Bruins.
FINAL: Boston 4, Toronto 1
News, notes and quotes:
- Charlie Coyle on the board. He was the best player in Game 1 for Boston and gets rewarded in Game 2. Assist to David Backes. He gave this team a lot of jump tonight.
- MUCH better game from Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand (1-1-2) and David Pastrnak (assist).
- Monster game from Charlie Mcavoy, thought he looked real strong in 25:44 of TOI. (Had a lot to do with Clifton injury). Brandon Carlo is still getting his feet wet in the playoffs. Feel like he can shake off a bit of rust. Much better tonight than Game 1, though.
- Suspect reffing in tonight’s game, charging in a playoff game?! Also JD could’ve easily got just the 2 on roughing Kadri in the 1st. Gauthier’s roughing call in the 2nd was soft as well. Krejci roughing call in the 3rd..
- Torey Krug did not finish the game after getting lit up by Jake Muzzin. His helmet flew off and he hit he boards with his head. Not good. Bruce Cassidy after the game he has no update. John Moore did skate during today’s morning skate if Clifton and Krug are no-go for Monday.
- Including Torey Krug, Connor Clifton went to the room midway through the 3rd. B’s were down to four defensemen as the Leafs started to surge back.
- Marcus Johansson did not suit up tonight (ilness) per B’s.
- Expect Nazem Kadri to be suspended for his crosscheck on Jake DeBrusk. What a bonehead move. Two years in a row. (Where in the world is Tommy Wingels?)
- DeBrusk went through concussion protocol after the game.
- Tuukka Rask with a stellar performance. 30 saves, 3rd star of the game. Freddy Andersen made 37 saves himself, could’ve been a much bigger goal deferential if he didn’t make some big saves. So far the goalies have been great.
“We let them know how we’re gonna play.” – Bruce Cassidy
Even David Pastrnak was throwing the body around tonight.
Solid bounce back game to tie the series, B’s came with energy from the jump, hitting anyone and everyone. Aggressive forecheck, controlled possession. This is the team we’ve seen all season. Game 3 coming up Monday night in Toronto. Let’s keep it going.
It was a great night to win a hockey game.
