TORONTO — Brad Marchand had a comparatively quiet — no less than by his in-your-face requirements — begin to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Positive, the Bruins captain drew some key penalties and picked up three assists via six intervals towards the Maple Leafs.
He’d additionally but to really go away his mark.
And it felt like solely a matter of time earlier than one of many NHL’s finest each with the puck on his stick, and at hockey’s darkish arts when it is not, correctly entered the fray.
The second arrived Wednesday.
Marchand scored twice, together with the winner, in a three-point efficiency as Boston picked up a 4-2 victory to seize a 2-1 lead on this first-round sequence on an evening the place the house facet was left pissed off by a participant who’s spent a number of his profession doing precisely that.
“The gamesmanship and every part, it is world class,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned. “He is been within the league lengthy sufficient … he will get calls.
“It is unbelievable, really, the way it goes. We have got to play via that.”
Marchand acquired tousled with Tyler Bertuzzi within the second interval with Toronto up 1-0. A frothing Scotiabank Enviornment crowd clamouring for a penalty, the referees took no points earlier than Trent Frederic scored the tying aim seconds later.
“I do not suppose there’s one other participant on this sequence that will get away with taking out Bertuzzi’s legs the way in which that he does,” Keefe continued. “It is an artwork and he is elite at it.
“We have now to handle our method via that.”
Jake DeBrusk had the opposite aim for Boston. The Bruins acquired 28 stops from Jeremy Swayman, who made 35 saves in his crew’s 5-1 victory in Recreation 1 earlier than giving technique to crease counterpart Linus Ullmark within the Leafs’ 3-2 triumph two nights later.
“We caught with all of it sport,” Marchand mentioned. “We elevated to a different degree.”
Bertuzzi and Matthew Knies replied for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves. Leafs winger William Nylander missed a 3rd straight contest with an undisclosed harm.
Recreation 4 of the best-of-seven matchup goes Saturday. Recreation 5 is about for Tuesday in Boston.
Moments after Toronto tied issues 2-2 within the third, after which practically grabbed the lead off a Swayman turnover, Marchand took a go from Danton Heinen and ripped a shot previous Samsonov’s ear at 11:53.
Toronto pulled its goaltender for the additional attacker with simply over two minutes to go, however Leafs captain John Tavares took a holding penalty with 64 seconds left and Marchand sealed it into the empty web.
“He clearly desires to get underneath our pores and skin and affect the refs,” Knies mentioned. “We have simply acquired to be composed and never get into that bulls—.”
Tied 1-1 via 40 minutes, DeBrusk bagged his third aim in as many video games when he scored on a person benefit 67 seconds after the restart off a Marchand rebound when the Leafs misplaced construction on their struggling penalty kill.
Toronto’s energy play came to visit the boards a couple of minutes later, however could not join regardless of a few nice possibilities for Bertuzzi, slipping to 0-for-5 on the evening and 1-for-11 within the sequence.
Bruins winger James van Riemsdyk hit the submit on a partial break halfway via the interval earlier than Bertuzzi tipped a Morgan Rielly shot off Boston defenceman Hampus Lindholm to tie the sport 2-2.
Marchand — seemingly all the time within the thick of issues right now of 12 months — responded simply 28 seconds later to present his crew a lead it will by no means give up to re-establish home-ice benefit.
The Leafs opened the scoring at 13:10 of the second when the under-fire Mitch Marner — and not using a level via two video games and the topic of intense media scrutiny — slid a go for Knies to redirect.
Samsonov stopped van Riemsdyk on one other partial break, however the Bruins tied it at 17:37 when Frederic fired his second of the sequence in off the submit.
The play unfolded as Marchand and Bertuzzi — teammates final season in Boston — acquired tousled within the impartial zone, and moments after Leafs star Auston Matthews was tackled by Charlie McAvoy.
“Bert and I get tied up one shift,” Marchand mentioned in attempting to downplay the narrative. “However outdoors of that I am probably not within the combine with something. I am simply attempting to play.”
“It is what he does,” Bertuzzi mentioned. “He is been doing it for a very long time. I do not anticipate it to cease.”
The Leafs will now look to regroup after enjoying their first house sport since April 13 — or face the tall activity of profitable three straight towards an opponent that has received 9 of the final 10 conferences between the groups.
“At occasions we performed nicely,” Keefe mentioned. “Not nicely sufficient to get the win.”
A part of the equation was how the Leafs dealt with Marchand.
ON SCHEDULE
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was requested a couple of playoff schedule that sees two days off on both facet of Recreation 4.
“I might have fairly been right here Thursday/Saturday, if I am being sincere,” he mentioned.
“I believe we’re spending extra time in Toronto than Toronto’s spending in Boston.
“And we are the house crew.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed April 24, 2024.
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Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
