With another dominating performance, the Boston Bruins earned a 7-3 victory in Game 2 of this first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night at TD Garden. The Bruins have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Once again, the Bruins received contributions throughout the lineup, and special teams played a key role en route to victory. It also helped that David Pastrnak produced a six-point game with three goals and three assists.
Observations from first period
- Incredible pass by Jake DeBrusk and threads it to Rick Nash for the partial breakaway, but he misses the net.
- Maple Leafs flying to start the game. Plenty of desperation.
- Big save by Tuukka Rask on a redirect by William Nylander in front.
- Kapanen will a snow job on Rask, but no call.
- Kevan Miller is a mean SOB. Huge hit on James van Riemsdyk.
- Then on the ensuing icing, JVR gives Miller a little shove after the whistle.
- David Pastrnak is a magician with the puck and gives the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
PASTA PARTY IN BOSTON
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- Heads-up play by Adam McQuaid to go across the ice to play the puck after partner Matt Grzelcyk got caught on the O-zone blue line. Huge play by McQuaid.
- That's the second too-many-men penalty for the Leafs in this series. Boston getting its first PP of the game.
- Kapanen with a shorthanded bid but hits the post. Beat Torey Krug to the puck on the play.
- DeBrusk with a dirty goal on the power play to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
First period. Three goals so far.
B's are buzzzin'. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/dS4SLYM0OU — NHL (@NHL) April 15, 2018
- Kuraly and Donato showing some chemistry on that last split shift.
- Bruins make it 3-0 and now Maple Leafs making a goalie change. Curtis McElhinney now in net.
Kevan Miller gives the #NHLBruins the 3-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/18vL0qAqHA
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 15, 2018
- Miller credited with the goal. Great play by No. 86 to create separation deep in the O-zone and finishes with a goal.
- Danton Heinen winning crucial puck battles along the wall, which is a good sign. He struggled with that in Game 1.
- Note to Maple Leafs: Do not give the Bruins a power play. Rick Nash credited with the goal and the Bruins have a 4-0 lead.
Rick Nash in front on the PP puts the @NHLBruins up 4-1, including three points each for @pastrnak96 and @ToreyKrug. pic.twitter.com/N18wlE6cJE
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 15, 2018
- After Game 1, I wrote about David Krejci's ability to master the subtle play. Keep an eye on Grzelcyk. He's not too far behind in that category. Shows patience with the puck, draws a defender towards him and then puts the puck into the open area where that defender came from.
- Bruins dominant the opening period and have a 4-0 lead. You want pace, you've got pace.
- Bad turnover by Krejci just inside the O-zone blue line and it results in an odd-man rush the other way and Toronto finishes with a goal. Boston 4-1 with 18:38 remaining in the period. Mitch Marner with the goal.
.@Marner93 gets the @MapleLeafs on the board early in the second. pic.twitter.com/0XnjEhliDA
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 15, 2018
- Miller has upped his game to beast mode.
- Krejci rebounds from his turnover and finishes with a goal to give the Bruins a 5-1 lead. Stole puck in neutral zone, gained O-zone entry, dished, went to the front and redirected a return pass past McElhinney.
Beware of the slap-pass, folks.
Oh, and @pastrnak96 officially has a four-point night and counting. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/CL1n6KBMlo — NHL (@NHL) April 15, 2018
- Outstanding play by the Leafs and they cut their deficit to 5-2 midway through the second period. Tyler Bozak with the goal at 9:02.
.@Breeze2Greeze with a nice pass to find @Bozie42. pic.twitter.com/eBxtkqqpiG
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 15, 2018
- McQuaid and Drug back together. Miller with Grzelcyk.
- Marchand draws a tripping penalty and the Bruins getting another power play.
- Not the best PP for the Bruins and the Maple Leafs kill it off.
- That was a huge save for Rask on Patrick Marleau. Maple Leafs with momentum and that stifled chance could be big for the Bruins.
- Heinen continues to win those battles along the wall.
- Bruins D not pinching as often to start this period.
- Grizz and McQuaid back together.
- Huge kill for the Bruins.
- Boston needs better puck management this period.
- Rask forced to make the timely saves and he's doing his job.
- Pastrnak scores his second of the game to give the Bruins a 6-2 lead.
- Pastrnak now has five points in this game.
- With Krejci in the box for interference, the Maple Leafs capitalize on the power play to cut deficit to 6-3.
- Pastrnak completes the hat trick to give the Bruins a 7-3 lead. He has six-point game.
"There's not much you can do about it. Let's just get on with it," he said. "We went without a number of centers this year, let's play."
Updates: Riley Nash will not return to the lineup tonight, but he's progressing, according to Cassidy.
"I just think the biggest thing is our penalty kill wasn't as good at the end of the year, partly because the people that were in it were out of the lineup," Babcock said. "But, we've had a real good penalty kill all year. I don't think you want to base your confidence on one game. I talked to the guys, you played well all year to know how good you are. You lose games during the year, you bounce back. That's what we're going to do here tonight."