Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 loss against the Maple Leafs in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Missed chances highlight frustrating night: In a contest featuring 72 shot attempts and 36 shots on goal for the Boston Bruins, Bruce Cassidy kept it brief when asked to sum up what was a 3-2 loss at Scotiabank Arena.
"At the end of the day, I thought it was a pretty evenly played game," Cassidy said. "They were one play better than us — whether it’s a save or finishing. That’s playoff hockey a lot of nights."
While the Bruins generated a fair share of shots on net, few chances managed to put the Leafs under duress on home ice — with just nine of the B’s 72 attempts leading to high-danger scoring chances. The final seconds of the contest might have summed it up best: Boston scrambling in Toronto’s offensive zone in pursuit of the equalizer and a Leafs skater clogging up the only shooting lane available to Boston in what was an impressive defensive effort from Toronto.
Mitch Marner
was one of 10 Leafs skaters to record a block in the win, with Toronto getting a body in front of 14 of Boston’s shot attempts on the night. It was a frustrating night from Boston during 5v5 play, with an inspired Toronto forecheck clamping down on any extended stretches in the offensive zone for Boston.
Whereas Boston was only able to cash in one of its three chances on the man advantage while only landing one shot on goal in 5:37 of 5v4 TOI, the Leafs made the most of their three power-play stints — with
Auston Matthews
getting off the schneid at 10:12 in the second before
Andreas Johnsson
gave Toronto the lead for good exactly six minutes later.
There are plenty of areas for Boston to shore up going into Game 4, while the B’s top line of
Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak
and
Brad Marchand
needs to be much, much better.
But Game 3 was absolutely winnable for the Bruins, and sequences like this are going to haunt the Bruins if this series continues to go south.
B’s dodge a bullet in net:
Even with
Torey Krug
and
Jake DeBrusk
miraculously returning to game action after exiting Saturday’s Game 2 victory with injuries, the Bruins were already plenty shorthanded on Monday, with
Kevan Miller, John Moore
and
Connor Clifton
all out of commission on the blue line, while
Marcus Johansson
and
Sean Kuraly
sidelined up front.
Things could have been much, much worse midway through the second period, however. Shortly after
David Krejci
buried the equalizer at 3:30 in the second period,
Tuukka Rask
found himself in the crosshairs of a charging
John Tavares
. With the franchise center looking to crash the net,
Charlie McAvoy
looked to break up the sequence by colliding with Tavares.
We’ve seen this sequence play out before, as McAvoy knocked Rangers forward
Filip Chytil into Rask on a similar play back on Jan. 19 — with Rask exiting that game with a concussion. Rask managed to hang around in this game, however, finishing with 31 saves on 34 shots.
TWO UP
Charlie Coyle:
For as much grief as Coyle has caught for his lack of scoring production in Boston during the regular season, the 27-year-old pivot continues to be money in the postseason, as he scored his second goal in as many playoff games with 38 seconds left in the second period.
David Krejci:
While Boston’s top line has struggled to gain traction for most of this series, Krejci managed to pick up some of the slack on Monday — scoring a goal while anchoring a line that generated a plus-5 shot differential in 10:16 of 5v5 TOI together.
FOUR DOWN
Torey Krug:
Krug did give the Bruins a lift in that he was able to return to the lineup just two days removed from a scary hit delivered by
Jake Muzzin
, but man, you can’t ask for a tougher shift than this sequence that led to
Trevor Moore’s
opening tally at 2:38 in the second.
While the Bruins managed to generate a goal and land 13 shots on net during the 12:31 in which Krug and
Brandon Carlo
were out on the ice, the Leafs also managed to generate 13 scoring chances during that same stretch. Not ideal.
David Pastrnak:
We can loop in Boston’s whole top line if we wanted to, but we’ll save this spot for Pastrnak
who, despite feeding Marchand for a nifty goal during Game 2, has been very lackluster during this series. Limited to just one point over three games so far this postseason, Pastrnak has been a far cry from what he showcased last spring — in which he buried five goals and posted 13 points during Boston’s seven-game triumph against Toronto. Not only has his offensive production flatlined, but the skilled winger has also struggled with his puck handling — as he was knocked for a couple of turnovers while also holding onto the puck on a couple of frustrating stretches in the O zone. B’s need him to get back on track in short order.
Power play:
Coyle might have scored on one of Boston’s three chances on the man advantage, but his shot on a rebound down low stood as Boston’s lone SOG during close to six minutes of 5v4 TOI. Not good for the B’s, who spent most of the man advantage struggling to establish themselves in the Leafs’ zone.
Acciari line:
After Boston’s checking line hemmed in the Tavares line and held them to zero shots on goal during Saturday’s Game 2 win, such wasn’t the case on Monday. In 7:13 of 5v5 TOI together, Boston’s fourth line was only out for four Bruins shot attempts, to go along with 12 in favor of the Leafs — leading to Cassidy benching both
Noel Acciari
and
Joakim Nordstrom
for the final 10 minutes of the third period.
LOOKING AHEAD
The series will remain in Toronto for another game — with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
