It probably wasn’t the way anyone drew it up, but the Bruins won another Game 7 showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs with a smothering 5-1 win at a raucous TD Garden.
With all four goals from bottom-six forwards — Joakim Nordstrom, Marcus Johansson, Sean Kuraly and Charlie Coyle — and with a sterling, clutch performance between the pipes by Tuukka Rask, the Bruins kept the Maple Leafs without a playoff series victory since 2004.
Toronto largely dominated the first two periods but trailed 2-0 after one due to two poor turnovers by the defensive pairing of Travis Dermott and Jake Gardiner.
Maple Leafs got one back in the second from John Tavares and had the Bruins on fumes, but thanks to Rask (31 saves), Boston held the fort.
Kuraly took the puck himself during a change and sniped a wrister past Freddie Andersen to give the Bruins some needed breathing room. From there, the defense and the forecheck smothered the Maple Leafs.
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Underrated part of the sequence leading to Nordstrom's goal.
Sean Kuraly made a hell of a lot of something out of nothing with his foot speed here. Started the forechecking sequence that eventually opened the scoring for Boston.
Kuraly's brought it the last two games. pic.twitter.com/CaWH7RaXtg
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 23, 2019
- It’s win or go home for both Original Six clubs on Tuesday — with Boston looking to bounce Toronto for the second year in a row, while the Leafs are looking to punch their ticket to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004.
- No changes for the Bruins lineup following Game 6, with David Backes and Chris Wagner both set to sit as scratches. Opting for a bit more speed with Karson Kuhlman and Joakim Nordstrom seemed to benefit Boston up in Scotiabank Arena, especially on the breakout and when it came to cycling the puck around the Leafs’ zone.
- While Boston’s top-six and power-play unit did most of the heavy lifting in the scoring department during Sunday’s Game 6 win, the B’s are going to need its bottom-six to continue to keep the Leafs at bay on the forecheck. The addition of Sean Kuraly has already made a sizable impact. Kuraly, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara all received heavy minutes during the final 20 minutes of play on Sunday in order to snuff out a late-game push by Toronto. Expect those same five to once again get called early and often on Tuesday.
- "He can match up against good players because he's 6-2 and he's 210 pounds. You have to work to get through him," Cassidy said of Kuraly. "I think all of those things have made him a good, serviceable guy that can play against good players. If we can get some offense from him, great. He's provided a little bit of that in the playoffs in the past.
- A lot has been discussed about the current condition of the ice at TD Garden for tonight’s game, after Brad Marchand noted on Sunday that it’s provided a less-than-ideal environment so far this postseason. Cassidy doesn’t seem concerned, especially with the Celtics not expected to play at the Garden for about a week or so. “It’s the same for both teams,” Cassidy said. “That’s an equalizer. I suspect that it will be better.”
- The Bruins will be looking to turn around their fortunes on home ice, with Boston just 1-2 so far this postseason at TD Garden. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for any “feet contacting feet” incidents.