PHOTO CREDITS: (Sportsnet.ca)
By: Max Mainville | Check me out on Twitter @tkdmaxbjj
After losing the first game of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Boston Bruins are back in the TD Garden on Saturday night for Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals, down the series 1-0. On Thursday, Boston failed to generate good offensive opportunities and played poor on defence, allowing too many breakaways. Changes need to come in order to equalize this series.
Pre-Game Notes
Arena: TD Garden – Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Home: Boston Bruins (0-1)
Away: Toronto Maple Leafs (1-0)
Last Game Result: Maple Leafs won 4-1
Bruins Gameday Lineup
David Backes enters the lineup for the first time in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and forward Marcus Johansson is out with an illness. Jake DeBrusk is, in fact, in the lineup after being a game-time decision earlier today.
First Period:
The Bruins needed to come out with something to play for in the beginning stages of Game Two and they did exactly that. Only five minutes in the game, Boston is in full control. Hard aggressiveness on the dump-and-chase with some hard hits on anyone and everyone. As many other fans are saying on Twitter, the Bruins are playing the most physical hockey to begin any game in 2018-19. Great start to this big game.
Boston’s hard, physical play early paid off when David Backes found Charlie Coyle close in front of the net, burying it past Andersen to take a 1-0 lead early for Boston. Great forecheck by Backes to win the puck battle behind the Toronto net to find Coyle who shot before Andersen managed to locate the puck.
On the opposite side, the Leafs seemingly can’t get an early edge on the Bruins defence who is taking control on their individual man and shutting down the offence. The numbers just around halfway through the opening period were well in favour of Boston and the frustration level may have started to set in for Toronto.
Nazem Kadri and Jake DeBrusk got into a scuffle on the ice, resulting in offsetting 2-minute roughing minors. The intensity and tenacity of both Original Six rivals are growing by the second in this Game Two, making for a brilliant game thus far. On the 4-on-4, Auston Matthews drives hard around Rask, going for a wrap-around, but Rask keeps his pad tight to the post, keeping it out.
Surprisingly, David Krejci has been great at laying hits himself early on. On one rush by Gauthier, Krejci puts him to his back with a clean check along the boards. Not long after that, Travis Dermott holds DeBrusk on the boards, no holding penalty called, but DeBrusk answers the bell with some shoving back. Kadri in the middle of it again. DeBrusk is fiesty and aggressive tonight and it’s working so far.
With around four minutes left to trail in the first, Torey Krug fires a pass up the ice, a pass that is missed by Jake Muzzin, going right to David Pastrnak. Pastrnak makes a beautiful 180-pass to Brad Marchand who fakes the shot and buries it past a sprawling Frederik Andersen. That is how dangerous that duo and that line can be together. 2-0 Bruins.
Just as we approached the final minute of the period, David Pastrnak lays a hard, heavy hit on Jake Muzzin along the end boards, but the referees around the hit noticed it was a charge and Pastrnak is off to the box for two minutes. Toronto can’t build anything on the limited power-play and the energetic first period comes to a close there.
Shots On Goal: BOS: 14 TOR: 7
Score: 2-0 Bruins – Goals: Coyle (1) Assists: Backes (1); Marchand (1) Assists: Pastrnak (1), Krug (2)
Second Period:
Right away, the Bruins keep the hard play on Toronto, forcing mistakes including a Muzzin turnover that nearly leads to a Pastrnak to Marchand goal. Each and every time that Toronto tries to enter the zone, they are shut down and when they do get off a shot, it misses the net or is easily stopped by Rask.
Later in the frame, the hits keep on coming. Just as Pastrnak puts John Tavares to the ice, Jake Muzzin demolished Torey Krug into the sideboards as Krug’s helmet flew off. Krug’s head appeared to hit the boards and he stayed on all fours for an extended amount of time before needing help up to the dressing room. Krug tried to get up on his own, but he stumbles – does not look good at all.
Immediately after the TV timeout, William Nylander makes an atrocious error around his own net, leaving the puck right for Danton Heinen to tap it past a clueless Andersen. Nylander taps Andersen on the pads as he skates by as that is all his fault. Bruins make it 3-0.
The frustration of the Maple Leafs comes out, even more, when Freddy Gauthier goes to the box for roughing as some more pushing and shoving happens after the whistle. On the first power-play of the night for Boston, the B’s get many high-quality scoring chances on an exhausted Leafs penalty-kill unit. Right as the PP ended, David Krejci picks off a puck in the slot, but Heinen’s rebound on his shot is robbed by Andersen – huge save to keep it a three-goal game.
With less than five minutes to go in the second, captain Zdeno Chara flips the puck up and over the glass, causing the dreaded delay-of-game penalty and Toronto heads to a man-advantage of their own. Toronto only gets 1:20 of actual power-play time before Kadri gets called on a hooking minor and it will be 4-on-4 for 40 seconds before heading to a Bruins power-play.
Nothing happened on either opportunity, but when Kadri exits the box, he briefly strips Krejci of the puck before getting rocketed into the air by Jake DeBrusk. It looks like contact was to Kadri’s knee and he remains down on the ice before heading to the locker room. This game is getting uglier by the minute. With that, the period concludes – one more period to play.
Shots On Goal: BOS: 29 TOR: 16
Score: 3-0 Bruins – Goals: Heinen (1) Unassisted
Third Period:
Not letting off the gas, the top line of the Boston Bruins look to extend the lead to four early in the third, with Brad Marchand getting the best chance on the side of Andersen, but the Leafs goaltender sees him and makes a solid glove save to keep it 3-0.
Five minutes in, Krejci gets involved with some hard pushing after Tuukka makes a save, but he goes a bit too far in the eyes of the refs and the Bruins are going to the penalty box for two minutes. On the penalty-kill, the Bruins made some good plays and cleared the puck effectively, killing it off entirely.
Toronto had the pressure in the third, showing the desperate attitude they need and with 9:16 remaining, they finally strike. Kadri, who is back after his knee incident, perfectly deflects a Dermott point shot to score and make it a 3-1 game.
Another Bruin defenceman, Connor Clifton, leaves the ice and heads to the room after taking a shot from Kadri. Boston can’t afford to lose too many players on the blueline with Kevan Miller and John Moore already out of the lineup.
Later on in the frame, Kadri makes a dirty play, cross-checking DeBrusk square in the head, dropping Jake to the ice. A very dirty play from Kadri and like most agree, will be suspended for this. In response, Kadri is handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
On the long power-play, Bergeron finds a rebound, firing the puck past the red line, making it a 4-1 Boston lead with over four minutes remaining on that man-advantage.
Frederik Andersen is still playing hard in this game, regardless of the score late in the third, as he robs David Krejci cold in front of the net with a sprawling glove save. The team around him is failing to help him out and you know Mike Babcock doesn’t like that from his squad. But, the Boston Bruins win Game Two, 4-1 the final score.
Shots On Goal: BOS: 41 TOR: 31
Score: 4-1 Bruins – Series Tied 1-1
Max’s Three Stars:
1st Star: BOS F Brad Marchand – 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 6 Shots, 20:00 TOI
2nd Star: BOS G Tuukka Rask – 30 Saves, .968 SV%
3rd Star: BOS F Charlie Coyle – 1 Goal, +2 Rating, 3 Shots, 16:00 TOI
Game Three is Monday in Toronto.
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