Bruins Wrap: Auston Matthews Leads Maple Leafs To Game 2 Win
BOSTON — The Toronto Maple Leafs came from behind and registered the decisive goal in the third period to take down the Boston Bruins, 3-2, in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff matchup on Monday night at TD Garden.
The best-of-seven series between the Bruins and Maple Leafs is now knotted up at 1-1.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Who would be between the pipes for the Bruins was the biggest question coming into Game 2.
Jim Montgomery and the Bruins elected to stay true to the team’s goalie rotation and gave the net to Linus Ullmark despite Jeremy Swayman’s strong Game 1 performance.
The move wasn’t a disaster for the Bruins. Ullmark was good, but perhaps a notch below the level Swayman played to start the series. Boston just didn’t get the end result it wanted.
Ullmark held down Toronto’s vaunted attack for most of the night by making 30 saves, but Boston’s mistakes caught up to them. The Bruins surrendered a power-play goal late in the second period to allow the Maple Leafs to level the score and then let Auston Matthews get all alone behind their defense midway through the third period. That situation was only going to end one way with the NHL’s leading scorer from the regular season finding the back of the net.
The loss can’t be pinned on the Bruins changing goalies. Even Swayman wouldn’t have been able to cover up for Boston’s miscues.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Matthews recorded three points off of one goal and two assists. Matthews’ go-ahead goal with 7:54 left showed his exceptional skill set as he deked Ullmark on his breakaway.
— David Pastrnak scored his first playoff goal after leading the Bruins in that department in the regular season. He finished off a slick pass from Pavel Zacha with 7.8 seconds left in the first period to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
— John Tavares came up with a key goal for the Maple Leafs to level the score with 1:34 left in the second period. He spun in the slot and beat Ullmark stick side for the power-play tally.
UP NEXT
The Bruins and Maple Leafs head north of the border as the series switches to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday night. Puck drop from Scotiabank Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.