Bruins Notes: Boston Pushes Maple Leafs To Brink Of Elimination
After splitting the first two games in Boston, the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in back-to-back games in Toronto to take the 3-1 lead in the opening-round Stanley Cup playoffs series.
The Bruins stars excelled in Game 4 while the Maple Leafs appeared to be missing in action.
Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and James van Riemsdyk got Boston on the board, and Mitchell Marner scored the lone Toronto goal. The Bruins held Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Jon Tavares to 10 shots in the game and blocked 27 attempted Leafs shots.
“I just thought that our puck support and (…) execution along with effort allowed us to spend a lot of offensive zone time and get some quality looks that we haven’t been getting,” Bruins head coach told Andy Brickley after the win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.
Montgomery moved away from the goalie rotation for the first time in the series and went with Jeremy Swayman for the second straight game.
Swayman was outstanding in net for the Bruins making 24 saves for his third win. The 25-year-old Alaskan native didn’t take full credit for the win.
“Couldn’t be happier with them,” Swayman told Adam Pellerin on NESN’s postgame coverage about the team in front of him. “Blocking shots. All 60 minutes and that’s what it’s going to take against this team. It’s what it’s going to take to end the series, and I just couldn’t be happier with these guys in front of me.”
Swayman has won six straight games against the Leafs, including the playoffs, with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage.
“I just want to pull my end of the rope,” Swayman said. “Again, we got 23 guys in there that are doing their job to an absolute T, and they’re working hard for every inch of ice they get, so I just want to be a part of something special, and we’re excited to go back to Boston.”
Here are more notes from Bruins-Maple Leafs Game 4:
— The Leafs have lost six straight playoff games on home ice, being outscored 21-11 in those games, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.
— Marchand’s power-play goal in the second period moved the Bruins captain to 56 postseason tallies. Marchand now has the most playoff goals in franchise history, moving past current Bruins president Cam Neely with 55.
He also tied Johnny Bucyk for the second-most career postseason goals against the Maple Leafs with 10. Only Phil Esposito has more goals (11) than Bucyk and Marchand in franchise history. Jake DeBrusk and Pastrnak are tied with David Krejci for third most with nine each.
— The Bruins look to close out the series and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a win over the Leafs in Game 5 on Tuesday. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.