Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist to lead the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (April 24) and take a 2-1 lead in the series.
After a scoreless first period, Matthew Knies tipped a Mitch Marner pass over Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman to open the scoring almost seven minutes into the second period.
With the helper, Marner posted his 38th career playoff assist to tie Red Kelly and Mats Sundin for third on the Maple Leafs
all-time list. He now trails Doug Gilmour (60) and Darryl Sittler (40).
Boston tied it in the second period when Trent Frederic scooped up a loose puck while the Leafs’ Tyler Bertuzzi and the Bruins’ Brad Marchand were tangled up on the blue line. This may have caused just a slight delay on the part of the Leafs defenders, allowing Frederic to wrist a shot past Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsinov.
The Maple Leafs tied the game when a Morgan Reilly shot bounced off Bertuzzi’s skateblade and into the net. The Bruins quickly regained the lead 18 seconds later when Marchand snuck behind the Leafs’ defense and tipped a pass past Samsinov. Marchand, who has four assists, picked up his first goal of the series.
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The Leafs pulled their goaltender with just under two minutes left in the game, but John Tavares tackled Charlie McAvoy behind the Bruins’ net and was whistled for holding. Marchand added an empty-net goal when the Leafs made a rush up the ice in an attempt to tie the game shorthanded.
Nylander Out Again
William Nylander missed a third straight game to open the Leafs first-round series with the Bruins on Wednesday as he continues to work his way back from an undisclosed injury.
Nylander, who played in all 82 regular-season games, set an NHL career high with 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists), second on Toronto, behind Auston Matthews (107 points; 69 goals, 38 assists), and 10th in the League. He scored 40 goals for the second straight campaign and set a career-high with 98 points in 2023-24, but registered just four assists over his final 11 appearances down the stretch.
James van Riemsdyk has played his fair share of playoff contests in Toronto, but all of them have come in a Leafs sweater. On Wednesday night, he would be on the other side for the first time, making his Bruins postseason debut.
The Leafs and Bruins will have 48 hours off between Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series as they will square off for Game 4 of their series on Saturday, April 27.