Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist, and goalie Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves as the Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 in Game 3.
The win put the Bruins up 2-1 in the series and has them in position to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 Saturday night in Toronto.
Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk also lit the lamp for the Bruins, while Matthew Knies and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Maple Leafs. Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves in the loss.
Here’s your Boston Hockey Now Bruins Postgame:
CLUTCH: The critics were out with Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand after the first two games in this series, thanks to Marchand being unable to light the lamp, but they clearly haven’t been paying attention to everything else he was doing. Marchand had two assists in Game 1 and added another in Game 2. He also had six shots on net, seven hits, and a blocked shot. In addition to that, he wasn’t allowing former Bruins winger and current Maple Leafs pest Tyler Bertuzzi to goad him into any dumb penalties. So basically, he was doing everything but score.
Well, in Game 3, he finally did that and he did it at the perfect time. After assisting on Jeake DeBrusk’s go-ahead goal 1:07 into the third period and just 18 seconds after the aforementioned Bertuzzi tied the game at two, Marchand regained the lead for the Bruins with his first goal of the series 1:53 into the final frame. But the captain wasn’t finished as he sealed the deal with the empty-net goal with 28 seconds left. Marchand also had six shots and two hits as he put his team on his back.
Note: Those two goals tied Cam Neely for most playoff goals (55) in Bruins history.
DOGHOUSE: I have defended Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm all season because I do think he will be worth the eight-year, $52 million ($6.5M AAV) contract he signed in 2022. However, he has become a turnover machine this season, and it needs to stop ASAP. Lindholm had three turnovers, one leading to the Bertuzzi goal, and continues to make blind clearing attempts.
BANGER: Maple Leafs star center Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy led all skaters with eight hits each.
UNSUNG HERO: I stand by my column that I wrote after Game 2 that Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery made the right decision to stick with the goalie rotation and start Linus Ullmark. However, part of being a great head coach is feeling the pulse of your team, and while Ullmark played great in Game 2, the Bruins did not feed off him the way they did off Jeremy Swayman in Game 1 and again in Game 3. Swayman was huge early on as the Bruins found themselves killing off power play after power play. Swayman finished with 28 saves and earned his second win of the season.
Series Schedule:
Game 1: Bruins 5 Maple Leafs 1
Game 2: Maple Leafs 3 Bruins 2
Game 3: Bruins 4 Maple Leafs 2
Game 4: BOS @ TOR, April 27, 8 p.m. (NESN, SN, CBC, TVAS, TBS, truTV, MAX)
Game 5: TOR @ BOS, April 30* (TBD)
Game 6: BOS @ TOR, May 2* (TBD)
Game 7: TOR @ BOS, May 4* (TBD)
Boston Bruins Lineup
Forwards
Danton Heinen – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Jake DeBrusk
James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Geekie – Trent Frederic
John Beecher – Jesper Boqvist – Pat Maroon
Defensemen
Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo
Parker Wotherspoon – Kevin Shattenkirk
Goalies
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark
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