Maple Leafs HC blasts Bruins' Brad Marchand following Game 3 loss
After Brad Marchand's third-period heroics helped the Boston Bruins secure a 4-2 Game 3 win and a 2-1 series advantage over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, head coach Sheldon Keefe was in no mood to praise the rival.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Keefe offered Marchand what can be politely described as a backhanded compliment.
"He gets calls. It's unbelievable, actually, how it goes," Keefe said. "I don't think there's another player in this series who gets away with taking out Bertuzzi's legs the way that he does. It's an art and he's elite at it."
The trip in question happened in the second period. Not only was no penalty called on the play, but center Trent Frederic scored for the Bruins seconds later, tying the score 1-1 before intermission.
Midway through the third period, Marchand scored the go-ahead goal before sealing things in the final minute with an empty-netter.
Keefe called Marchand a "world-class player" while admitting that the Leafs must play through the noise, but the Bruins' standout is clearly making an impact. Meanwhile, as forward Matthew Knies acknowledged, he's also on the minds of the Leafs' players. However, he explained what Toronto needs to do moving forward to overcome the frustrations they might be feeling.
"He wants to get under our skin and influence the refs, so I think we've just got to be composed and not kind of get into that b-------," Knies said via Chris Johnston of The Athletic. "Just play hard and make him (less) effective."
Knies is on the right track, especially since the Maple Leafs did themselves no favors in Wednesday's loss. Not only were they outscored 3-1 in the third period at home, but Toronto went 0-for-5 on the man advantage while allowing Boston to score on two of three powerplay opportunities.
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