In Game Two for the Maple Leafs and Bruins, Toronto edged Boston to finish with a 3-2 victory on Monday, April 22nd at the TD Garden. Auston Matthews struck the go-ahead goal in the third period and also recorded two assists to help the Maple Leafs even their Eastern Conference First-Round series against the Bruins. Linus Ullmark made a total of 30 saves for Boston. The Bruins and Maple Leafs meet again on Wednesday at the Scotiabank Arena.
Maple Leafs lineup against the Bruins:
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Domi
Knies – Tavares – Marner
Robertson – Holmberg – Jarnkrok
Dewar – Kampf – Reaves
Rielly – Lyubushkin
Benoit – McCabe
Edmundson – Liljegren
Samsonov
Woll
Bruins lineup against the Maple Leafs:
Marchand – Coyle – DeBrusk
Heinen – Zacha – Pastrnak
Lauko – Geekie – Frederic
Beecher – Boqvist – Maroon
Grzelcyk – McAvoy
Lindholm – Carlo
Shattenkirk – Peeke
Ullmark
Swayman
Morgan Geekie opened the scoring at 9:42 of the first period to give Boston the lead on a power play. He received a cross-ice pass from Brad Marchand, and then he sent the puck past Ilya Samsonov on an open net from in front of the goal line. Only 14 seconds after Geekie’s goal, Max Domi tied it 1-1 to get Toronto on the board when he put in his own rebound. David Pastrnak stole back the lead for the Bruins with just 8 seconds left on the clock with a one-timer in the slot after taking a backhanded centering pass from Pavel Zacha, who sent the puck past Jake McCabe.
Late into the middle frame with only 1:34 remaining on a power play, John Tavares tied it once again after retrieving an erring pass, spun around, and beat Linus Ullmark. Before this goal, it seemed Tyler Bertuzzi scored on that same power play, however, it was taken away due to him playing the puck with a high stick.
Auston Matthews scored the go-ahead goal at 7:54 of the third period to break the tie and put the Maple Leafs in front. He scored with a deke on a breakaway after he had gotten behind Charlie McAvoy, going for the 3-2 final after a 5-1 loss in Game One.
Tyler Bertuzzi on sticking with it and Auston’s goal: “It’s kind of playoff hockey, it’s not always going to be perfect. You just got to kind of stick with it and keep sticking to the process, and things will work out,” – “It was awesome. I saw Max have it, kind of just a flip pass, and Auston grabbed it, went in, and scored. That was a big goal for us and the team. Something we all needed – Just stick with our momentum, and keep doing the things that we are doing well… that was a good 60-minute from us, and we just got to stick with it.”
Auston Matthews on the game and his goal: “It’s an important time of the year for us, for our team, and these moments, obviously, are emotional and mean a lot. So, really happy about the win – you got to continue to stay focused,” – “I thought we competed hard, we competed hard the first game as well… It’s all about just trying to get to the net. It’s a battle at the net fronts out there, and I guess on the goal, just a flip out of the zone and just try to anticipate and time it well.”
Morgan Geekie on the key to the power play: “I think we’ve switched the units up a little bit, and I think we were just putting a little too much pressure on ourselves. We got a lot of good players on both units… I think we’re being pretty hard on ourselves and not giving ourselves enough credit for how good we’ve been most of the year,” – “We’re just trying to go out there and capitalize on those.”
David Pastrnak on the third period: “In the third period, it was a tight game and both teams played good – We weren’t able to come back. So, always make sure that we create more and get that leading goal.”
Notes:
– Max Domi recorded a goal and an assist, and Ilya Samsonov made a total of 27 saves for Toronto.
Both Domi and his father became the ninth father and son to score a playoff goal for the same franchise.
– The Maple Leafs played a second straight game without William Nylander, who’s been out with an undisclosed injury.
– With this victory, the Maple Leafs ended their eight-game losing streak against the Bruins… dating to January 14th, 2023.
– Recording a goal and two assists, this marked the fourth three-point game in the playoffs for Auston Matthews. He tied for third-most in team history, behind both Doug Gilmour (10) and Darryl Sittler (seven).
The goal scored by Matthews had been the Maple Leafs’ first lead against the Bruins this season (six games).
– Andrew Peeke left in the second period due to an undisclosed injury, and there had been no update from Jim Montgomery.
– David Pastrnak recorded his eighth playoff goal against the Maple Leafs and tied Jake DeBrusk for the most among active players.
