Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Boston Bruins by a score of 5-1 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were beyond awful last night in Boston. They were out-shot 40-27 by the Boston Bruins. The Maple Leafs gave the Bruins five power-play opportunities. The worst one to watch for Leafs Nation was the too many men on the ice call that was called early on in the third period.
First Period
Unfortunately, the Toronto Maple Leafs never had any momentum last night. From the get-go, the Bruins had the advantage. It all started with Brad Marchand in the first period. The Bruins were on the power-play as James van Riemsdyk was serving two minutes for hooking Rick Nash.
Torey Krug of the Bruins was able to catch both Ron Hainsey and Roman Polak off-guard. Hainsey and Polak were caught puck watching as Krug delivered a pass to an open Marchand. After collecting the pass, Marchand skated right to Frederik Andersen and put a shot past him to grab a 1-0 lead.
Later on in the first, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a man advantage, but couldn’t close. On the power-play, Patrick Marleau had a great scoring chance. He parked himself right in front of Tuukka Rask and fired a shot to the right. Unfortunately, Rask ensured that he wasn’t going to be beat on the play.
The one bright spot for the Maple Leafs happened late in the first. Zach Hyman and David Krejci were vying for the open puck in the neutral zone. Hyman showed off his speed and beat Krejci for the puck. He then grabbed the puck, carried it across the blue line and deked Rask to tie the game.
Second Period & Third Period Blues
Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, Hyman’s heroics in the first period didn’t spark an offensive surge. They continued to allow a tremendous amount of pressure in front of Andersen.
In the second and third period, the Maple Leafs took four penalties and gave up two power-play goals. The first one came in the second period on a David Backes‘ rebound goal. The second power-play goal came off the stick of Krejci. Krejci’s team-mate, Jake DeBrusk found him open on the right side of Andersen. DeBrusk fed him the puck and Krejci caused more torture for Leafs Nation as he found the back of the net.
Aside from the Bruins’ success on the power-play, David Pastrnak scored off a wrist shot through traffic in the late second. Then in the third period, Sean Kuraly had a rebound goal on Andersen.
Kadri Facing Potential Suspension
In the third period, Nazem Kadri received a charging penalty and a game misconduct for hitting Bruins’ forward, Tommy Wingels in the head.
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The hit was retaliation for Mitch Marner being sandwiched against the boards by Zdeno Chara and Wingels. After Marner was sandwiched, Wingels skated away from Marner and was facing the boards when Kadri nailed him in the head.
Per a report from Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, George Parros, Head of the Department of Player Safety of the NHL has scheduled a meeting with Kadri to review his hit on Wingels. If Kadri faces a suspension, the Maple Leafs could put Andreas Johnsson back in the lineup for game two in Boston.
Stop Giving The Bruins’ Power-Play Chances
The reason why the Maple Leafs lost last night is simple. They failed to control the puck and gave one of the best special teams units in the league multiple chances. As I mentioned in the series preview, the Bruins’ power-play is extremely lethal. Krug, Marchand, Pastrnak, Krejci and Patrice Bergeron are all masterminds when it comes to capitalizing when up a man.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs expect to rally back in game two, they need to stay away from the penalty box. The Maple Leafs need to pretend the box is the plague.
Additionally, the Maple Leafs need to shut the Bruins down in the neutral zone. The Maple Leafs were out-shot in every period last night. They won’t win games against Boston if they give up a ton of shots on goal.
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If the Maple Leafs control the puck better and stay away from the box, they potentially could return to the Air Canada Centre with the series tied at one.
stats from NHL.com