Brad Marchand had two goals – including the game-winner – and an assist to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round Against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Brad Marchand had two goals – including the game-winner – and an assist to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round Against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Boston Bruins needed their captain to step up.
Brad Marchand already had three assists through the first two games of the Eastern Conference First Round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but with Game 3 tied 1-1 entering the third period on Wednesday, someone needed to take control of the game – and the series, which was also tied 1-1.
With 1:44 left on Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bertuzzi’s rough penalty, the Bruins opened the final frame on the power play and made sure to take advantage.
With three Toronto penalty killers engaged in a puck battle against the boards, Marchand managed to slip back into space as Charlie Coyle freed the puck. With space in the right circle, Marchand fired on Ilya Samsonov, who made the initial save but couldn’t stop Jake DeBrusk on the rebound. Just 1:07 into the third, Boston took a 2-1 lead.
According to Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, he saw it coming on Wednesday morning. He said Marchand was animated from the jump during morning skate, "barking" before it even started.
“Morning skate, I saw the way we were. I saw the way our captain was, and I just knew we were gonna have a good game," Montgomery told reporters in Toronto. "Didn’t know we were gonna win because the Leafs are a good hockey team, but I knew we were coming to play.”
Marchand wasn’t done. After Bertuzzi tied it 2-2 at 11:25 on a netfront deflection, it took Marchand just 28 seconds to lift the team on his back and retake the lead. From below the goal line, Danton Heinen found Marchand on the right dot. The Bruins captain unloaded a perfectly placed shot over Samsonov’s glove and below the bar to kill all of Toronto’s momentum and make it 3-2.
“We stuck with it all game," Marchand told reporters in Toronto. "It wasn’t always pretty, and I said it the other day, they’re coming very hard, they’re playing very physical, but I thought we elevated to another level from where we’ve been at the first couple games, and it was great that it paid off.”
The Leafs fought to tie it, but John Tavares’ holding penalty on Charlie McAvoy at 18:56 put the Bruins back on the power play, and Marchand scored his 55th career playoff goal on an empty net to ice the game at 19:24. Marchand tied Cam Neely for most playoff goals in Bruins history.
Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves for Boston, and he’s been in net for both wins in the series.
"That's our leader," Swayman told reporters in Toronto. "He's a captain through and through. He doesn't take no for an answer. He leads by example. He's the pinnacle of what a captain should be and we're so lucky to have him in this room."
While Marchand’s power play goal to seal the game came on an empty net, the Bruins went 2-for-3 on the power play, improving their series total to 5-for-10. Toronto, meanwhile, went 0-for-5 on the man advantage on Wednesday.
The Bruins will look to strengthen their grip on the series in Game 4 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
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