Bruins at Maple Leafs
Mitch Marner gained the appreciation of his team -- and perhaps a few in the dental profession -- after sliding in front of a pair of blasts from David Pastrnak in the waning moments of their last contest. Marner hopes to help the Maple Leafs push the Boston Bruins to the brink of elimination on Wednesday when the clubs play Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series in Toronto.
"I mean, there's dentists for a reason, so whatever. Luckily enough, it didn't hit me in the face, but it could have been a tough result if it had," Marner said on Tuesday, one day after the Maple Leafs' 3-2 win in Game 3. The 21-year-old Marner recorded his 16th point (five goals, 11 assists) in 16 career playoff games and third of the series after setting up Auston Matthews' power-play goal in the second period. Boston's vaunted top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Pastrnak has combined for just six points in the series, four of which came in the club's 4-1 win in Game 2 on Saturday. By comparison, that group combined for 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in last year's seven-game series against Toronto, and Marchand (seven assists) and Pastrnak (six goals, three assists) also enjoyed sterling performances in four regular-season meetings versus the Maple Leafs.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, NESN (Boston), CBC, TVAS (Toronto)
ABOUT THE BRUINS: Charlie Coyle capped a five-goal second period when he scored for the second time in as many contests, tying him with Bergeron for the team lead in goals (two). The 27-year-old Massachusetts native's scoring surge is a welcome sight considering he had just 12 points since Jan. 7 dating back to when he played with Minnesota. David Krejci also tallied in Game 3, giving him five points (three goals, two assists) in seven meetings with the Maple Leafs in 2018-19.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS: Andreas Johnsson stepped up in place of the suspended Nazem Kadri, collecting a pair of power-play points (one goal, one assist) in Game 3 while logging just over two minutes of ice time with the club enjoying the man advantage. Matthews also recorded a multi-point performance with a goal and an assist, pushing his career point total to seven (five goals, two assists) in seven career home playoff games. "It's another level when you score one in the playoffs, especially at home," the 21-year-old Matthews said. "It feels like an earthquake under you."
OVERTIME
1. Boston C Marcus Johansson (illness) and Ds John Moore (upper body) and Connor Clifton (upper body) returned to practice on Tuesday, with coach Bruce Cassidy labeling the first two players as game-time decisions for Game 4.
2. Toronto C John Tavares won 10 of his 16 faceoffs when matched up against Bergeron.
3. Bruins C Danton Heinen has two goals and an assist in his last four games