Bruins at Maple Leafs
The Boston Bruins ruined Monday's celebration of Toronto's first home playoff game since 2004, taking a 2-1 lead over the fifth-seeded Maple Leafs in their Eastern Conference first-round series. The Bruins can push Toronto to the brink of elimination with a road victory in Game 4 on Wednesday. Boston won 5-2 in Game 3 despite being outshot 47-38 by an eager but sloppy Maple Leafs team filled with home-ice adrenaline. The Bruins scored on two of Toronto's 24 turnovers and re-established the dominant position they assumed after their 4-1 victory in Game 1.
Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask played his best game of the series on Monday, stopping 45 shots after allowing five goals on 52 shots over the first two contests. Toronto center Tyler Bozak and coach Randy Carlyle were vocal about unfair faceoffs after Bozak was kicked out of numerous important draws in Game 3. Bruins coach Claude Julien dismissed Carlyle’s remarks as lobbying the officials. “It’s going to be interesting to see whether the referees and the linesmen just do their job next game and not worry about who’s crying wolf,” Julien told reporters on Tuesday. Even if the Maple Leafs gain an advantage in the faceoff circles, they will need much more to regain the edge they had following their 4-1 win in Game 2, or Wednesday could be the last playoff game in Toronto for a while.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CNBC, CBC, RDS, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE BRUINS: Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist on Monday to bring his total to three tallies and four points over the first three games. Horton’s line with David Krejci, who leads all players in the series with seven points, and Milan Lucic, who has six assists, is driving Boston’s offense after the trio combined for only 14 points throughout April. Horton is at the end of a six-year, $24-million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer, but he is not thinking about that. “The only thing worth thinking about right now is the playoffs and trying to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Horton told ESPN on Tuesday. Jaromir Jagr picked up his first point of the series in Game 3 when he assisted on Rich Peverley’s goal in the second period. Jagr has 190 points in 183 career playoff contests.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS: Phil Kessel scored a power-play goal in the third period on Monday for his second tally in as many games. Historically, Kessel has struggled against his former team - his goal in Game 2 was his first at even strength in 24 career contests against the Bruins - but he is getting ice time away from Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and has 10 total shots to show for it, putting him third on the team behind Joffrey Lupul (11) and James van Riemsdyk (14). Lupul and van Riemsdyk also have scored twice for Toronto, while the only other Maple Leaf to record a goal this postseason is defenseman Jake Gardiner, who scored the first of his career on a power play in his second playoff contest. Although he cannot be blamed for either of the team’s two postseason defeats, James Reimer has allowed four goals in three of his last four starts following a 34-save shutout against Florida in the penultimate game of the regular season.
OVERTIME
1. Boston C Tyler Seguin leads the series with 17 shots but has yet to record a point.
2. Kessel has 12 goals and 20 points in his last 14 games, dating back to April 6.
3. Toronto D Mike Kostka (broken finger) is out indefinitely.
PREDICTION: Bruins 3, Maple Leafs 1