Bruins 5, Maple Leafs 2
Bruins 5, Maple Leafs 2: Tuukka Rask made a career-high 45 saves and David Krejci had a goal and two assists as Boston spoiled Toronto’s first home playoff game in nine years to take a 2-1 lead in its Eastern Conference first-round series.
Rich Peverley, Nathan Horton and Daniel Paille tallied in the second period and defenseman Adam McQuaid scored his first goal in 35 career playoff contests for the fourth-seeded Bruins.
Defenseman Jake Gardiner and Phil Kessel scored power-play goals for fifth-seeded Toronto, which finished 2-for-5 with the man advantage and outshot the Bruins (47-38) for the first time in the series. James Reimer stopped 33 shots as the Maple Leafs will try to regroup before hosting Game 4 on Wednesday.
Jaromir Jagr stole the puck from defenseman Ryan O’Byrne behind Toronto’s net and fed Peverley in front to give Boston a 2-0 lead 5:57 into the second period. Gardiner pulled the Maple Leafs within one with Tyler Seguin serving a tripping penalty at 13:45, but Horton restored the Bruins’ advantage on a 2-on-1 50 seconds later.
Paille capitalized on a turnover by Kessel during a Toronto power play late in the second and beat Reimer with a backhand shot to extend the lead to 4-1. Kessel atoned for his mistake 47 seconds into the third period with Milan Lucic in the penalty box for hooking, batting a loose puck into an open net on the doorstep for his second goal in as many games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston LW Milan Lucic added three assists, while Horton also set up Krejci’s empty-netter. The line of Lucic, Horton and Krejci has combined for 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) over the first three games. … Jagr, whose assist was his first point of the series, tied Brett Hull for sixth place with 190 career postseason points. Jagr also finished with a team-high six shots. … Boston D Andrew Ference was plus-1 with two shots, three hits and two blocked shots in 22:07 time on ice in his return from a one-game suspension.