Final: Bruins defeat Maple Leafs 5-1 in Game 7, advance to second round of Stanley Cup Playoffs
Apr 21, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) is greeted by forward Brad Marchand (63) after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in game six of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
From the NHL Newswire at 985TheSportsHub.com.
The Bruins are moving on. They defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 in Game 7 at TD Garden, advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season. They will face the Columbus Blue Jackets, who upset the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
Joakim Nordstrom, Marcus Johansson, Sean Kuraly, Charlie Coyle (empty net), and Patrice Bergeron (empty net) scored the goals for the B’s. Tuukka Rask made 32 saves in a superlative effort.
Recap: Third Period
— 2:34: Danton Heinen puts it in the empty net to put the Bruins up 4-1. They can now count down the minutes until they hit the next round, where they would face the Columbus Blue Jackets.
— 9:56: Period officially half over for the Bruins. The Garden crowd briefly broke out into a “We want the Cup!” chant.
— 11:21: Bruins successfully kill off the penalty. Rask only needed to make one save. They took it the other way to get two powerful shots on Andersen, but he’s able to make the save this time.
— 14:41 Bruins still buzzing. The TD Garden crowd is perhaps the loudest it’s been all season. They can taste the next round. However, the Leafs now have a power play due to a too many men on the ice penalty on David Pastrnak.
— 17:20: The Bruins are back up by two. Sean Kuraly snakes through a defender and fires an innocent wrister toward Frederik Andersen, and the goalie can’t make the stop. Bruins up 3-1.
SEAN KURALY pic.twitter.com/zJYZrWjT01
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 24, 2019
Live Updates: Second Period
— Second Period Thoughts: For the second straight period, the Maple Leafs controlled the play for a large swath of time. The Bruins started to get into fire drills in their own end and got burned when John Moore turned it over to Tyler Ennis, who fed it to John Tavares for the Leafs’ first goal. Frederik Andersn made a handful of key saves to keep the Bruins’ lead at one. As has been the case for most of the series, the Bruins will need to clean up their breakouts and do more to win loose pucks. Fortunately, Tuukka Rask has stood tall for the most part. — Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
— 2:32: Bruins continue to get hemmed in their own zone. The Leafs haven’t been crisp with their passing when given the opportunity to create good scoring chances. But nonetheless they are out-shooting the Bruins 24-18.
— 6:40: Tuukka Rask made an incredible sprawling save on a golden scoring chance for the Leafs. The Bruins have to clean up their play in their own zone and get cleaner breakouts. Stop us if you’ve heard that before this series.
— 9:38: Bruins successfully kill the Carlo penalty. Leafs weren’t without their chances, and are dictating the second period for the most part as they look to tie the game.
— 11:38: Toronto will go to the power play. Brandon Carlo called for cross-checking.
— 12:02: Brad Marchand had a golden opportunity with Andersen down on his stomach, but his backhand ricochets off his pads. Still 2-1.
— 16:06: The Leafs have life. John Tavares steals the puck and fires it off Tuukka Rask and in. The Bruins now have a 2-1 lead.
John Moore coughs up the puck and John Tavares makes the Bruins pay. 2-1 pic.twitter.com/WPs0sWALBN
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 24, 2019
— 16:43: So far, the Bruins have had cleaner zone entries and more zone time. The crowd is really getting on Frederik Andersen in hopes he gives up another soft goal.
— Tom Brady chimes in:
Let’s Goooo B’s! Pour it on now!
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 23, 2019
Live Updates: First Period
— First Period Thoughts: The Maple Leafs controlled much of the action in the middle of the first period, but it all flipped once Joakim Nordstrom got the Bruins on the board first. Since then, the B’s have kept pucks deep in the Toronto zone for longer periods of time and they’ve REALLY had the crowd on their side. Game is far from over, obviously. But thanks to Marcus Johansson’s late goal and Frederik Andersen’s shrinkage in goal, the Bruins are firmly in control of this one. Hopefully they can contain Toronto’s speed for 40 more minutes as they fight for their playoff lives. — Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
— 2:14: Marcus Johansson makes it 2-0 Bruins late. He circles around the net and flips a wrister in the direction of Frederik Andersen, and it goes in somehow. Andersen appears to be melting down.
MOJO pic.twitter.com/k5D7xvumhR
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 23, 2019
— 5:31: Joakim Nordstrom gets the Bruins on the board. He gathers a rebound down close, and Frederik Andersen can’t stuff him. It’s 1-0 Bruins and the Garden is quite loud.
Joakim Nordstrom? JOAKIM NORDSTROM! (thanks Freddie) pic.twitter.com/MUqRxpEbYP
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 23, 2019
— 6:07: A fluky bounce very nearly caused a blooper-reel goal for David Krejci against Frederik Andersen. Bruins get an offensive zone faceoff out of it.
— 6:33 Bruins continue to struggle to retrieve pucks on the forecheck after dumping it into the Toronto zone. Fortunately, the Maple Leafs aren’t doing much with their chances and Tuukka Rask has been there to stop them all.
— 9:29: Toronto is getting its legs under them. They are now out-shooting the Bruins 6-5 and generating opportunities in front of Rask. The goalie has stood tall so far. The Bruins need to figure out how to keep the puck deep in the Leafs’ end – but that has been an issue for much of the series.
— 11:39: Tuukka Rask makes a huge stop on two Mitch Marner shots. First he fires it on a rush down the middle, then Rask stuffs the rebound.
Rask with 2 great saves on Marner #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/V9IzBGrxak
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) April 23, 2019
— 13:10: Toronto is getting pucks deep, but not doing much with it. Only one quality chance so far, Auston Matthews’ one-timer in the slot that Rask stopped. Bruins getting quicker breakouts than they did in other games in their home building and they have the edge over the Maple Leafs in shots and scoring chances.
— 15:21: Tuukka Rask with his first big save of Game 7. He stops Auston Matthews on a one-timer right in the slot.
— 16:42: Bruins controlling much of the pace so far, and it’s a few miles per hour lower than what the Leafs want to do. The line of Marcus Johansson, Charlie Coyle, and Karson Kuhlman had a couple of opportunities.
— 19:01: Scoring chances for the Bruins in the opening minute. Danton Heinen nearly tips in a point shot from Brandon Carlo and David Pastrnak tries to stuff in a wrap-around.
— Tonight’s Bruins and Maple Leafs lineups:
Lining it up like this for Game 7.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/BptLWKLQsn
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 23, 2019
Ready to go in Game 7.
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 23, 2019
Tonight's Leafs lineup presented by @cocacola_ca. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/OgTvSt0F6W
Click here for all Bruins content, including news, podcasts, feature stories, and more.
