No matter the handwringing in town, arriving to Toronto in a 1-1 series tie was hardly a death sentence for the Bruins. That ruling would have to until the Bruins boarded their flight back to Boston after Games 3 and 4 at the absolute earliest.
But what a difference four days in Toronto has made for the Boston club, who will arrive back home with a 3-1 series lead over the rival Leafs, and behind back-to-back gutsy efforts headlined by Saturday’s 3-1 Game 4 victory.
Third Star: Charlie Coyle
Apr 27, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Brad Marchand (63) scores a goal and celebrates with center Charlie Coyle (13) against the Maple Leafs during the second period in game four of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY)
There’s no shortage of B’s heroes from this one, but one player whose contributions may fly a bit under the radar in this one: Bruins center Charlie Coyle.
Deployed in a two-way role all season and series long, Coyle had himself an absolutely fantastic night in all three zones, and finished this game with an assist, and was also tied for the forward-lead in blocked shots (three).
Coyle also helped make the second goal of the evening happen with a loose puck win that maintained possession and got the puck to Charlie McAvoy and then Brad Marchand for the goal that made it 2-0.
Brad Marchand connects on the power play.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 28, 2024
2-0 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/zw3A3xBkizIn addition to his blocks and the helper, Coyle also finished his night with wins in 13 of his 24 battles at the dot, and was especially dangerous against John Tavares (Toronto’s top faceoff option), with victories in six of their nine faceoffs.
Second Star: Brad Marchand
Apr 27, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) skates during the warmup before game four of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. (Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports)
The B’s ability to storm into Toronto and take both games, in my opinion, really comes back to the tone set by Bruins captain Brad Marchand. There’s been a ton of talk about Marchand’s one-on-one battles with Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, and rightfully so, but it’s been Marchand’s mentality that’s really emerged as the B’s best weapon in this series.
This just feels like an incredibly dialed-in version of No. 63, and the Bruins have been a better team because of it.
Marchand has a chat with Jake McCabe: pic.twitter.com/85iJkSODB9
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 28, 2024In addition to scoring the power-play goal that held as the game-winning goal by the night’s end, Marchand also came through with the primary helper on David Pastrnak’s late-period strike in the second, and chipped in with three blocks and two hits in 21:22 of time on ice. Marchand also remained a physical presence, and got under the skin of Bertuzzi (big surprise) and Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe in the winning effort.
David Pastrnak makes it 3-0 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/64IO7lKYu2
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 28, 2024Marchand will head back to Boston with three goals and five points, along with four hits and four blocks, in two games in Toronto. And not even some postgame whining from Sheldon Keefe following Game 3 slowed him down.
First Star: Jeremy Swayman
Apr 27, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Maple Leafs right wing William Nylander (88) battles for the puck in front of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) during the third period in Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY)
On Friday, the Bruins said they were ‘sticking to their plan’ in net for Game 4. Now, what exactly that plan was remained a mystery until the pregame warmup on Saturday night, when it was Jeremy Swayman who led the Bruins out of the tunnel and onto the ice at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
For Swayman, it was his first stretch of consecutive starts since a two-start run from Feb. 19 and Feb. 21, and it proved to be the exact right call for the Bruins’ Jim Montgomery, with Swayman on the board with a strong 24-for-25 win.
Jeremy Swayman with a nice stop on Mitch Marner. pic.twitter.com/QNci1of4xd
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 28, 2024The plan for the Bruins was to give both Swayman and Linus Ullmark one start out of the gate and then ride the hot hand, and the 25-year-old Swayman has simply refused to stop being that hot hand for Boston.
After stopping 28-of-30 in his Game 3 win, Swayman started hot once again this time, and saved his best for the third period, when the Leafs had a massive push on his goal. And as has been the case in all three starts to date, Swayman did a tremendous job of tracking the play through the high-danger areas of the rink, and refused to give Toronto any hope.
Through three games, Swayman has posted a .957 save percentage and a high-danger save percentage of .867.
