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Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

Bruins light up Maple Leafs to take 1-0 series lead

By Matt Dolloff
Apr 20, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; The Boston Bruins celebrate a goal during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins throttled the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 5-1 final at TD Garden on Saturday night, taking a 1-0 lead in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the decisive win.

Jake DeBrusk scored twice for the B’s in the victory, along with defenseman Brandon Carlo and rookie forward John Beecher. Trent Frederic added an empty-netter late in the third period to put the game away for good, if it wasn’t already.

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman, meanwhile, stopped 34-of-35 Leafs shots (.971) in an impressive performance to kick off his playoff run.

The Bruins mostly kept Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews in check. Matthews finished with no points and five shots on goal, mostly matching up against Bruins center Charlie Coyle. Matthews did hit the post on a wide-open net in a golden opportunity during the second period.

Keep reading below for the top highlights from the Bruins’ Game 1 win over the Leafs.

Bruins-Leafs Game 1 Highlights

Toronto grabbed four shots on goal in the opening 90 seconds, all stopped by Swayman. Less than a minute later, it was the Bruins that struck first. Sparked by a puck battle win by Pat Maroon, Jesper Boqvist and John Beecher finished a 2-on-1 rush for Beecher’s first career playoff goal in his first playoff game.

  • Maroon Lays The Lumber

    Maroon continued to instantly endear himself to Bruins fans during the first period, most notably when he buried Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren into the B’s bench for a loud, crushing hit.

  • Matthews Hits The Post On Open Net

    Swayman almost made a mistake he would’ve greatly regretted. After McAvoy fell to allow Matthews a clean lane to the net, Swayman tried to venture out and hit the puck away from danger. Instead, Matthews got it, but hit the post on the wide-open net.

  • Carlo Scores To Make It 2-0

    Not long after a near-blunder, the Bruins doubled their lead. The play started with a strong zone entry by Coyle, then continued with tenacious forechecking by DeBrusk, who found an open Carlo at the point. Carlo one-timed the puck through Samsonov to make it 2-0 Bruins.

  • DeBrusk Scores On Power Play

    The Bruins grabbed a power play later in the second period, after Matthews went for high-sticking. DeBrusk made them pay with a blast from the point, similar to Carlo’s, to extend the Boston lead to 3-0.

  • DeBrusk Gets Another One

    The Bruins continued to pour it on in the second period, and mainly off the stick of DeBrusk. For the Bruins’ fourth goal of the night, DeBrusk whacked home a centering feed from Marchand off Samsonov and in.

  • Leafs Spoil Shutout Bid

    Swayman could not completely shut the Leafs down. However, it would’ve been a tough save for him against Toronto’s David Kampf, who blasted it from the slot off a slick behind-the-back feed from Connor Dewar.

  • Up Next…

    The Bruins and Maple Leafs will drop the puck again for Game 2 on Monday night at TD Garden.

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    Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt’s content.

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