TORONTO – Brad Marchand broke a tie in the third period to propel the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 victory in Game 3 of their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
Marchand scored at 11:53 with a very precise shot from the slot to make it 3-2 Bruins, only 28 seconds After Tyler Bertuzzi’s equalizing goal.
“We never gave up. It hasn’t always been pretty, and like I said the other day, they’re intense, they play physical,” Marchand said. But I think we took our game to another level compared to the first two games and it paid off. »
The captain of the visiting team completed the score himself into an empty net with 36 seconds remaining to end his evening of work with two goals and an assist.
“I have the chance now to be in the front row, but I love watching hockey and even when I wasn’t coaching in the NHL, I was watching what (Marchand), Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins were doing because “They have always been an elite team,” said coach Jim Montgomery. (Marchand) always stood up in big moments. When you look at his career points in the playoffs, it’s just ‘wow’. »
Boston now leads the series 2-1.
Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk also scored for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman, who made 35 saves in Game 1, a 5-1 victory, stopped 28 pucks.
Matthew Knies and Bertuzzi were the scorers for Toronto, which saw Ilya Samsonov make 30 saves on 33 shots. The Maple Leafs were once again managing without the services of forward William Nylander, who had been absent since the start of the series.
“Small mistakes at very important moments turned into goals against us, but overall I think we didn’t play well tonight compared to the other games. Not even close, coach Sheldon Keefe said. Credit must be given to Boston. They work hard, they made life difficult for us in the neutral zone and we weren’t able to cope well with that. »
After a scoreless first period where both teams fired seven shots each, Toronto opened the scoring at 13:10 in the second period when Knies redirected Mitch Marner’s skillful pass on a quick counter-attack.
Frederic tied the game 1-1 at 17:37 with a shot from the left circle that beat Samsonov on the near side.
DeBrusk scored his third goal of the series to make it 2-1 Bruins at 1:07 in the third period on a power play. The attacker jumped on Marchand’s return very close to the net.
Marchand and Bertuzzi would then exchange goals.
The Maple Leafs were unable to take advantage of five power plays.
“We’re getting some chances,” Marner said. I thought we did a good job in zone entries. We just have to remain confident knowing that we have the elements to be successful. »
