BOSTON, Mass. – The Boston Bruins advance to the second round of the playoffs. David Pastrnak scored in overtime to give his team a 2-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final game of their confrontation on Saturday.
Hampus Lindholm also scored for the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman had 30 saves.
William Nylander was the only scorer for the Maple Leafs, while Ilya Samsonov blocked 29 shots in front of the Toronto net. Auston Matthews collected an assist on his return to play. He had just missed his team’s last two games due to a health problem. Joseph Woll, the spark who allowed the Leafs to overcome a 1-3 deficit and force a final game, was injured at the end of the sixth duel and was not in the Maple Leafs lineup.
The Bruins will face the Panthers in the second round.
After two slow starts in a row, the Bruins this time showed signs of life in the first period, concluding the first third ahead 11-8 in terms of shots on goal. But the Maple Leafs responded in the second period, generating more scoring chances in addition to successfully dealing with two minor penalties. But the deadlock persisted after 40 minutes.
Nylander opened the scoring at 9:01 of the third period. Pressure from Tyler Bertuzzi allowed Auston Matthews to steal the disc from Brandon Carlo. The Toronto sniper then spotted Nylander, who completed the play with a one-timer. It was a third goal in this series for the Swede, who missed the first two games due to an undisclosed injury.
82 seconds later, Lindholm tied the score, sending the puck through traffic past Samsonov.
David Pastrnak came close to giving the Bruins the lead at 17:54, but his shot just missed the target.
Nylander then generated one last opportunity with three seconds left in the period, but Swayman was able to stop the puck in time. He thus confirmed that the extension would be required.
