Leafs Dominate Bruins Early, Take Game 5
Saturday, May 11, 2013
They say in the NFL that the more desperate team usually finds a way to win. I guess that applies to the NHL as well.
Friday night at the TD Garden, the Toronto Maple Leafs played like a team that was one loss away from having their season ended. Conversely, the Bruins played like they would live to play another game regardless of the outcome. The result was a dominant 2-1 win by the Leafs.
Toronto set the tone in the first period throwing everything (the puck and themselves) toward the net. The outshot Boston 19-8 in the opening period. Fortunately for Boston, the Bruins has Tuuka Rask play an outstanding 20 minutes between the pipes and they went to the intermission with a scoreless tie.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMidway through the second period, Boston went on the power play for the first time of the night when James van Riemsdyk went to the box for interference on Andrew Ference. However, instead of a power play that resulted in a score for Boston, the B's gave up a shorthanded goal to Tyler Bozak (1st) to make it 1-0 Leafs.
That goal seemed to awaken the B's from their hibernation as they played a much better brand of hockey in the final 8:30 of the second. Still, the went to the locker room down 1-0.
In the third, the B's played better as well, but again it was Toronto lighting the lamp as Clarke MacArthur (2nd) scored on an unassisted goal less than two minutes in to make it 2-0 Toronto. At that point, all of the air seemed to come out of the Garden as Bruins fans sensed that there might, indeed, be a game 6 in Toronto Sunday night.
But Boston started to fight even harder, the way they should have started the game. Playing like a team that did not want to step on the Air Canada Centre ice again, the B's pressured James Reimer and finally beat him at 11:12 of the third when Zdeno Chara scored his first of the playoffs to cut the deficit to 2-1.
That goal brough the Garden crown to life with chants of "let's go Bruins!" Unfortunately, the B's could not reward the home crowd by completing the comeback as the Leafs held on for the 2-1 win.
NOTES:
-Game 6 in Toronto will be played Sunday night at 7:30pm
-Boston outshot Toronto 33-14 in the final two periods. They outshot Toronto 16-4 in the third.
-Neither team scored on the power play. Boston went 0-2 while Toronto went 0-1.
-Both of Toronto's goals were unassisted.
-Jaromir Jagr continued to display the tremendous skill that has earned him the reputation as one of the greatest players of all-time. While Jagr did not factor into the scoring for Boston, he made some great moves in the offensive ends resulting in quality shots on goal for himself and his teammates.
-The Leafs are now 2-1 at the TD Garden this postseason.
