Remember when we were very worried about the Bruins the last few weeks? All our troubles seemed to float away tonight at TD Garden in Game 1 as Boston stomped Toronto 4-1 and the final score doesn't even do it justice. The Bruins outshot the Maple Leafs 40-20 and completely dominated for about the last 58 minutes.
UNH product James van Riemsdyk actually gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead at 1:58 with a power-play tap-in after Tuukka Rask (19 saves) got stuck out of position at the side of the net. That prompted the B's to call on one of their best and most consistent players-Wade Redden-for the next two goals. Wait what? Haha that's right, the same scrub that was playing in the AHL earlier this season that they picked up off the scrap heap scored the tying goal at 16:20 and assisted on what turned out to be the deciding marker by Nathan Horton with 12 seconds left in the frame.
James Reimer (36 saves) looked shaky from the start and Redden's goal, assisted by Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille, trickled by him. Playing in his first playoff game since he got hurt in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Horton tipped in Redden's shot from the point. David Krejci had the second assist.
Toronto tried to play physical but that was silly since they're not going to beat Boston at their own game, especially on their home ice no less. Krejci scored on a turnaround shot from the slot at 10:25 in the second period (from Milan Lucic) and Johnny Boychuk rounded out the scoring with a patented Johnny Rocket (copyright Jack Edwards) at 15:44 from Lucic and Krejci.
Things got more chippy in the third period as good old Leo Komarov was called for a 10-minute misconduct then goon Colton Orr (a former Bruin) was called for the same in garbage time. Chris Kelly and Komarov squared off after the final whistle, what better way to celebrate a Bruins ass kicking?
You have to think that Toronto can't play any worse on Saturday (7 p.m., NESN) in Game 2. They hadn't appeared in the postseason for nine years so perhaps this humbling experience got their feet wet in that regard. Whatever the case, the Bruins need to come out with the same intensity to pick up another vital win.
UPDATE 5/2: Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference was suspended for Game 2 after he elbowed Mikhail Grabovski in Game 1. Expect rookie Dougie Hamilton to get back on the ice (after being a healthy scratch) to take his place on Saturday night.
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