Leafs center Nazem Kadri should be hearing from the NHL's Department of Player Safety as he destroyed Tommy Wingels in the third period with a very dirty and reckless hit along the boards that was ruled to be charging (major) and a 10-minute game misconduct. Wingels didn't return and it doesn't take a doctor to guess that he probably suffered a concussion (hello, Ryan Donato). Toronto's goaltender Frederik Andersen (35 saves) entered with a 10-1-0 all-time record against Boston but like his teammates, he just wasn't up to the task in Game 1. The Bruins had lost their last three games in the regular season but a few days off seemed to put plenty of jump back in their collective steps. Another reason that the meetings earlier this year probably mean very little: Toronto had been 3-1 against the B's before this evening.
Boston's top forward line of Brad Marchand (goal, assist), Patrice Bergeron (assist) and David Pastrnak (goal, 2 assists) was dominant all night. Marchand entered with no goals in his last 16 home playoff games but he put that lengthy drought to bed quickly with a pretty backhander just 5:28 into the first period. Torey Krug and Pastrnak had the assists on Marchand's 18th career playoff tally and first power play strike of the tilt. The Maple Leafs tied it on a similar goal at 16:52 of the first: a backhander by Zach Hyman after he sped past David Krejci and Charlie McAvoy. Connor Brown and Morgan Rielly (who spells it like that?) had the assists on what turned out to be high-powered Toronto's only goal. After that, the Bruins' superior defense and goaltender Tuukka Rask (26 saves) locked things down.
Boston outshot Toronto 9-7 in the even first frame but they started to take control in the second by outshooting their Original Six foe 16-11. David Backes put the B's ahead for good at 15:43 of the second period when he cleaned up a loose puck by kicking it to his stick blade and lifting it over Andersen. Backes' 14th career playoff goal was assisted by Krejci and McAvoy. The biggest goal of the game and backbreaker to the Leafs was the one that they allowed with 38 seconds left in the second: Pastrnak took a feed from Marchand (and Bergeron) and sniped a shot over Andersen's blocker side before he even had time to fully react. Pastrnak's third career playoff goal was a beauty, a fitting way to firmly take control of the game.
Credit to the Bruins for not taking their feet off the gas in the third as they outshot the Leafs 15-9 and scored two more memorable goals. Sean Kuraly had missed the last seven games of the regular season with an upper-body injury but he announced his postseason presence with a highlight reel goal-Sidney Crosby style-where he basically bunted the puck out of mid-air after Pastrnak had driven to the net and caused a huge pileup. Kuraly's third career playoff goal was also assisted by Chara. Toronto head coach Mike Babcock stuck with Andersen the whole way, even after he gave up a goal to Krejci at 11:29 that went five-hole on him when the Bruins center was behind the net. It was that kind of a mess for Toronto as Krejci bagged his 30th career playoff goal, assisted by Jake DeBrusk (1st career playoff point) and Krug.
I'd be shocked if Saturday's Game 2 (8, NESN) resembles Game 1 in any shape or form. The Maple Leafs will be desperate to get a split at the Garden so expect a much better effort from them (Andersen I'm looking at you). Kadri's likely suspension won't help matters since he's their second line center that plays in every situation, he's basically a poor man's version of Marchand. Likewise, the Bruins are sure to face a little more adversity than they did in this cakewalk. Still, if they can find a way to win Game 2, this series could be over much earlier than anyone would have expected. PS what's better than playoff hockey? I know I say this every year but it's so great to have it back in our lives, the crowd for Game 1 was superb.
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