In Recent Years, Nothing Has Ever Come Easy For the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Has It?

Good luck trying to predict anything that will happen in this series, other than the fact that neither team has won two games in a row at least thus far. Coming off a crucial 6-4 road win in Toronto on Wednesday that evened the series at two games apiece, the Bruins once again mostly failed to show up (eerily similar to Game 1) on their home ice and consequently lost 2-1 to the Maple Leafs. Toronto now leads the first-round playoff series 3-2 and they have a chance to eliminate the B's on Easter Sunday afternoon (3, NBC) at Scotiabank Arena.

For most of Game 5, it felt like both clubs were scared to make a mistake but Boston got the first three power plays (1 in the first period and 2 in the second period) but weren't able to take advantage of any of them. It was scoreless through two periods and up until then, the best chance came late in the second for David Krejci who did everything right but saw his shot hit the corner of the post/crossbar and bounce away from the net. As you would expect, both goaltenders were sharp from start to finish. Tuukka Rask (25 saves) deserved a better fate but as he's been for most of this series, Frederik Andersen (28 saves) was just a little bit better.

Auston Matthews looked overmatched in this matchup last postseason but this time around, one of the NHL's bright young stars has started to play like it. He hammered in a one-timer from Jake Muzzin and Kasperi Kapanen at 11:33 of the third period. That was Matthews' fourth goal of the series and it extended his point-streak to three games (4 goals, 1 assist). Toronto left winger Zach Hyman bumped Rask before the shot happened so Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy understandably challenged it for goalie interference. After a long review, the NHL replay officials (ironically enough in Toronto) ruled that there wasn't "enough conclusive evidence to overturn it." That stung but not as much as the insurance tally by Kapanen 2:12 after that. It was the end product of a beautiful rush by Toronto with Andreas Johnsson (3-game point streak) and Morgan Rielly (3-game point streak) assisting on Kapanen's first goal of the series.

Boston finally found the back of the net but it was too late as David Krejci one-timed in a pass from David Pastrnak and Torey Krug with 43.4 seconds left in regulation. Krejci's second goal of the series came with Rask off for an extra skater. This being Toronto, they nearly pissed it away in epic fashion when Brad Marchand had a buzzer-beating shot but this is a new year and team so Andersen blocked it away as time expired.

For me, the most surprising aspect of this series so far is how great the Bruins were for most of the regular season at the Garden and you could very well argue that Game 1 and tonight were two of their worst performances all year in front of their home crowd (many of whom left when it was 2-0). As you would expect, the numbers for the B's heading into the must-win Game 6 are not pretty: they are 10-13 all-time in Game 6s when they trail a series 2-3 and 3-20 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 2-3 (last series win in that situation was the 2011 Stanley Cup Final vs. Vancouver). Conversely, the Leafs are 19-5 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead 3-2.

Will Toronto become the first one to win two straight contests or can Boston force another Game 7? The Celtics will be going for the sweep vs. the Pacers (1, ABC) as well on Sunday but let's be serious, Bruins-Leafs Game 6 is the real main course. If you celebrate it, I hope that the Easter bunny brings you whatever helps to calm your nerves in tense situations like this (candy, booze, drugs, etc.). As usual in the NHL playoffs, home ice hasn't meant much especially for these two Original Six clubs who are so close in terms of talent and performance-levels. It doesn't matter how, the B's just have to find a way to steal Game 6 in Toronto and bring it back here for another Game 7 which would be on Tuesday.

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In 2018, Bruins vs. Maple Leafs Is Becoming a Nice Little Rivalry Right Before Our Very Own Eyes

Bruins-Canadiens will always hold a special place in our hearts but over the last few seasons, you have to admit that Boston (15-10-4) against Toronto (20-9-1) has become a sexier matchup in the here and now minus the decades of bad blood and fun history since the Maple Leafs have mostly sucked forever. They already met three times in 2018-19 with the B's taking the latest chapter 6-3 this evening at TD Garden to go up 2-1 in the season series with one more in Toronto on January 12. Boston snapped a season-worst three-game losing streak with a resounding victory, perhaps their best outing of the campaign given that the Leafs scored the final two goals in extended garbage time.

This tilt had a little bit of everything: pretty goals, great saves, physical play and multiple fights. What else do you want in a regular season contest? Toronto came in with the second best record in the NHL but for the second time in a row (5-1 on Nov. 10), Boston absolutely slammed them on their home ice. The six goals scored tied for the second-most by the B's this season (Oct. 8 vs. Ottawa), topped only by their 8-2 beating of Detroit on Oct. 13. Boston took control tonight by scoring the first four goals. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson made it 1-0 at 11:20 of the first period when he snuck a rebound by Frederik Andersen (22 saves, 6 goals allowed). David Pastrnak and Matt Grzelcyk assisted on JFK's third goal of the season.

Boston's second period had to be one of its best frames of the year: David Backes sniped a power-play goal at 8:54 (his 3rd goal of the season was assisted by Brad Marchand and Torey Krug) and Torey Krug bagged his first goal of the season with a long-range shot, assisted by Marchand and David Krejci (which moved him into 10th place on the team's all-time scoring list) at 17:45. In between that, Nazem Kadri for some reason started a fight with Brandon Carlo who dwarfs him. You knew that it was the Black and Gold's night when Danton Heinen pushed the lead to 4-0 with a beautiful goal-scorer's move at 1:47 of the third period. Ryan Donato and John Moore assisted on only his third goal of the season.

Toronto's defense is still their biggest issue which is why they play so many high-scoring affairs. They finally got on the board thanks to a goal by Travis Dermott at 4:03 of the third, Auston Matthews (5-game point-streak) and Jake Gardiner had the helpers on the pure shot that beat Jaroslav Halak (31 saves, 9th win of the season) cleanly. In old school Leafs fashion, they gave that goal right back 34 seconds later as Krejci scored on a 3-on-1 (his 4th goal of the season) with Pasta and Marchand. Things got silly as Andersen gave up a weak one to Donato shortly after that (6:13) that caused him to get pulled in favor of the immortal Garret Sparks. Donato's third goal of the seaosn was assisted by Heinen and Krug.

Matthews tapped in a goal at 9:30 (his 16th of the season, in 16 games!) that cut it to 6-2. That's when things went a little bonkers as good old Zach Hyman (that is a tough name to live with) hit McAvoy late with a cheap shot. Charlie had just returned on Thursday at Tampa Bay (23-7-1) after missing 20 games with a concussion so you can understand why Grzelcyk dropped the gloves with Hyman. McAvoy went to the Bruins' dressing room but thankfully was cleared to return by the end of the game. A few moments later, Chris Wagner (playing in his 200th NHL game) caught Morgan Rielly with a clean open ice hit (don't do that!) so he fought UMass-Lowell alum Ron Hainsey for shits and giggles. Andreas Johnsson (who earlier in the night refused to fight Sean Kuraly) rounded out the scoring with a completely meaningless power play goal at 12:22, his seventh goal of the season was assisted by Patrick Marleau and Gardiner.

The B's have little time to rest at home as they fly out to Ottawa (13-14-3) for tomorrow's meeting with the Senators (5, NESN). Tuukka Rask will get the start as the Bruins try to start a new win streak. Keep in mind, they are 4-0-1 thus far in the second game of back-to-backs and 3-1-1 in Game 3s when they play three times in four days. The Senators are in full rebuild mode and even though they placed Matt Duchene (groin) and Bobby Ryan (concussion) on injured reserve earlier today, they still managed to beat scuffling Pittsburgh (12-10-6) 2-1 in overtime. More numbers to mull over for tomorrow: Boston is 5-7-4 on the road while Ottawa is surprisingly very good at home (10-5-2). With Arizona (13-12-2) coming to the Garden on Tuesday (7, NESN) the B's have the opportunity to grab some points against non-playoff contenders over the next few days.

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The Maple Leafs Most Certainly Look Like a Playoff Team In 2016-17 While The Bruins Sadly Do Not

You could make an easily compelling case that tonight was the most important game of the season thus far for the Bruins (26-23-6). So you can probably guess how things turned out for them at TD Garden vs. the Maple Leafs (24-17-9) as Tuukka Rask faced 14 shots and only made 10 saves therefore he was pulled halfway through the contest with his team trailing 4-1. The Bruins made a valiant comeback attempt (tying it at 4-4 midway through the 3rd period on Ryan Spooner's goal and then 5-5 late in the 3rd on Patrice Bergeron's power play goal) but earned zero points as UNH's James van Riemsdyk scored the game-winner (his 2nd of the game) at 18:24 for a 6-5 Toronto victory.

This was the third of four meetings in 2016-17 between the Bruins and Maple Leafs with Toronto improving to 3-0. To make matters worse for the B's, they are now only one point ahead of their Original Six rivals who have a whopping five games in hand on them. To further illustrate just how vital this tilt was, SportsclubStats.com says that Boston's playoff chances dropped from 37.2% to 27.8%. They would have gone up by 7.0% with a regulation win, ugh. Fatigue (and injuries) have clearly caught up to Rask who was making his 12th straight start in goal for Boston (and 18 out of the last 19 games).

The B's actually led 1-0 2:17 into the first period as David Pastrnak (21st goal of the season) finished a pass from Bergeron and Chara. Frederik Andersen (36 saves) remains unbeaten (7-0-0) vs. Boston in his career despite such a high-scoring back and forth affair. Toronto has a scary amount of uber-talented rookies led by William Nylander (1st NHL hat trick) and Auston Matthews (3 assists). Nylander tied it up at one after pretty passing with Nazem Kadri and Matthews before he wove around Rask for his 11th goal of the season. The roof caved in on Rask in a rough second period as Toronto scored three goals in the span of 1:46: van Riemsdyk capitalized on an Adam McQuaid turnover then Nylander scored a pair of goals 38 seconds apart (2nd was on a power play) to complete his hat trick. Bruins head coach Claude Julien called his timeout after the third goal and Rask was pulled after the fourth but neither move seemed to produce much of a jolt.

Pastrnak regained some momentum by cutting it to 4-2 (assisted by Bergeron and Chara) at 10:55 then McQuaid and Matt Martin had what might be the fight of the year in the NHL. Both guys traded haymakers for nearly a minute which is a lifetime in a bout. When it was over, the Garden was rocking and Martin had a large cut behind his left ear. Krug's power play goal at 15:53 made it 4-3 Toronto as Pasta and Ryan Spooner assisted on his fifth goal of the season. Spooner put in a rebound at 10:06 of the third period to knot it at four. Chara's third assist tied a career-high (for assists and points in a game) and Dominic Moore notched the other helper.

This isn't your father's Maple Leafs since Toronto didn't seem fazed by blowing a three-goal lead at all (somewhere James Reimer cries himself to sleep). Another rookie Connor Brown made it 5-4 at 15:15 (his 12th goal of the season) with assists going to Zach Hyman and Matthews. Boston cashed in on another power play as Bergeron (13th goal; 5-game point-streak) backhanded in a loose puck at 17:06 from Krug and Brad Marchand (5-game point-streak). It looked like the Bruins would at least steal a point by going to overtime and/or a shootout but Zane McIntyre (10 saves, 2 goals allowed) couldn't get them there, not that it was solely the rookie's backup goaltender's fault. JVR wheeled around the net and beat him with a wicked shot that went top-shelf at 18:24 for his 19th goal of the season. Tyler Bozak and Mitch Marner (2 assists) had the helpers on van Riemsdyk's game-winner which was matched by his younger brother Trevor who had the game-winning goal in Chicago's 5-3 win at Dallas this evening.

Boston's next game isn't until Thursday (7, NESN) when they host last season's Western Conference champions-the Sharks (33-17-2). They have a practice tomorrow and then they are getting two days off which they could use. It should be a wacky week as the Bruins have three games (all at the Garden) in four days. Vancouver (23-22-6) is here on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) and then Montreal (30-16-7) on Sunday night (7:30, NBC Sports). With tonight's loss, the B's fell back under .500 (12-13-0) at the Garden and 3-6-1 in their third jersey (with 5 more games scheduled to wear them) that they might as well burn at this point. The Sharks and Canadiens are both really good and the Canucks are mediocre (plus it will feel like a 10 am start for their bodies) so make of that what you will.

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