The Bruins Score 1st Then It All Goes Downhill From There As The Maple Leafs Take Game 1, 4-1

At this point, the incredible droughts for the Maple Leafs are well-known around the hockey world: they last won the Stanley Cup in 1967 and they haven't even come out on top in a single playoff series since 2004. For a team that is the second-most valuable in the NHL according to the recent list published by Forbes Magazine and gets exhausting coverage by the Canadian media, these things have to end at some point, right?

This is the third time since 2013 that the Leafs and Bruins have met in the playoffs (also last year) with Boston taking both of them in seven epic games. In Game 1 tonight at TD Garden, the Maple Leafs executed their gameplan to perfection as they came away with an easier-than-expected 4-1 victory. Mitch Marner continued his mastery of the B's (and added more dollar signs to his next contract this summer) with a pair of goals while Frederik Andersen (37 saves) had one of the best playoff performances in his NHL career. Boston actually got the first goal which is usually a huge key in the postseason: Patrice Bergeron finished a pretty cross-ice feed from his BFF Brad Marchand for a 1-0 lead at 9:31 of the first period. It was the 32nd career playoff goal for Bergeron and his 86th postseason point; Marchand reached 40 career playoff assists and 61 postseason points while Torey Krug (20th career assist and 29th postseason points) had the other helper.

Toronto tied it up at one later in the first period as Jake Muzzin's shot hit the post and then Marner was there to put in the rebound at 16:44. He was the best player against Boston in last season's playoff series and Marner continued to bolster his credentials as a legit Bruins killer (9 goals, 20 assists in 20 career games vs. Boston). The B's went 3-1 vs. the Leafs in the regular season which means nothing and for what it's worth, this was the first time that Muzzin faced them since he was traded to Toronto from Los Angeles this winter. That was Muzzin's 14th career playoff assist and John Tavares had the other assist (his 1st playoff point as a Leaf). You might remember him as the guy that supposedly spurned the Bruins in free agency last summer for his hometown Leafs.

With another power play early in the second period, the B's looked poised to regain the lead but instead about the worst possible (and extremely unlikely) event happened: the puck hopped over Jake DeBrusk's stick at the blue line of Boston's offensive zone which allowed Marner to zoom ahead on a breakaway. DeBrusk isn't yet known for his Bergeron defensive forward skills so all he could do to prevent a goal was to take Marner down before Jake went crashing back first into the boards, ouch. There wasn't much that Tuukka Rask (29 saves) could do on the ensuing penalty shot as Marner froze him with a slick move then wheeled the forehand shot around him. It was only the second successful penalty shot in Leafs playoff history and the sixth ever allowed by the Bruins (only 2 of which ended in goals). That punch in the gut was followed by a kick to the nuts later in the frame by Toronto was William Nylander took a long stretch pass from Nazem Kadri (7th career playoff assist) and beat Rask five-hole for a 3-1 Leafs advantage at 18:25. What do you want Rask to do when his teammates allowed roughly 100 breakaways in that period? Old man Patrick Marleau (playing in his 185th career playoff game) had his 54th career playoff assist on young Nylander's backbreaking tally.

Boston outshot Toronto 21-14 in the second period yet they were outscored 2-0 then, yuck. The Bruins could never make it interesting in the third (by cutting the deficit to 1 goal and putting some pressure on the Leafs). The closest they came to another goal was Joakim Nordstrom missing the net by mere inches on a rebound in the crease that Andersen had lost track of. Fittingly on that last slice of turd pizza, Tavares put it away with an empty-netter at 18:41. Gross. Game 2 is Saturday night (8, NESN) at the Garden and all the Bruins can do is flush this disappointing Game 1 down the toilet.

If you are into scary numbers, check these out: Boston is 14-34 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail a series 0-1 while Toronto is 19-13 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead a series 1-0. Finally, Boston is 20-28 in Game 2s when trailing in a series 0-1. Home ice doesn't mean all that much in the NHL playoffs (this ain't the NBA my friends) but needless to say, Game 2 is nearly a must-win for the Bruins. There is no way they want to go to Toronto down 0-2 in the series. The biggest adjustment that they have to make for a different outcome on Saturday is to not allow so many breakaways and odd-man rushes by the Leafs. That's easier said than done since Toronto has so much team speed, still it's no time to panic yet for the home team. Did anybody think that this series would be that easy (and yes I realize that everyone and their mother picked the Bruins to win it)?

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Behind Pastrnak's Transcendent Night (3 goals, 3 assists), B's Take a 2-0 Lead In the Series vs. Leafs

It can't possibly be this easy right? Through the first two games of what was expected to be a very tight, competitive series, the Bruins have looked like world-beaters while the Maple Leafs have been anything but ready for primetime. Similar to Game 1, tonight in Game 2 Boston won by four goals yet again (7-3) but this was a little spicier dish at TD Garden as David Pastrnak (3 goals, 3 assists) had the first six-point performance by a Bruin in the playoffs since Rick Middleton (2 goals, 4 assists) on April 18, 1983 vs. Buffalo. The B's took a 2-0 series lead as similar themes from Thursday continued: Boston's power play is unstoppable (2-for-4 tonight and 5-for-10 in the series) and the same can be said for their top line of Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron (4 assists) and Brad Marchand (4 assists) who have already combined for 20 (!) points.

Minus forward Nazem Kadri who was suspended three games for his gutless hit on Tommy Wingels in Game 1, you figured that Toronto would respond with a more solid performance. Haha not so much as the Bruins scored four goals in the first 15 minutes of the contest and they simply cruised from there. Pasta began his bonanza with a sweet spin-o-rama into a backhander for a 1-0 B's lead at 5:26. Torey Krug (3 assists) and Bergeron had the helpers on that highlight reel tally. Jake DeBrusk went hard to the net and was rewarded with his first career NHL playoff goal at 9:46, tipping in a zipped pass from Krug with Bergeron picking up the second assist. Before you could blink, it was 3-0 Bruins at 12:13 as Kevan Miller bagged his first career playoff goal by throwing the puck toward the net and watching it go in off of Nikita Zaitsev's skate. That was all she wrote for Frederik Andersen who faced five shots on goal and saw three of them go by him. Backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney (4 goals allowed, 23 saves) did not fare much better so I'm sure that Leafs head coach Mike Babcock will go back to Andersen to start the must-win Game 3 on Monday (7, NESN) at Air Canada Centre.

DeBrusk's goal was on the power play and Boston's man advantage cashed in again as Rick Nash deposited your garden variety rebound at 15:00 of the first. Nash's first career playoff goal as a Bruin was assisted by Pastrnak and Krug. Toronto actually outplayed Boston in the second period (outshooting them 16-14) and outscored them 2-1 but Tuukka Rask (30 saves) made enough quality stops to keep the B's safely in front. Mitch Marner got the Maple Leafs on the board at 1:22 of the second when he re-directed a pass from Zach Hyman for his first goal of the postseason. David Krejci restored that four-goal Boston lead a few minutes later as he tipped in a shot by Pastrnak for his second goal of the postseason with Marchand providing the second assist. Toronto played with an urgency that they lacked for the first four periods of the series and Tyler Bozak notched his first goal of the playoffs with a sneaky little one-timer from Connor Brown and Morgan Rielly at 9:02 of the second.

Things got a little loose in the third period as Maple Leafs left wing Leo Komarov left with an upper-body injury. Pastrnak completed his hat trick, sandwiched around a meaningless power play goal by James van Riemsdyk (his 1st goal of the series). Anybody seen Auston Matthews? The young Leafs superstar was -2 and so far, he has been held without a point in the first two games. Pasta's hat trick was the first by a Bruin in the playoffs since Krejci did the deed on May 8, 2013 vs. Toronto.

At some point, the real Maple Leafs are going to show up in this series. Maybe? All the pressure is on them now since Boston held serve at home with authority. Things could quickly change if Toronto can win Game 3 and climb back from this pit of misery. However, if the B's can find a way to pull out a victory on Monday, it feels like the Leafs will fold up shop and get ready for the off-season. We were all so scared of this team and thus far, they have been nothing but frauds. What happens in Game 3 should tell us plenty about the mental makeup of the Toronto since all Boston really needs is a split North of the border to return here with a chance to close things out in a Game 5 on Saturday.

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Is This The Start of the Inevitable Collapse for the B's While They Are Missing So Many Good Players?

Every team in professional sports has injuries so using those as an excuse too often falls on deaf ears. However, right now the fact remains for the Bruins (6-6-4) that when they are missing David Krejci, David Backes, Adam McQuaid and Ryan Spooner, they are forced to rely way too much on guys that should be getting seasoning in Providence rather than facing the daily rigors of the NHL. Boston began the week with a misleading 5-3 win vs. Minnesota on Monday but since then they've dropped three in a row. Tonight at TD Garden, they fell 4-1 to the Maple Leafs (12-7-0) after Toronto stunned them with a 2-1 overtime win last night at Air Canada Centre.

With budding superstar (and American hero) Auston Matthews out for both meetings with an injury and facing the immortal Curtis McElhinney (38 saves) in net this evening for the Leafs, this was a game that the Bruins had to have and despite outshooting Toronto 39-25, they lacked any sort of finishing ability. Tuukka Rask (21 saves) fell to 3-6-2 as yet again he was not able to play like a true No. 1 goaltender that can carry his team or teammates when they are down. I still think that Rask can be a very good goalie but it doesn't help when Brandon Carlo turns the puck over right to Mitch Marner at 8:52 for an easy goal, his 2nd of the season.

James van Riemsdyk enjoyed his time against the B's since he had a pair of goals on Friday and he made it 2-0 tonight with a power-play goal at 14:16 of the first period. He tipped in Nazem Kadri's shot for his ninth goal of the season with Morgan Rielly picking up the second assist. The Black and Gold world might be collapsing (sorry for the stupid hyperbole) around them but at least Frank Vatrano has somewhat remembered how to do his one skill that got him here: score goals. He tipped in a shot from Torey Krug (7-game point streak) and Kevan Miller at 15:18 of the first for his second goal of the campaign.

Toronto led 2-1 after the first and Matt Martin laid a massive hit on rookie Anders Bjork early in the second frame at center ice. Both guys were shaken up but they each remained in the game, because hockey. Matt Beleskey might be nothing more than a fourth line plug these days but at least he stands up for his teammates: he fought Martin a few minutes later since who else would in this Swiss cheese lineup? With the Leafs up 2-1 after 40 minutes, Boston needed to conjure up something notable to avoid grabbing only one point out of a possible four this weekend against their Atlantic Division foe. Instead, their power play was blanked on four occasions overall and the Leafs put it out of reach with Rielly's goal at 6:52 that of course deflected off Carlo's stick. JVR and Marner picked up their second points on Rielly's third goal of the season.

To say that goal was deflating would be an understatement since right before it, Boston had a two-man advantage for 1:07 that they shamelessly flushed down the toilet. Head coach Bruce Cassidy used his timeout right after the second penalty was whistled but there would be no proper response by his club. Grandpa Marleau broke Boston's hearts with the overtime tally and he put this slopfest to bed with an empty-net goal with 1:47 left in regulation. His eighth goal of the season was assisted by Zach Hyman (fun name!) and Leo Komarov.

Dating back to last season, Toronto improved to 6-0 vs. Boston meaning that the B's have two more chances left to avoid another ugly fate: a season sweep at the hands of one of their sneaky biggest rivals these days. Hey no worries though, the Bruins won't return to the Garden until Black Friday (1, NESN) when they host the Penguins (9-7-2) in their annual day after Thanksgiving matinee. Between Now and Then (cheesy 90s movie reference, just call me Bill Simmons) they leave on the dreaded California trip and then they go to New Jersey (10-4-2)-the Eastern Conference's biggest surprise-the night before Thanksgiving (7, NESN).

Did I mention that the B's are 1-3-2 on the road thus far? Anaheim (7-6-3) on Wednesday is probably their best chance at a win on the road trip since the Ducks are super banged up just like them. At LA (11-3-2) the next night (10:30, NESN) is no picnic since the Kings are one of the NHL's best at the moment (who could forget their last second 2-1 overtime win here back on Oct. 28?) and finally, the Sharks (8-6-0) on Saturday night (10:30, NESN) will be looking for revenge after they lost here 2-1 on October 26.

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