Toronto — Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist as the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, on Sunday, forcing a Game 7…
Toronto — Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist as the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, on Sunday, forcing a Game 7 in their first-round playoff series.
Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk also scored, and David Pastrnak had two assists to help Boston avoid elimination. Tuukka Rask stopped 22 shots. The Bruins will host the deciding game on Tuesday night.
Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto in a series neither team has managed back-to-back victories and each has won twice on the road. Frederik Andersen finished with 37 saves.
The Maple Leafs, who lost to the Bruins in seven games in both 2013 and last spring, have not advanced to the second round of the playoffs since 2004.
The winner of this series will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, who got the Eastern Conference’s last wild card and then swept a Tampa Bay Lightning team that tied an NHL record with 62 victories in the regular season.
Toronto, which took a 3-2 lead in the series thanks to a patient, stifling defensive performance Friday at Boston, is Canada’s last hope of ending the country’s 26-year Stanley Cup drought. The Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets were eliminated in their first-round series.
