The Bruins had their most well-rounded effort of the series on Saturday.
It isn’t just Jeremy Swayman establishing doubt in the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For the second straight season, the Bruins will return to Boston with a 3-1 series lead. Unlike last year, when they faced a scrappy Florida Panthers team with nothing to lose, the Bruins will enter this year’s clinching scenario against a team with very little confidence.
The opportunistic Bruins capitalized on Toronto’s turnovers and undisciplined play. They struck first for the third time in the series on James van Riemsdyk‘s tally in the opening frame. A pinching Mason Lohrei forced Ryan Reaves into a blunder in the Boston attacking end, setting van Riemsdyk up to net his first tally since Feb. 17.
On the heels of Max Domi’s embarrassing cross-check on David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand etched his name in the franchise record books. The Boston captain fired a one-timer past Ilya Samsonov for the 56th playoff goal of his career at 8:20 of the middle stanza.
Marchand factored into another insurance tally in the closing ticks of the second, beating T.J. Brodie to a loose puck in the slot before finding Pastrnak to finish a 2-on-0 sequence.
With Auston Matthews exiting to a nagging illness, Mitch Marner provided a little sign of life after cycling around Boston’s D for his first of the playoffs at 5:43 of the third. The Leafs had the Bruins scrambling a few shifts later, only for William Nylander to commit another ill-advised attacking zone penalty.
The Bruins kept the Leafs in check for the final half of the third to secure their 3-1 win in front of a disgruntled Scotiabank Arena crowd.
Here’s what we learned from Boston’s convincing Game 4 triumph.The Bruins had their most well-rounded effort of the series.
Following two spectacular outings, the Bruins decided to halt their goaltending rotation with Swayman and Linus Ullmark.
