Leafs Top the Bruins

 

Last night the Maple Leafs squared off against their recent rivals the Boston Bruins but before I go on about this result there is a small update about Jack Campbell and the rumored contract talks. The other day it was mentioned that Jack Campbell and the Leafs had begun talks on a new deal. This was mentioned by Nick Kypreos of the Fan 590 here in Toronto, well Campbell’s agent came out today and said there have not been any serious talks, but everyone needs to relax and let Jack focus on playing hockey.

 

Jack Campbell would get the call-in goal for the streaking Leafs, and they would see former Buffalo Sabre netminder Linus Ulmark in goal. This would be the first time in many years where the Bruins would meet the Leafs and did not have Tukka Rask in goal. This would have also been the first meeting against former teammate Nick Foligno, but he has been dealing with a back injury and it would take him out of the lineup.

 

The opening period would have an exciting and entertaining pace and the atmosphere for this game was so much fun, for me with the excitement of the crowd and the fast paced start this game had a playoff type of feel surrounding it. Ulmark would be called upon early in this game as the Leafs top line would be pressing the play and Toronto would have a huge chance to open the scoring when Morgan Reilly would step off the point looking at a wide-open net. Ulmark would then dive back across goal but thankfully for him Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron would be there to stop the Morgan Reilly attempt. After a few minutes of period one the Bruins were able to settle into the game and gain some confidence and just before the midway point of the first the Bruins would open the scoring. The goal would come thanks to the powerplay that saw Jake Muzzin serve a minor for Delay of game, Bruin fans would not have to wait for long to celebrate as a Patrice Bergeron shot would be deflected by Taylor Hall sending the puck passed the glove of Jack Campbell.

 

With the Leafs trailing 1-0 I am sure many Leaf fans watching last night thought we were going to be in for a long night, and it was probably due to so many years of playoff disappointment. Last night though the Leafs would continue to play on the front foot and only a few minutes after the Bruins opened the scoring the Leafs would tie the game on a very confusing play. Now am going to do my best to explain what happened on this goal because even after watching the replay a few times I am still confused as to why this was a goal.

First Morgan Reilly would take the puck down low, and his centering pass would deflect off Mitch Marner. Now here is the confusing part, Bergeron would direct John Tavares into the Bruins goal knocking the net off but the official watching the play would award a goal to the Leafs. Here is the explanation given by Elliot Friedman. According to the NHL Rule Book apparently when a defensive player initiates contact with an opposing player when the opponent has the puck if the net is knocked off during an attempt on goal, then the puck is to be assumed to have gone in thus awarding the goal. So, in this scenario the defensive player, in this case Bergeron knocked the net off its pegs by sending Tavares into the net and because an attempt was made towards goal, Marner deflecting the puck the goal is awarded. Long story short the game is tied 1-1 and when the goal was thought to originally belong to Mitch Marner during the lengthy review the replay showed that the puck lastly bounced off the skate of Tavares before going into the Bruins net. So, bottom line John Tavares would tie the game at ones with his fifth goal of the season and that would be the score after the first twenty minutes of play.

 

Period two would see the Leafs head to the penalty kill just forty seconds into play, Toronto would get called for two many men. Aside from a few chances by the Bruins they would be unable to take the lead. After this Boston would head to the box three consecutive times. As we know the Leafs powerplay has been a question mark all season, well last night Toronto’s special teams were a huge part of this frame. With Matt Grzelyck serving a high sticking minor the Leafs would capitalize on the man advantage as Mitch Marner would work a give and go with Tavares. After Marner would get the puck back he would center the puck to Auston Matthews, and he would send a backhand shot into the roof of the net and thanks to his fourth of the season the Leafs would take the lead 2-1. In the final two minutes of the second period the Leaf powerplay would strike again. Brad Marchand would get to watch this goal from the penalty box while serving a high sticking minor of his own. Morgan Reilly would hold the puck at the point he would send a pass to Auston Matthews, and he would then fire the puck under the glove of Ulmark and the Leafs would see their lead grow to 3-1 as Matthews would collect his second of the contest.

The Maple Leafs would take their 3-1 lead into the third period, but this period would see Boston throw everything at the Leaf goal but thankfully Jack Campbell was up to the task keeping the Leafs in possession of a two-goal lead. A few minutes into the third Toronto would score once again. After winning a puck battle along the boards Tavares would send the puck back to the point. Rasmus Sandin would send a point shot towards goal, Ulmark would make the save but John Tavares would collect the rebound and send the puck into the back of the net. With the Leafs now ahead 4-1 Boston would dominate the play and really pile on the pressure. Midway through the period David Pastrnak who had been relatively quiet most of the night would cut the lead in half after one timing a pass from Brad Marchand to score his third goal of the season.

With the Bruins trailing by a pair of goals they would continue searching for their next goal but as I said Campbell play out of his mind, he was able to make some huge saves keeping the Leafs in the lead. Campbell would make direct saves on Boston’s Craig Smith and Tomas Nosek, in fact in the third period alone the Boston Bruins fired a total of twenty-three shots towards Campbell in the third period alone. In the final minute of regulation, the Leafs would put the game away for good as Mitch Marner would fire the puck into the open cage for his third goal of the season, his fourth of the evening, and tenth point in the last five games.

The Leafs would win this matchup 5-2 and will now prepare to closeout this homestand on Monday night when they host the Kings of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it was announced that Petr Mrazek will miss approximately four weeks as he is once again dealing with the same groin injury that took him out of action earlier in the season so hopefully Campbell can keep the Leafs in the hunt because the stretch of opponents may be a challenge for this Leafs team.