*Photo from CP24*
Boston leads series 1-0
This series is starting off on a familiar foot. Charlie McAvoy had two assists, Jake DeBrusk had two goals and an assist, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 Saturday night in Boston.
Having faced off plenty in the first round in the 2010s, the Bruins and Maple Leafs have their first matchup of the 2020s and like the bouts in the 2010s, it's the Bruins off to the quick start. If Boston keeps playing like they did in this game, the series won't go 7 games like the clashes of the 2010s did.
Riding two assist games from McAvoy and Brad Marchand to go along with a 3 point game from DeBrusk, the Bruins jumped out to the early series lead on home ice. It was a great bounce back for a team that lost the last two games of the regular season and the Atlantic Division along with it.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman said of the win that "I think we stuck to the game plan really well. It starts with our coaching staff giving us one to be effective against this team. They’re obviously a great team and they forecheck well, and I think that our game plan was excellent."
Just 2:26 into the game, John Beecher opened the scoring for the Bruins, scoring on his first playoff shift to make it 1-0. Brandon Carlo made it a 2-0 lead for the Bruins 5:47 into the second period with assists from DeBrusk and Hampus Lindholm. On the power play 15:02 into the period, DeBrusk scored with McAvoy and Marchand assisting to make it a 3-0 game.
DeBrusk scored again with the Bruins on the power play with 2:26 left in the second, making it a 4-0 game with assists again going to Marchand and McAvoy. David Kampf got the Maple Leafs on the board 1:39 into the 3rd period, making it a 4-1 game. Trent Frederic sealed the Bruins win with an empty net goal.
Beecher said of the atmosphere that "I knew the energy was going to be there in the building. We came up for the national anthem and honestly got chills just sitting on the bench and hearing the crowd and how fired up everybody was to be there."
It was Swayman who got the start for the Bruins to open the series. He came up big in goal as the Bruins got the win, stopping all but one of the 36 shots he was tested with by Toronto's offense, recording a sparkling .972 save percentage.
Getting the start on the other end of the ice for the Maple Leafs was Ilya Samsonov. Taking the loss, Samsonov turned aside 19 out of the 23 shots on goal the Bruins offense sent his way, giving him a .826 save percentage.
Toronto forward Auston Matthews said after the game that "I thought it started out a pretty good game. And then just little mistakes, and they’re a very patient team. And obviously executed on the mistakes that we made, so it’s a game of inches. We get a taste of what the series is all about here in this game."
Game two of the series is Monday night in Boston. The Bruins look to jump out to a two game series lead before hitting the road, while Toronto will look to win to tie the series and force at least a game 5 in the series, which would be in Boston.
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