TORONTO (AP) — Brad Marchand broke a tie midway through the third period and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
After Todd Bertuzzi tied it for Toronto with 8:35 left, Marchard put the Bruins back in front 28 second later. He took a pass from Danton Heinen and ripped a shot past goalie Ilya Samsonov’s ear. Marchand capped the scoring with an empty-netter and also had an assist.
“We stuck with it all game,” Marchand said. “We elevated to another level.”
The Maple Leafs were livid at Marchand's agitating antics.
“The gamesmanship and everything, it’s world class,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said about Marchand. “He’s been in the league long enough … he gets calls. It’s unbelievable, actually, how it goes. We’ve got to play through that.”
Marchand got tangled up with Bertuzzi in the second period with Toronto up 1-0. A frothing Scotiabank Arena crowd clamoring for a penalty, the referees took no issues before Trent Frederic scored the tying goal seconds later.
“I don’t think there’s another player in this series that gets away with taking out Bertuzzi’s legs the way that he does,” Keefe said. “It’s an art and he’s elite at it. We have to manage our way through that.”
Jake DeBrusk also scored for Boston, and Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves. Swayman made 35 saves in Boston's 5-1 victory in Game 1, then gave way to Linus Ullmark in Toronto's 3-2 victory in Game 2.
Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Samsonov made 30 saves. Toronto was 0 for 5 on the power play, leaving it 1 for 11 in the series.
“At times we played well,” Keefe said. “Not well enough to get the win.”
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto pulled Samsonov for the extra attacker with just over two minutes to go, but Maple Leafs captain John Tavares took a holding penalty with 1:04 left and Marchand sealed it with the empty-net goal.
The Maple Leafs opened the scoring with 6:50 left in the second. Mitch Marner deftly moved past a defender and slid a pass for Knies to redirect upstairs on Swayman.
Boston tied it with 2:23 left in the period when Frederic's shot went off the lost and in. DeBrusk gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 1:07 of third.
UP NEXT
Game 4 is Saturday night in Toronto.
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