Maple Leafs Squander Home Ice Advantage, Fall to Bruins in Game 4 – Hockey Writers – NHL News
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost their second game in a row, losing to the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday (April 27) at Scotiabank Arena.
The Bruins got goals from James van Riemsdyk, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak to take a 3-0 lead in the second half.
Marchand's goal moved him past Cam Neely (55) for most playoff goals in Bruins history. His goal also allowed him to join Ray Bourque (46) as the second player in Bruins history with 40 game high points in the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs and their faithful continue to rage that Marchand is averaging two points per game in this series and leads the Eastern Conference in scoring, that his fingers are on both sides of a losing special teams battle, and that this ninja of the dark arts of hockey has drawn penalties two important ones while not taking his own.
In the third period, the Maple Leafs tried to get back into the contest when Mitch Marner scored with just over five minutes left in the third period. But that was as close as they would get as the Bruins held on for a 3-1 win.
Jeremy Swaymen stopped 22 of 23 shots in the win.
Nylander Returns
After a long period of speculation and speculation, William Nylander returned to the Maple Leafs program. Adding Nylander back to the roster is huge. He will bring much-needed help to a struggling power play, especially with zone entries. He is the best player on this team at finding space with the puck. He can move in and out of the opposition and take up space before passing it on to allow his teammates to set up.
It was the hope of the Maple Leafs and their faithful that Nylander would add another scoring option on the third line. The line combination of Calle Jarnkrok, Pontus Holmberg, and Nick Robertson has been good but has been used more as a screening line than a goal line. With the second line of John Tavares, Matthew Knies, and Mitch Marner not playing as well as they should have, adding Nylander to this third line should help the Maple Leafs get more opportunities offensively. He may have to step up to replace Auston Matthews if he is not eligible for Game 5 as he was ejected early in the third quarter.
Game 5 will take place on Monday, April 29, at TD Garden in Boston.
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