GAME 4 OFFICIALS
Referees Brian Pochmara (16), Wes McCauley (4)
Kendrick Nicholson (30)*
Linesmen Ryan Daisy (81), Brad Kovachik (71)
Shandor Alphonso (52)*
Ntl. Anthem Martina Ortiz-Luis
INJURIES – Playoff man-games lost: 12 - Connor Clifton – Upper body - Marcus Johansson - Illness - Sean Kuraly – 3/22 hand surgery - Kevan Miller – Lower body - John Moore – Upper body 2019
ROUND ONE SERIES vs TORONTO - The Bruins and Maple Leafs play game 4 of their Round One series tonight in Toronto with the Maple Leafs leading the series 2 games to 1 … They will play game 5 in Boston on 4/19 (time TBA) … If necessary, game 6 will be in Toronto on 4/21 & game 7 in Boston on 4/23 (times TBD). - The Bruins enter tonight’s game with a 16-16 all-time record in game 4s of best-of-7 series in which they have trailed, 1-2 … They are 8-24 all-time in best-of-seven series in which they have trailed 1-2. - 15 Bruins have previously played vs. Toronto in the playoffs … 3 Bruins played their 1st NHL playoff games in game 1 of this series (Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton & Karson Kuhlman) while Steven Kampfer made his NHL playoff debut in game 3 … Jakub Zboril is looking to play in his 1st NHL playoff contest. Rd1, Gm1: 4/11 – TOR 4 at BOS 1: The Bruins struck 1st on a Patrice Bergeron PPG but the Maple Leafs scored 4 unanswered for the win … Mitch Marner had 2G for Toronto, including a penalty shot goal at 2:47 of the 2nd period, while John Tavares had 1-1=2 totals … SOG: Bos 38, Tor 33 … PP: Bos 1/2 , Tor 0/1 Rd1, Gm2: 4/13 – TOR 1 at BOS 4: The Bruins opened a 3-0 lead on goals by Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand & Danton Heinen before Patrice Bergeron scored the game’s final goal to even the series after Nazem Kadri had made it 3-1 … SOG: Bos 41, Tor 31 … PP: Bos 1/4, Tor 0/3 Rd1, Gm3: 4/15 – BOS 2 at TOR 3: David Krejci evened the game at 1-1 after Toronto had opened the scoring but the Maple Leafs took a 3-1 lead before Charlie Coyle brought the Bruins within 1 … SOG: Bos 36, Tor 34 … PP: Bos 1/3, Tor 2/3
BOSTON vs TORONTO, LIFETIME SERIES - The Bruins and Maple Leafs are meeting for the 16th time in the playoffs … The only team that Boston has played more series against is Montreal (34). - The Bruins are 7-8 all-time in series vs. Toronto with their previous meeting a 7–game Boston win in the 2018 Round One series. - They have played 79 games vs. the other with each team sporting a 39-39-1 record … The Bruins have a 210-196 scoring advantage in those games. - Fun Facts: The Bruins became the 1st team in NHL history to win a game 7 when they had trailed by 3 goals in the 3rd period when they defeated Toronto on 5/13/13, coming back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game in regulation with Patrice Bergeron scoring in OT for the 5-4 win … The Bruins also trailed the Maple Leafs by a goal entering the 3rd period of their game 7 on 4/25/18, scoring 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd to take a 7-4 win … Boston’s 10-0 win vs. Toronto on 4/2/69 stands as their largest margin of victory in a playoff game & included a club-record 6 power play goals … Phil Esposito set a club mark for points in a playoff game with the only 4- goal playoff game in team history in a 4-2=6 night in that game … David Pastrnak tied that club mark for points in a game with a 3-3=6 night on 4/14/2018, becoming the youngest player in NHL history to score 6 points in a playoff game … Game 2 of the SF on 3/31/51 ended in a 1-1 tie so that Maple Leaf Gardens could be cleared by midnight due to a Toronto law in effect at that time that placed an 11:45 curfew on sporting events … The Bruins won the 2nd Stanley Cup in their history over Toronto in 1939 … Boston & Toronto played the 2nd-longest game in NHL history on 4/3/33 when Ken Doraty scored at 104:48 of OT to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 win.
The Maple Leafs grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series on Monday with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Bruins.
"I thought it was a higher-level game (Monday) than the other games," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "It was quicker, both teams were better. In the other two games I think one team was better each night."
But for the Bruins to keep the Maple Leafs from taking the big series lead, they are going to need to return to the forechecking and puck control in the Maple Leafs' zone that worked their win in this series.
"Very effective for us in Game 2," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Putting pucks behind the goal line and forcing (Toronto) to go 200 feet. I don't think we got burned by the stretch pass, per se, but we didn't establish enough forecheck to create second chances, get them fatigued in their zone, get them tired kicking pucks out. It was decent at times but not consistent enough for what I feel is a formula for us to have the most success."
"That's the biggest key to this series, the neutral zone, and it seemed they were coming with more speed (Monday)," Bruins left winger Jake DeBrusk said. "I thought we brought the speed in Game 2, and they brought the speed in (Games) 1 and 3 -- and those are the results."
The Maple Leafs' top line of John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman have controlled the Bruins first line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. The Bruins will need improved play from that line.
"They've having a tougher time getting to the net and as a result I think they're trying real hard one-on-one to get there. I think they've got to use each other a little better. And get an old-fashioned goal, when there's a center lane, drive the puck to the net, get a second chance," Cassidy said. "They're pretty determined guys. They'll find their way."
Bergeron agreed the way Boston will stay in the series is to put the puck on net to create chances instead of staying on the perimeter.
"You know, that's where you're going to score your goals, right?" Bergeron said. "It's about keeping the puck in there and once you do have possession, it's about getting it to the net a little bit more. We can't stay on the outside. We have to find to find a way to create those chances."
Babcock gave credit to his group.
"Obviously, the priority against them is to play real good players, that's what we're doing as a five-man unit and you do everything you can to at least go 50 percent in the faceoff circle so they don't have the puck all the time," Babcock said. "We have good players too and John (Tavares) here now, we've got a veteran guy, he's been around a while and he's gotten better and better and better defensively this year and it shows."
The difference in Game 3 proved to be a pair of second-period power-play goals by Auston Matthews and Andreas Johnsson that gave Toronto a 3-1 lead. Charlie Coyle responded with a power-play goal before the second period ended.
It was the first goal of the series for Matthews, who also had an assist on Monday.
Although there were no goals in the first period, the Maple Leafs center said their fast start to the game was significant.
"Yeah that was big for us," Matthews said. "I think we just used our speed and got in their end and we just tried to play below their dots and did a good job tracking back and supporting our D and breaking out the puck clean. I thought that first seven, eight minutes was really strong for us."
The series returns to Boston for Game 5 on Friday.
Last edited:
