BOSTON – Headed into the first-round series against the Maple Leafs, the Bruins had a pretty good idea their top line would be able to get whatever they wanted against a thoroughly average Toronto defense. That’s the kind of confidence built on a season where the Perfection Line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak formed the NHL’s best two-way line. They played like that in a 5-1 win in Game 1 at the Garden.
Marchand and Pastrnak had goals, Bergeron led all players with six shots on net and Marchand even managed to sneak a little more public display of affection with gritty Toronto forward Leo Komarov before it was all said and done. It was certainly a far cry from the combined minus-20 that trio racked up in the five games in April when they were done in by a tough end to the regular season, but it's much more of what people came to expect from the trio of two-way superstars.
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“It just happens sometimes,” said Marchand, when asked how they are so good at making plays at moving the puck as a line in the offensive zone in 5-on-5 play. “They are actually one of the tougher teams to play against in the offensive zone, the way that they play tight and basically five guys in the corner so you don’t get many opportunities against them. We got lucky there tonight and hopefully, it works next game.”
Marchand calling his line lucky would be like Sidney Crosby calling his hat trick lucky from the Penguins' opening game against the Flyers, but it’s admirable that the Nose Face Killah is sticking with the humble pie postgame game plan. The truth is that Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak have looked like the Harlem Globetrotters on ice for most of the season while dominating teams with puck possession, crafty little plays in the attack zone and three expert finishers that all topped 30 goals on the season.
Even when the refs tossed Patrice Bergeron out of the face-off circle as they did a handful of times in Game 1, Marchand stepped in and won four of six draws. They literally could do no wrong on the ice in the opening salvo against the Leafs, and did all of that while holding Auston Matthews completely in check.
“That’s what Bergy’s line does; they make plays, they support one another, and they get those slot looks. They were able to get a couple and got the second one in,” said Bruce Cassidy. “That was the big goal to me. That third goal, all of a sudden, you’re up two, your best players are feeling it, and we know we can play winning hockey in the third period.
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“You’ve got to go out there and do it, but you’ve got to get out there and do it, but we’re comfortable in those games, and we did it in the third.”
It was Marchand that perhaps stepped up the most given that he hadn’t scored a playoff goal in his previous 16 home tilts at TD Garden, and that he was going to be a target for the Leafs to try and get him off his game.
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Instead, it was Marchand who snapped his personal playoff struggles with a nifty backhanded finish on Boston’s first goal, one of three power-play strikes. It was No. 63 again in the second period, wheeling, dealing and dangling in the corner before feeding Pastrnak for a lightning-quick wrist shot from the slot area. That was the goal that made it 3-1 and effectively crushed Toronto’s spirit while showing the trademark killer instinct from Marchand.
“I thought it was excellent. He’s going to be a guy that teams are going to circle, because he’s an elite player. In the past, you’ve been able to get him off his game at times. The good players that play with passion, you see with a lot of them…how quickly can you get it back and where do you keep your discipline not to hurt your team,” said Cassidy. “I thought he did a real good job with that tonight. I’m sure he’ll get tested again Saturday, but that’s what Marchy’s up against.
“You want to be a good player, you better be prepared for extra attention. He’s not the only one of our guys, just like they’ve got some guys over there that we want to make it hard for them to earn their ice, and that’s hockey in general, but it’s even more magnified this time of the year.”
That top trio accounted for 24 of Boston’s 73 shot attempts for the game and played a big hand in three of Boston’s five goals. Clearly, it’s not going to go that swimmingly every single night, particularly in Toronto, where Mike Babcock is probably going to try and hide Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly from them, but it’s exactly the kind of opening statement the Bruins wanted to see from their game-breaking top line.
“We tried to simplify some more and start from the beginning. The last couple of [regular season] games, weren’t our best as a line,” said Pastrnak, who led the Bruins with three points and a whopping 10 shot attempts in the win. “We tried to simplify it and I think that we did a good job. Good to jump back in for us.”
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The best two-way line in the NHL is keeping it simple. Energized after a few days off after the end of the regular season, they were quite simply something the Leafs had zero answers for in Game 1. Perhaps that will change a little in Toronto when the Leafs have their last change, but a few more games from the Perfection Line like that and it isn’t going to matter because the series will be over.