FINAL SCORE: Briuns 4, Maple Leafs 2
IN BRIEF: In a do-or-die Game 6 in Toronto, the Bruins got a huge win to force Game 7 in front of the TD Garden crowd.
BRUINS-MAPLE LEAFS SERIES: Tied 3-3
FROM JOE HAGGERTY
Bruins power play was a saving grace all season, and it is again in must-win Game 6 to this point. The Bruins PP has scored a couple of goals in the first period to stake the B’s to a 2-1 lead and allowed the Bruins to outshoot the Leafs by a 12-6 margin after the opening 20 minutes. The first was a Marchand shot of an offensive zone face-off that bounced off Ron Hainsey and the second was a Torey Krug rebound score after a David Pastrnak shot from the opposite face-off dot. Bruins haven’t had a bad PP possession in this one while Toronto’s power play looks a little off to start this game. The B’s power play didn’t get another chance for much of the rest of the game, but they did their job in the first period.
It’s important to see Torey Krug really playing the best that he’s been in this entire series in this game with the PP goal, a whole lot of movement when he’s out there on the power play, and a team-high eight shots on net and 11 shot attempts in the opening 40 minutes. The Bruins are a different team when Krug begins to become a difference-maker at the offensive end of the ice and he’s been active in all situations in the game today. Perhaps getting further removed from that big hit Jake Muzzin threw on him earlier in the series has helped Krug find his game at these latter moments.
Boston Bruins
Jake DeBrusk finally busts through for his first goal of the playoffs to stake the B’s to a 3-1 lead. It was a slick two-man game with David Krejci that ended with Krejci feeding DeBrusk for a tipped shot at the net, and it seemed to finally unlock DeBrusk’s confidence and flow within the game. Interestingly he’s only played 7:23 of ice time in this one. But DeBrusk was a massive figure in last spring’s first round series with five goals and seven points, and an offensive burst from him at the end of this first round series could be a huge development for the Black and Gold.
Brad Marchand finishes off a massive effort by fighting through Morgan Rielly to snap a puck into the empty net and give the Bruins a 4-2 win in Game 6 to set up a winner take all Game 7 back in Boston on Tuesday night. Marchand finished with two goals, three points and a plus-1 in 19:42 of ice time to go along with nine shot attempts and some really strong play throughout. Of Boston’s top three forwards, Marchand has proven to be the best of them all in this series and the only really consistent force for the Black and Gold.
HIGHLIGHTS
TORONTO STRIKES FIRST
MARCHAND TIES IT 1-1
KRUG GIVES B'S A LEAD
DEBRUSK MAKES IT 3-1 BRUINS
LEAFS CUT THE LEAD TO 3-2
MARCHAND SEALS IT
UP NEXT
Game 7: Tuesday, TBD
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