Here are Joe Haggerty's Talking Points from the Bruins' 4-2 in Toronto to force Game 7
GOLD STAR: There were a number of players to choose from, but it has to be Brad Marchand when it’s all said and done. He scored two goals in the game and iced things late in the third period when he fought through a Morgan Reilly stick check to bury the empty netter and send things back to Boston for a Game 7 on Tuesday night. Marchand also fought to get inside in the first period on a Patrice Bergeron offensive zone draw and then flicked a shot that bounced off Ron Hainsey on its way to the back of the net. Marchand finished with the two goals and three points and a plus-1 in 20:12 of ice time in the win, had six shots on net and nine shot attempts overall and played a dynamic, tough brand of hockey that’s always effective at this time of year. He’s got four goals and nine points in this series and has arguably been Boston’s best player throughout it.
BLACK EYE: Mitch Marner is usually a Bruins killer and a thorn in that team’s side, but he was invisible throughout the game for the Maple Leafs. Instead he missed all three of the shot attempts that he took, had a couple of giveaways and generally did not play well in his 21:17 of ice time while on the top line with John Tavares and Zach Hyman. That line didn’t give away a ton 5-on-5 throughout the game, but they really didn’t do much offensively at all at a time when the Leafs needed somebody to provide some offense as they were getting strangled by the B’s defense. One would expect Marner is going to be better in Game 7, but perhaps they’ve also found a way to slow down a little bit in this series.
TURNING POINT: It was early on as the Maple Leafs scored the first goal of the game when Tuukka Rask allowed a long distance goal to Morgan Rielly, and then Boston really stiffened after that point for the rest of the game. They dominated puck possession for the rest of the first period, and it was to the point where Toronto had a measly eight shots on net midway through the second. During that time the Bruins managed to score a couple of power play goals in the first to take control of the game, and then rode that out the rest of the way for the big Game 6 win in Toronto’s building. The Bruins hadn’t played with a lead too much in this series, but they turned that trend on its head on Sunday afternoon.
HONORABLE MENTION: Torey Krug had by far his best game of the series, moving the puck on the power play with confidence and decisiveness and shooting the puck with aggressiveness. He scored a PP goal in the first period after Freddie Andersen kicked a rebound of a David Pastrnak rocket right to him, and led the Bruins with nine shots on net in his 18:53 of ice time in the win. Krug finished with the nine shots, 12 shot attempts, three hits and he also kept the turnovers and shaky D-zone play to a minimum while finally looking like the player that he normally is with the Bruins. If something was bothering him physically it seems to have improved in the last couple of days.
BY THE NUMBERS: 2-for-2 – the Bruins power play in Game 6 that only got a couple of opportunities, but was able to score on each of them to make a big difference in the game. Overall the B’s are 7-for-17 on the PP during the series.
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QUOTE TO NOTE: "They've played really well in our building so far this series and the ice has been terrible there so we might as well play with a tennis ball, skate around and see who can bounce one in the net." –Brad Marchand, not a big fan of the ice conditions at TD Garden during the playoffs.
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