It turns out the Toronto Maple Leafs are capable of not only holding a lead over the Boston Bruins but also defeating them outright.
That must be of some comfort to the team considering it will need three more victories to escape the first round.
Earning a 3-2 win over the Bruins spearheaded by one of Auston Matthews’ best career postseason performances puts the Maple Leafs on solid footing as they head home for Game 3.
Three stars
First star: Auston Matthews
After going six playoff games without a goal, Matthews ended the drought with a game winner.
AUSTON MATTHEWS 🚨
HE HAS ARRIVED! 1ST OF THE PLAYOFFS! pic.twitter.com/UT42WMYQOK
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
Toronto’s first goal was also the result of the centre’s hitting the iron, and his work at the blue line set up the second. The sniper picked up an excellent rare two-assist game, delivered six hits — his highest total since the 2022-23 playoffs — and drove play at five-on-five with a 66.57 percent expected goal rate.
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Second star: Max Domi
After taking a costly penalty in Game 1, Domi bailed out a teammate who did the same early in Game 2.
MAX DOMI 🚨
TIE GAME 14 SECONDS LATER! pic.twitter.com/qkC2cb57Bq
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 22, 2024
The veteran forward isn’t known for going to the net — or putting the puck in it for that matter — but he got to a dirty area for a momentum-killing goal that quieted TD Garden.
Arguably his best play was his assist on the Matthews goal, though, as he gave the NHL’s top goal scorer more than enough time and space to give Toronto the lead.
lob pass from Domi to Matthews
the Leafs are up! pic.twitter.com/n0C0OKUWZj
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
Third star: Ilya Samsonov
Samsonov had a dicey moment late in the first period when he seemed to get shaken up by a puck to the chin, then allowed a goal in the immediate aftermath.
At that point, it was worth wondering how he’d hold up from that point on — particularly coming off an unimpressive Game 1. Any worries proved invalid as Samsonov stopped 19 straight shots in the final two periods, including some impressive stops.
massive stop from Samsonov pic.twitter.com/vtWPdrXhid
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
Samsonov gets across pic.twitter.com/XgvxCqMFYq
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
Player reports
A
Tyler Bertuzzi
Bertuzzi was energetic and effective at both ends of the rink, and he got an impressive goal called back in the second.
Bertuzzi's goal is called back pic.twitter.com/IE5z7gfZ7F
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
His five-on-five expected goal rate ranked fourth on the team (70.27 percent), he had an assist, plus he produced five shots and four hits. If he hadn’t taken a needless penalty late, this would be an A-plus.
Morgan Rielly
Rielly has produced more scintillating playoff performances in the past, but he deserves plenty of credit for his sound outing Monday. Toronto’s top defenceman gave his team 23:04 of quality work that included a combination of targeted offensive incursions and steady defensive play.
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He blocked four shots — a total he topped just once in the regular season — and posted strong on-ice numbers. During his 16:46 at five-on-five, Toronto outshot Boston 13-7 with a 69.48 percent expected goal rate.
A-
Ilya Lyubushkin
There’s not much more Lyubushkin could’ve done within the context of his role. The Russian blueliner did an excellent job of playing back and letting Rielly do his thing but also moved the puck better than usual when given the opportunity.
Lyubushkin’s night did have a blemish in the form of a penalty taken in the final minutes. Toronto outshot Boston 11-4 in his five-on-five minutes with an expected goal rate of 80.64 percent.
B+
Nick Robertson
It’s tough to know what to do with Robertson because he barely played (7:21). He wasn’t able to transcend his modest role to get on the scoresheet, but he was solid within it with three shots on goal — including one brilliant third-period chance — and low-event on-ice numbers. Just 0.38 expected goals were produced in his five-on-five minutes, and 83.81 percent belonged to the Maple Leafs.
B
John Tavares
Because Tavares gave the Maple Leafs a critical power-play goal, it’s tough to drop him much lower than this, but his game was a mess outside of his big moment.
JOHN TAVARES 🚨
THAT'S A GOOD GOAL! pic.twitter.com/0Lao7tIXYo
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
The line he centred with Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner produced nothing for most of the game, producing a dismal 2.74 percent expected goal rate through two periods. By the game’s end, it crawled up to 12.1 percent. One of his faceoff losses also set up Boston’s second goal.
B-
Connor Dewar
As a defensively oriented fourth liner, it’s easy for Dewar to have quietly effective nights, and this one generally fits that description. Dewar wasn’t able to affect the game much with his penalty killing, but he helped the fourth line out-attempt the Bruins 12-5, and he put two shots on net.
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David Kämpf
Kämpf’s game wasn’t meaningfully different from Dewar’s outside of a little bit more penalty killing and a miss on the empty net.
C+
Ryan Reaves
Reaves comes in below his linemates because of a penalty he took that might’ve been costly if there hadn’t been a corresponding call. That said, he was effective enough on the forecheck that he got some attention on X in the first period, trending at 2,392 posts.
Matthew Knies
On a tough night for the second line at five-on-five, Knies managed to have a few good moments.
Though the young winger played a role in the Pastrnak goal, he also played a feisty game with five hits — and had a couple of dangerous plays on offence, highlighted by his fine setup of Calle Järnkrok late in the second.
Jarnkrok is denied pic.twitter.com/paQ2PNfNL7
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 23, 2024
Calle Järnkrok
Outside of the chance above, Järnkrok rarely shone too brightly, and he ranked eighth among Toronto forwards in ice time (13:49).
The veteran still appears to be finding his way and will be tough to evaluate until he gets some more reliable linemates.
C
Joel Edmundson and Timothy Liljegren
This pair skated more than usual with both going over 20 minutes, but they didn’t do anything remarkable with that time. Neither posed a meaningful offence threat, and the Bruins dominated the shot share 7-3 in their time together.
Though they weren’t constantly under siege as much as those numbers suggest, they didn’t do much to justify their ice time outside of Edmundson’s throwing his body around with five hits.
Pontus Holmberg
Holmberg didn’t stand out individually as one of just two Toronto forwards who didn’t take a single shot, but his line came on in the third period and he played Boston to about a draw by expected goals.
Even though he was the 3C on paper, he logged just 9:45.
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C-
Jake McCabe
McCabe was unable to follow up his strong effort Saturday with another standout performance. His difficult night began with a foolish penalty that resulted in Boston’s first goal of the game.
McCabe is called for cross checking pic.twitter.com/pncWjlOV26
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 22, 2024
Things didn’t get much better from there as he was part of the defensive breakdown that led to Boston’s second goal as Pavel Zacha curled a fantastic pass around him that Pastrnak put in the back of the net.
David Pastrnak scores with 8 seconds to go in the period pic.twitter.com/HITHB62T5c
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 22, 2024
McCabe didn’t do much to redeem those difficult moments, ending the night with middling on-ice numbers.
Simon Benoit
Because of Benoit’s negligible offensive contribution, it’s tough for him to grade well on a night when he has defensive lapses. His most notable error came on the Pastrnak goal as he got caught accomplishing very little high in the zone.
This goal was largely due to an A+ pass from Zacha.
However, this isn't what you want! Both defencemen were way above the dots, and Benoit is left covering no one. pic.twitter.com/AQHi0c9BcR
— Kevin Papetti (@KPapetti) April 22, 2024
Benoit also had a few misadventures pinching in the offensive zone that resulted in counterattacks. Knies bailed him out on one, and McCabe another, but the 25-year-old’s effort was unsteady and could’ve been more costly.
D-
Mitch Marner
Marner played a significant role in both of Boston’s first-period goals, providing little resistance to Morgan Geekie’s shot and failing to prevent the puck from getting to Pastrnak with the period coming to a close.
The winger didn’t do much to compensate for his poor defensive showing on the other end of the ice, either. His line alongside Tavares and Knies didn’t generate anything offensively, and he couldn’t conjure much individually outside of assisting on Bertuzzi’s disallowed goal.
Game Score
Final grade: A
The Maple Leafs did not play a flawless game and weren’t able to completely curb their early-series tendency to take bad penalties — but there isn’t much to complain about here.
Toronto carried the play at five-on-five and showed some life on special teams by earning a power-play goal as well as producing an excellent kill when Boston received a late power play. The Maple Leafs got sturdy goaltending, and though the offence didn’t break out, it produced.
From a bigger-picture standpoint, the team avoided a massive 2-0 hole and regained home-ice advantage in the series without the help of William Nylander, who seems likely to give them a significant boost at some point in their battle with the Bruins.
What’s next for the Leafs?
The Maple Leafs return to Toronto for a Game 3 battle with the Bruins at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
(Photo: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
