TORONTO (AP) Facing an opponent missing arguably its best player in front of a raucous home crowd
Womens Patric Hornqvist Jersey , the Toronto Maple Leafs felt pretty good heading into their Game 4 matchup with the Boston Bruins.Less than three hours
later, they had been pushed to the brink of playoff elimination.Brad Marchand
scored the go-ahead goal and Tuukka Rask made 31 saves as the Bruins defeated
the Leafs 3-1 to grab a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round series. Boston
was minus No. 1 center Patrice Bergeron, who was a late scratch with an
upper-body injury, but it didn’t matter as the Bruins ground out a victory on a
night where some of Toronto’s young stars failed to produce on the big stage.”We
were set up pretty good,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock lamented. ”We didn’t take
advantage. That’s on us.”Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk had the other goals for the
Bruins, who can clinch the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at home in
Game 5 on Saturday at Boston’s TD Garden. David Pastrnak added two assists.Tomas
Plekanec scored the lone goal for the Leafs, who got 18 saves from Frederik
Andersen.”We gave them opportunities and they didn’t miss,” Leafs forward Mitch
Marner said. ”Now it’s do or die.”Bergeron, part of a top line that combined for
20 points in the Bruins’ two home victories to open the series, was a surprise
late scratch. Riley Nash took his spot between Marchand and Pastrnak, and played
well in the four-time Selke Trophy winner’s absence earlier this season.”It
doesn’t matter (if Bergeron’s out),” Marchand said. ”You play the same
way.”Marchand snapped a 1-1 tie for Boston with 3:05 left in the second after
the Bruins were called for icing. Leafs coach Mike Babcock put his top
line
Phil Kessel Jersey , centered by Auston Matthews, out hoping to pounce on a tired group, but Nash won the draw to Adam McQuaid, whose clearing attempt
up the boards skipped past Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner. Pastrnak moved in
on a 2-on-1 with Marchand, faking a shot to draw the overaggressive Nikita
Zaitsev to him before feeding his linemate with a slick pass for a wide-open
net.The Leafs had a number of chances earlier in the period to go ahead,
including Mitch Marner’s breakaway off a stretch pass from Morgan Rielly that
Rask turned aside with the blocker, but were unable to get one by Rask.Boston
then made it 3-1 at 4:17 of the third. David Krejci blocked Travis Dermott’s
shot and raced the other way on a 2-on-1 before finding DeBrusk, who beat a
helpless Andersen after Roman Polak failed to block the pass across.”We had a
breakaway and a good 2-on-1, and we got nothing out of it,” Babcock said. ”Both
their 2-on-1s … they buried and we didn’t make good plays on them to help our
goalie out. In the end, that’s the game.”The Bruins stunned the Maple Leafs just
28 second into the game to quiet an electric Air Canada Centre when Krug’s
snapshot from the sideboards found its way past Nash and Plekanec in front
before glancing in off Andersen’s shoulder.”It’s one I’ve got to fight to see,”
Anderson said.Toronto eventually got going and tied it at 7:43 when Marner fed a
pass from his knees that was helped on by Patrick Marleau to Plekanec
Sidney Crosby Jersey , who scored his first goal since being acquired from Montreal before the trade deadline.The Leafs kept coming and nearly grabbed the
lead later in the period, but Rask shot out his pad to deny Zach Hyman from in
close as Toronto outshot Boston 12-7 through the opening 20 minutes.Asked how
concerned he is that Matthews, who scored the winner Monday, has been mostly
quiet, Babcock said some of his youngsters are learning hard playoff
lessons.”I’m assuming he thought he would come tonight and dominate the game –
that’s what I thought,” the coach said. ”I thought the same with (William
Nylander). That didn’t happen, but the other people you’re playing against are
pros and they’re trying, too, and they’re competitive. There’s regular-season
competitiveness and there’s Stanley Cup playoff competitiveness, and it keeps
amping up.”When you leave here tonight as an individual, as a coach, as a
player
Dougie Hamilton Jersey Womens , you’ve got time to evaluate … and most guys are pretty honest.”NOTES: Pastrnak has 11 points in the series (four goals,
seven assists), while Marchand has seven (two goals, five assists) despite
Boston’s top line getting shut out in Game 3. … Plekanec had three assists in 20
combined regular-season and playoff games with Toronto before Thursday. … Leafs
winger Leo Komarov sat out a second straight game with a lower-body injury. …
Toronto center Nazem Kadri served the final game of his suspension for taking a
run Boston forward Tommy Wingels in the series opener. Wingels suited up for the
first time since the hit. … Game 7, if necessary, goes Wednesday in Boston.UP
NEXTGame 5 on Saturday at Boston. DALLAS (AP) — Alexander Radulov didn’t see the
harsh criticism of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin from the Dallas front office as a
scathing critique of just the high-priced forwards.The Russian in his second
season with the Stars viewed it as a message for the entire team. If so, message
received, at least for now.Radulov scored twice and Dallas routed the Detroit
Red Wings 5-1 on Saturday, a night after Stars CEO Jim Lites ripped Benn, the
captain, and Seguin by saying they were underperforming for a team falling short
of expectations.“We’re a team and we don’t leave the guys by themselves so
that’s how we responded and they say whatever they want,” Radulov said. “They’re
allowed to
http://www.officialsharks.com/authentic-adidas-brent-burns-jersey , basically. They’re not happy with us so it’s time to change. I think we made a
small step today.”Seguin assisted on Radulov’s second goal, the third of the
second period for Dallas to give the Stars a 3-0 lead. Benn was held without a
point for the ninth time in 10 games.Ben Bishop stopped 33 shots for the Stars a
game after Anton Khudobin set a franchise record for saves in a shutout with 49
in a 2-0 victory at Nashville.Despite that victory coming out of the Christmas
break, Stars CEO Jim Lites requested interviews Friday with reporters who cover
the Stars and used words such as “terrible” and “embarrassing” to describe the
play of Benn and Seguin.Both players are under expensive contracts that go well
into the 2020s, including an eight-year extension that Seguin signed before the
season. They said after the morning skate that they hadn’t heard directly from
Lites before the comments.Seguin and Benn largely shrugged off the criticism,
with Benn saying he played for his teammates and coaches, not the CEO. Seguin
said he thinks the team got the message. Neither player was available to
reporters after the game.Lites’ harsh critique came when the Stars held the
final playoff spot in the Western Conference. He said owner Tom Gaglardi was
equally frustrated, and both were concerned that Dallas would miss the playoffs
for the ninth time in 11 seasons without better play from the two stars.With his
two goals, Radulov passed Benn for second on the team in scoring with 31 points.
Seguin has 33 points (11 goals, club-best 22 assists), while Benn leads with 15
goals and 15 assists for 30 points.However, Seguin and Benn are both outside the
top 50 in points after both finished in the top 25 in each of their first five
seasons together after Dallas got Seguin in a trade with Boston.“I think we all
feel responsible,” said Jason Spezza
Julien Gauthier Jersey Womens , who scored an unassisted goal for a 5-0 lead early in the third period and had an assist. “It’s not just those guys that
need to be better. We all need to be better.”Blake Comeau opened the scoring
early in the second period, and Radulov collected his 12th and 13th goals less
than four minutes apart.Radulov normally shares a line with Benn and Seguin, but
the Russian opened with Benn and Roope Hintz while Seguin played with Devin
Shore and Denis Gurianov.Tyler Pitlick’s third goal in three games since he was
a healthy scratch in his home state of Minnesota put Dallas in front 4-0 early
in the third period.Detroit’s Dylan Larkin ended the shutout early in the third
period and extended his career-best points streak to 13 games, the longest
active streak in the NHL.“When you give teams goals in this league and you play
from behind like we have the last few nights, it’s tough to win,” Justin
Abdelkader said after the Red Wings’ eighth loss in nine games. “They grinded us
a bit. They moved the puck well.”NOTES: Radek Faksa had two assists for Dallas.
… Detroit defenseman Trevor Daley, who played his first 11 seasons in Dallas,
was honored on the video board over recently playing in his 1,000th career game.
Daley played 756 games for the Stars. … Valeri Nichushkin was a healthy scratch
for the Stars. He still doesn’t have a goal in 30 games in his return to Dallas
from the KHL after spending his first three NHL seasons with the Stars.UP
NEXTRed Wings: Florida at home Monday.Stars: Montreal in annual New Year’s Eve
home game Monday.
