Krejci’s overtime winner puts Leafs to the brink

May 8, 2013 in Leafs Game Recaps 0

(Cody Franson had one goal in a losing cause)

May 8: Leafs 3 vs. Bruins 4 (OT)

Leafs scorers: Lupul (3), Franson (1), MacArthur (1)
Bruins scorers: Bergeron (1), Krejci 3 (5)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines: Lupul-Bozak-Frattin, van Riemsdyk-Grabovski-Kulemin, MacArthur-Kadri-Kessel, Komarov-McClement-Orr
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Gunnarsson, Gardiner-O’Byrne, Franson-Fraser
Goaltenders: Reimer (Loss, 72:51 minutes played, 41 saves, 4 GA), Scrivens (0:00)

In sports, there are no moral victories.

It’s an especially painful truth for the Leafs to absorb after suffering a gut-wrenching 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. David Krejci’s hat trick goal at 13:06 of the extra session put Toronto on the brink of elimination as the series heads back to Beantown with the Leafs trailing the best-of-7 affair three games to one.

The result spoiled the most complete effort assembled by Leafs coach Randy Carlyle’s squad during these playoffs. Forty-eight shots were directed at Boston goalie Tuukka Rask. The go-ahead goal to cap a Bruins rally in the second period was answered in less than a minute by Clarke MacArthur, back in the lineup after being scratched for two games.

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Leafs costly turnovers lead to Game 3 loss

May 6, 2013 in Leafs Game Recaps 0

(Jake Gardiner’s goal not enough to overcome deficit)

May 6: Leafs 2 vs. Bruins 5

Leafs scorers: Gardiner (1), Kessel (2)
Bruins scorers: McQuaid (1), Peverley (1), Horton (3), Paille (1),Krejci (2)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines: Lupul-Bozak-Frattin, van Riemsdyk-Grabovski-Kulemin, Hamilton-Kadri-Kessel, Komarov-McClement-Orr
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Gunnarsson, Gardiner-O’Byrne, Franson-Fraser
Goaltenders: Reimer (Loss, 59:30 minutes played, 33 saves, 4 GA), Scrivens (0:00), (empty net, 1 GA)

The Boston Bruins provide enough of a formidable challenge for the Leafs in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final without Toronto having to worry about beating itself.

But such was the result for the home side in front of 19,745 raucous fans at Air Canada Centre. The Leafs gift wrapped a pair of goals on route to a 5-2 defeat to trail the series two games to one.

Things started to unravel in the second period with Toronto already trailing 1-0. Defenceman Ryan O’Byrne was stripped of the puck by the ageless future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr, who promptly fed a pass to a waiting Rich Peverley who made no mistake in beating goalie James Reimer to extend the Boston lead.

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Thanking Kessel – at both ends of the ice

May 6, 2013 in Blogs, Off The Post 0

There were two Phil Kessel plays that stood out for me, when watching Saturday’s Toronto victory in Game 2 to even the series versus Boston.

The obvious highlight is Kessel’s breakaway marker early in the third period after he was sprung loose on an outlet pass from Nazem Kadri, punctuating the exorcism of the demons that had haunted him in 22 previous, unproductive, games versus his former team.

“Thank you Kessel” was the retaliatory cheer from Leafs fans on Twitter, mocking the Beantown faithful who never pass up an opportunity to chirp at the one-time Bruins draft pick.

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Leafs find a way to solve Bruins in Game 2

May 5, 2013 in Miscellaneous 0

Leaf scorers: Joffrey Lupul, Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk
Boston scorers: Johnny Boychuk

Goaltenders: Reimer (Win) 60:00 minutes played, 41 saves, 2GA, Rask (Loss) 58:16 minutes played, 28 saves, 4GA

Desperate to tie up the series before it headed back to Toronto, the Leafs knew they were going to have to be far better in Game 2 after their demoralizing 4-1 loss in the first game of the series. After proving to be no match for the Bruins in Game 1 along with a highly emotional pregame ceremony, which honoured Jeff Bauman, a Boston bombing amputee, the Leafs would have to find a way to play at the Bruins level and also not let the momentum effect their game.

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Bruins’ Andrew Ference suspended for Game 2

May 4, 2013 in Latest Leafs Updates 0

(Mikhail Grabovski – pictured – hit by Ference in series opener)

Boston defenceman Andrew Ference was suspended for one game after his elbow to the head of Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski in Toronto’s 4-1 loss on Wednesday.

In a statement, NHL VP of Safety Operations Grabovski was able to finish the game stated that the league “did not review the check as defensive in nature”, and placed the onus on Ference to avoid the forceful contact entirely.

Ference will miss Saturday night’s Game 2 matchup in Boston.

Video link: NHL.com

Bruins no match for Leafs in first game of the series

May 1, 2013 in Leafs Game Recaps 0

Leafs scorers: James van Riemsdyk
Boston scorers: Wade Redden, Nathan Horton, David Krejci, Johnny Boychuk

Goaltenders: Rask (Win), 60:00 minutes played, 20 saves, 1 GA, Reimer (Loss) 60 minutes played, 40 saves, 4 GA

Although most Leaf fans are ecstatic to have their team return to the post-season after many didn’t expect them to make the playoffs, it wasn’t the effort that that they were expecting. The Leafs haven’t had much luck against the Bruins over the past couple of seasons, but were hoping they could find a way to solve them in their first playoff game in 9 years. The game got off to a strong start for the Leafs when Patrice Bergeron took a tripping penalty just 1:38 into the first. James van Riemsdyk scored the first goal of the game just 20 seconds into the powerplay and the Leafs would kill off a Bruins powerplay 2 minutes later.

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