Recap: Marchand lifts Bruins to 4-2 win in Game 3

A very chaotic game.

While he had chipped in a few assists in Games 1 and 2, Brad Marchand entered Game 3 yet to really make his mark on the series.

He certainly made his presence felt tonight, scoring twice in the third period and generally causing mayhem all over the ice to carry the Bruins to a 4-2 win over the Leafs in Game 3.

It had been a long time coming for Marchand, who scored just three goals over the last six weeks of the season.

Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves, including 13 in the third period, to earn his second win of the series.

After an even (both teams had seven shots on goal), tightly-played first period, Matthew Knies opened the scoring midway through the first period off of a great pass from Mitch Marner. 1-0 Leafs.

A little more than four minutes later, Trent Frederic beats Ilya Samsonov with one the Russian netminder would like to have back, making it a 1-1 game.

The goal above came immediately after this polite conversation between Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi, which Billy Jaffe described as “the battle Leafs fans were willing to put down their $42 vodkas for.” Well said, Billy.

With Bertuzzi in the box for roughing, Jake DeBrusk cashed in on the power play to make it 2-1 Bruins a minute into the third period.

The Leafs tied the game midway through the third with a fortuitous bounce off of Hampus Lindholm, a goal that was credited to Bertuzzi. 2-2 game.

Just 28 seconds later, Marchand would register his first goal of the game, beating Samsonov with a laser to make it 3-2 Bruins.

After the B’s hit the post a couple of times with the Toronto net empty, Marchand sealed the deal with the steal-and-score on Bertuzzi. 4-2 Bruins.

That’s that! The B’s score three in the third and take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Game notes

• At times in Game 2, the Bruins looked a step or two behind. Their forecheck wasn’t great and they seemed late to most pucks. That changed dramatically tonight, with the entire team winning more races, puck battles, and generally looking sharper.
• The Bruins’ penalty kill was immense in this game, killing off all five Leafs chances. Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo each skated around five minutes on the PK, while Charlie Coyle, Johnny Beecher, Marchand, and DeBrusk all spent more than three minutes TOI on the PK.
• This game was a physical affair, with the teams combining for 133 hits. I can’t find the Tweet, but I believe it was B/R Open Ice that said there were 60 hits in the first period alone. Hits are a very subjective stat, but it sure felt like there were a ton of collisions.
• Over the course of the season, I’ve mentioned a few times how Danton Heinen does so many little things well. He earned the assist on Marchand’s game-winning goal and deserves credit for winning a puck battle behind the net, controlling the puck, and finding Marchand in space.
• Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe spent time whining about Marchand after the game: “He gets calls. It’s unbelievable, actually, how it goes. You’ve got to play through that stuff. I don’t think there’s another player in this series who gets away with taking out Bertuzzi’s legs the way that he does.” While you can’t fault Keefe for answering the question he was asked, surely there was a better way to answer the question. All that answer does is give Marchand more juice for the rest of the series.
• Marchand’s goals were the 54th and 55th playoff goals of his career, tying him with Cam Neely for the most in franchise history.
• Jim Montgomery elected to shake things up on defense, scratching Matt Grzelcyk and going with Parker Wotherspoon and Mason Lohrei. While Lohrei took a penalty and both he and Wotherspoon had some close calls with turnovers behind the net, both did relatively fine overall. Kevin Shattenkirk skated just ten minutes.
• After carrying the Leafs in Game 2, Auston Matthews was held in check tonight. He didn’t record a point and landed just three shots on net.
• William Nylander was out again for the Leafs.
• The Bruins had an interesting approach to a late second period penalty on Bertuzzi, as they retained possession and essentially ran down the clock during the delayed call. While they eventually had a rush up ice, the penalty didn’t end up being called until there were 16 seconds left in the period. The B’s started the third with more than 90 seconds of power play time and a fresh sheet of ice, then DeBrusk scored. Marchand noted in his postgame availability that the delay was intentional, with the players on the ice communicating about the strategy.
• Jeremy Swayman was excellent again tonight, beat once on a beautiful passing play and once on a wacky bounce. He made several Grade-A stops as well, including a couple on a wild net-front scramble in the third. While Ullmark was good in Game 2, Swayman’s performance tonight made Montgomery’s choice for Game 4 an easy one.

The teams will enjoy an extra day off before Game 4 on Saturday night.