Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) battles for the puck with Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) in front of goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) during the third period in game four of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 27, 2024.Nick Turchiaro/Reuters
The Maple Leafs are on the brink of elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a disastrous 3-1 loss to the Bruins at the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
They trail the best-of-seven first-round series 3-1 with Game 5 on Tuesday in Boston.
Toronto was booed off its home ice at the end of the second period for a listless performance. The same old bugaboos cost them the game – a dumb penalty, an ice-cold power play and mediocre goaltending.
Ilya Samsonov was yanked after he gave up three goals on 14 shots in two periods. Auston Matthews, who has been ill, was not on the home team’s bench during the third period.
“He is giving us everything he has got but ultimately the doctors pulled him,” coach Sheldon Keefe said.
Boos, dissension and Game 4 annihilation? The Leafs seem to have lost the plot
The NHL’s scoring leader with 69 goals during the regular season had only one shot on the net.
Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist for the Bruins and now has three goals and eight points through four games.
Toronto brought out old favourites Felix Potvin and Curtis Joseph in the hope of inspiring the crowd. The Argonauts were also there and a group of Blue Jays waved from a luxury box. It probably would have been more helpful had they been in a batting cage.
William Nylander returned after missing the first three games with an undisclosed injury. He was Toronto’s second-leading scorer during the regular season with 40 goals and 98 points, and led the club with 35 points on the power play.
“He can change a game at the snap of the fingers,” Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe said Saturday. But Nylander did no such thing. He was shut out on three shots.
The Maple Leafs have struggled to score during the post-season. They’ve had more than two goals only once in their last 11 games dating back to last year’s first round against Tampa Bay.
They had six goals in the first three games versus the Bruins, the same as Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers.
Nylander played on an all-Swedish line with Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnkrok. With him in the lineup, Nick Robertson was dropped to the fourth line and Connor Dewar was scratched.
The Maple Leafs hoped to keep from falling into a deep hole. They have been eliminated by the Bruins three times over the last 11 years and have not beaten them in a post-season series since 1959.
“Game 4 is a huge one,” Marchand, Boston’s captain and chief irritant, said on Friday. “Going up 3-1 or coming back home 2-2 is a drastic difference. The desperation for both teams is going to be extremely high.
“We know they are going to compete harder than they did the last few games – and they were good. They’re competing extremely hard.”
The teams played a tight first period with only 14 shots combined. The Maple Leafs failed to score on two power-plays, bringing them to 1-for-13 in the series. They failed to score on one other opportunity with a man advantage and are now an abysmal 1-for-14.
The Bruins broke the tie when James van Riemsdyk poked a puck through Samsonov’s legs with 4:51 left before the first intermission. It was a shot that Samsonov should have stopped and came following a turnover by Ryan Reaves.
Toronto has lost seven of its last eight games, including four in a row at the end of the regular season.
“This is the hard part of the series, especially when there are two evenly matched teams,” Jim Montgomery, the Bruins coach, said Saturday. “The team that can win two in a row takes control of the series.”
Boston is in control.
The Maple Leafs were smothered by the Bruins’ defence and had trouble getting shots through to goalie Jeremy Swayman. He has been in the net through each of Boston’s victories and has stopped 88 of 92 shots. He is 7-0 against Toronto in the last two years.
The Maple Leafs have not found a way to deal with Marchand, who has dominated the series and finds ways to distract opponents, whether it is by licking their cheek – he actually did that once – or with a well-placed slash or elbow.
“He is one of the best at it,” Joel Edmundson, a Maple Leafs defenceman, said. “He has been doing it for years. He is a sneaky guy and knows exactly what he is doing. You just have to be careful.”
Marchand put Boston ahead 2-0 midway through the second period when he ripped a slapshot past Samsonov on a power play. At the time, Max Domi was in the penalty box for a silly cross-checking infraction. Then Marchand fed a pass to David Pastrnak, who scored with 22 second left in the period to make it 3-0.
Mitch Marner had Toronto’s lone goal with 14:17 left in the third period. He wrapped a puck around Swayman into the net. It was Marner’s first goal of the series.
At this point, Boston has scored six goals on power plays to Toronto’s one. And its goaltending has been superb.
“We are fighting uphill,” Keefe said. “We have to stay with it.”
John Tavares, the Maple Leafs captain, had trouble explaining what seemed to be a feeble effort.
“Obviously it is not a great spot we are in now, but we have to keep going,” he said.