ESPN shot chart
The Bruins outshot the Maple Leafs 40-20 and recovered nicely from a brainfart of a Maple Leafs PPG less than two minutes into the game, scoring four goals in the first forty minutes and slamming the door on the game in the third. The Bruins dominated in every aspect of the game, from puck possession to shots to hits; the ice was tilted in the Bruins' favor for the entirety of the game, seemingly.
James Van Riemsdyk scored the first goal of the game 1:54 into the game, and it took about 15 minutes for the Bruins to actually retaliate. Amazingly enough it was Wade Redden who got the Bruins on the board, with a shot from along the boards that ended up just trickling through James Reimer's pads. Redden put another one on goal late in the period on the power play; it appeared to be his second goal of the game, but was tipped by Nathan Horton.
There was no foot off the gas action in the second period like we'd seen from the Bruins all year. Nope, the Bruins floored it, peppering Reimer with good-quality shots. Halfway through the period, David Krejci fired one home, assisted by Milan Lucic. Of couse, Toronto was upset:
Kostka and Kulemin looked awful on that Krejci goal. Dressing Kostka tonight has cost the #Leafs dearly.
— Jim Lang (@JimLang590) May 2, 2013
Welp. Krejci's goal was actually hilarious because he was trying to pass it to Horton and failed, but the Leafs bobbled it enough that it came back to Krejci for the open shot.
Five minutes after, Johnny Boychuk shot an absolute laser bomb of a shot that Reimer had no chance on, beating him high. Patrice Bergeron appeared to make it 5-1 later in the game, but the goal was called back because intent to blow is a hell of a thing.
Overall, the Bruins kept their cool and played their game, and it entirely paid off. They responded very minimally to Toronto's attempts to start nonsense after the whistle, from Zdeno Chara on back to Shawn Thornton. Only Chris Kelly ended up dropping the gloves with Leo Komarov, and that wasn't until after the game ended. On the flip side, Toronto took two 10-minute misconducts and took numerous liberties after the whistle when the game got away from them. It was a solid win in every way for the Bruins.
Specific Pluses:
+ David Krejci. Amazing. Goal and two assists tonight. It's great to see the first line playing like, you know, an actual first line. Nathan Horton was playing like his life depended on it, as well; he seems to just catch fire in the playoffs, which is very Ryder-esque of him.
+ Johnny Boychuk. Incredible goal, nice clean hit on Mikhail Grabovski, all-around general good job by the defenseman tonight.
+ Wade F'ing Redden. Totally fine with changing that 7th round draft pick to a 6th rounder, wow. Amazing game by #6 tonight. Having him on the ice instead of Dougie Hamilton may prove to be beneficial these playoffs after all, much to the chagrin of many angry Bruins fans.
+ Poise. The Bruins had tons of it tonight, and that's great. The Leafs were trying their damnedest early in the game to throw off Zdeno Chara, and he refused to rise to the bait. That's fantastic.
+ Neutralization. The Bruins made the Leafs' defense a complete non-issue and took Phil "the thrill" Kessel completely out of the picture. Kessel had 13:21 TOI and a single shot on goal. Sorry Phil.
+ Brad Marchand chirped Phil Kessel on EVERY SHIFT they were out there together. Not a shift went by that Marchand wasn't running his mouth at Kessel. Strong work.
Minuses:
- The Maple Leafs constantly starting crap after the whistle. The scrum after the game was completely unnecessary and stupid.
- "Intent to blow" my ass.
- No quota :(
- Ference's hit on Grabovski early in the game may warrant a look from the NHL. If so, we may see Dougie Hamilton for a few games sooner rather than later.