GAME 5 OFFICIALS
Referees Eric Furlatt (27), Dan O'Halloran (13)
Jon McIsaac (2)*
Linesmen Steve Barton (59), Bryan Pancich (94)
Ntl. Anthem Todd Angilly
INJURIES – Playoff man-games lost: 15 - Connor Clifton – Upper body - Sean Kuraly – 3/22 hand surgery - Kevan Miller – Lower body 2019
ROUND ONE SERIES vs TORONTO - The Bruins and Maple Leafs play game 5 of their Round One series tonight in Boston with the series even at 2 games apiece … They will play game 6 in in Toronto on 4/21 & if necessary, game 7 in Boston on 4/23 (times TBD). - The Bruins enter tonight’s game with a 16-16 all-time record in game 5s of best-of-7 series in which they are tied, 2-2 … They are 16- 16 all-time in best-of-seven series in which they have been even at 2-2. - 15 Bruins have previously played vs. Toronto in the playoffs … 3 Bruins played their 1st NHL playoff games in game 1 of this series (Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton & Karson Kuhlman) while Steven Kampfer made his NHL playoff debut in game 3 … Kuhlman (assist in game 3) & Joakim Nordstrom (goal in game 4) have both recorded their 1st NHL playoff points in this series. Rd1, Gm1: 4/11 – TOR 4 at BOS 1: The Bruins struck 1st on a Patrice Bergeron PPG but the Maple Leafs scored 4 unanswered for the win … Mitch Marner had 2G for Toronto, including a penalty shot goal at 2:47 of the 2nd period, while John Tavares had 1-1=2 totals … SOG: Bos 38, Tor 33 … PP: Bos 1/2 , Tor 0/1 Rd1, Gm2: 4/13 – TOR 1 at BOS 4: The Bruins opened a 3-0 lead on goals by Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand & Danton Heinen before Patrice Bergeron scored the game’s final goal to even the series after Nazem Kadri had made it 3-1 … SOG: Bos 41, Tor 31 … PP: Bos 1/4, Tor 0/3 Rd1, Gm3: 4/15 – BOS 2 at TOR 3: David Krejci evened the game at 1-1 after Toronto had opened the scoring but the Maple Leafs took a 3-1 lead before Charlie Coyle brought the Bruins within 1 … SOG: Bos 36, Tor 34 … PP: Bos 1/3, Tor 2/3 Rd1, Gm4: 4/17 – BOS 6 at TOR 4: The Bruins opened a 2-0 lead on goals by Charlie McAvoy (1-1=2 totals) & Brad Marchand (1-2=3 totals) before the Leafs evened the score early in the 2nd … They gained a 5-2 advantage with scores by David Pastrnak (twice) & Zdeno Chara (GWG) & the Leafs closed within 1 before Joakim Nordstrom sealed it with an ENG … SOG: Bos 31, Tor 42 … PP: Bos 2/2, Tor 1/3
BOSTON vs TORONTO, LIFETIME SERIES - The Bruins and Maple Leafs are meeting for the 16th time in the playoffs … The only team that Boston has played more series against is Montreal (34). - The Bruins are 7-8 all-time in series vs. Toronto with their previous meeting a 7–game Boston win in the 2018 Round One series. - They have played 80 games vs. the other with Boston having a 40-39-1 edge … The Bruins have a 216-200 scoring advantage in those games. - Fun Facts: The Bruins became the 1st team in NHL history to win a game 7 when they had trailed by 3 goals in the 3rd period when they defeated Toronto on 5/13/13, coming back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game in regulation with Patrice Bergeron scoring in OT for the 5-4 win … The Bruins also trailed the Maple Leafs by a goal entering the 3rd period of their game 7 on 4/25/18, scoring 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd to take a 7-4 win … Boston’s 10-0 win vs. Toronto on 4/2/69 stands as their largest margin of victory in a playoff game & included a club-record 6 power play goals … Phil Esposito set a club mark for points in a playoff game with the only 4- goal playoff game in team history in a 4-2=6 night in that game … David Pastrnak tied that club mark for points in a game with a 3-3=6 night on 4/14/2018, becoming the youngest player in NHL history to score 6 points in a playoff game … Game 2 of the SF on 3/31/51 ended in a 1-1 tie so that Maple Leaf Gardens could be cleared by midnight due to a Toronto law in effect at that time that placed an 11:45 curfew on sporting events … The Bruins won the 2nd Stanley Cup in their history over Toronto in 1939 … Boston & Toronto played the 2nd-longest game in NHL history on 4/3/33 when Ken Doraty scored at 104:48 of OT to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 win.
The Atlantic Division rivals square off in a critical Game 5 on Friday night in Boston.
The Bruins rebounded Wednesday night by grabbing a 5-2 lead in the third period, then holding off a furious comeback attempt for a 6-4 win to level the series.
In the NHL's history of best-of-sevens with the series tied at 2-2, winners of Game 5 hold an all-time series record of 205-55 (.788).
Down 2-1 in the series and desperately needing to even it, Boston coach Bruce Cassidy turned to his stars to seize control of the game in the second period. Standout forwards Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron responded as they have all season.
After Toronto's Auston Matthews knotted the game at 2-2 just 1:07 into the second period, Marchand set up Pastrnak with a pair of pinpoint dishes -- the first on a 2-on-1, the other a backhander from the side boards across ice to the far circle -- for tallies 1:35 apart to give Boston a 4-2 edge.
"(Pastrnak's) a guy we rely on to score and create offense and actually play a good 200-foot game. He's certainly capable of that," said Cassidy. "It was good to see him score. Scorers, when they don't score, can get antsy.
"I'm not saying David was there, but we wanted to keep him from going there. Getting his two goals, they get recharged."
The Bruins' trio of forwards notched six points in the match, led by Marchand's goal and two assists while Pastrnak had the two markers and Bergeron a helper.
Tuukka Rask wasn't great in the win in Toronto, but the Finnish netminder was good enough to shut down the Maple Leafs in the final minutes as Boston regained home-ice advantage in the series between the Original Six clubs.
Rask's 38-save performance helped him record his 37th career playoff victory, moving him past Andy Moog and into second on the Bruins' all-time list.
Toronto suffered on the penalty kill as Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy netted goals on Boston's two power plays. The Maple Leafs, who were 18th on the penalty kill during the regular season, are 6 of 11 (54.5 percent) in the series.
The two goals surrendered to Boston -- ranked 16th with the man advantage this season -- were particularly bothersome to Toronto coach Mike Babcock.
"They've got real good players, let's not kid ourselves," Babcock said. "But those two goals tonight, other than scoring them, we didn't look after it. We've got to fix it.
"The bottom line is you can't keep giving power-play goals up. Those are just freebies those two. Not that they didn't make plays or anything like that, but we weren't in the spots we were supposed to be in."
