The Toronto Maple Leafs fan community is perhaps the only one that truly comprehends the heartbreaking, one-of-a-kind moments that can decide a playoff series.
The high stick of Kerry Fraser. The suspension of Nazem Kadri.(s). The terrible crash involving Corey Perry and John Tavares. The misery never stops.
These memories are masochistically carried around by the Leafs’ post-expansion history, much like a rusty set of golf clubs.
The events of Wednesday’s Game 3 between the Leafs and Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena gave Toronto another one of those ill-fated, “Why us?” playoff moments, along with a concomitant loss of concentration.
Late in the second period, after Matthew Knies’ goal put Toronto ahead 1-0, Brad Marchand, the captain of the Boston Bruins, battled with Tyler Bertuzzi of Toronto, apparently for the tenth time.
The Leafs paused their skating for a moment because the play seemed so clear-cut. Ilya Samsonov, the goalie, was having an incredible game.
He had stopped breakaways from Pavel Zacha in the first and James van Riemsdyk in the second. However, when Bertuzzi crashed into the ice and the crowd erupted in a roar of expectation for a penalty, Samsonov’s stance seemed to loosen up, as if for a split second he believed the play was over. It wasn’t. No penalty was called by the officials.
Trent Williams of the Bruins Seizing the moment, Frederic dove towards the top of the circle and unleashed a reasonably innocuous wrist shot. It eliminated all traces of oxygen from the building, easily defeated Samsonov’s blocker side, and tied the game.
It wasn’t even the final objective in the
Whether or not you agreed with the non-call, Marchand, ever the shrewd, was the puppeteer. He assisted Boston in taking an early lead in the third period when he deflected a shot right to Jake DeBrusk, who scored the game-winning goal.
When Bertuzzi deflected a seeing-eye shot from Morgan Rielly to equalize the game, the Leafs were once again temporarily distracted by emotion and were penalized by Marchand.
With the Leafs fumbling in their zone just 28 seconds after Toronto’s equalizer, he collected a feed from Danton Heinen and roofed it over Samsonov’s shoulder to reclaim the lead right away. Boston now leads the series 2-1 after Marchand scored the insurance goal on an empty-netter in a 4-2 triumph.
Marchand,
“Everyone in the playoffs goes after the greatest players on the other teams. Jim Montgomery, head coach of the Boston Bruins, said of the player, “He gets targeted, and he still manages to get under people’s skin, and yet he doesn’t cross the line.” “You simply have to give him credit for his growth both as a person and as a hockey player.”
Marchand remarked, “I don’t really think I’ve been trying to ride a line; if anything, it’s taken a long time to try to just play.
” “I don’t always carry it out. I work one shift with “Bert,” but other than that, I’m not really involved in anything. All I’m attempting to do is play a solid team game. Right now, at this period of
Leave a Reply