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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – On the same night they caught the biggest break of this NHL postseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves on the ropes, one loss away from elimination, and with no one to blame but themselves.  

Just moments before facing the Leafs Thursday in Game 4 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series, the Boston Bruins made an eleventh-hour lineup change: top-line centre and Selke Trophy nominee Patrice Bergeron, one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards, was sidelined by an upper-body injury.

That surprise scratch unquestionably looked to make Toronto’s job against Boston easier, but the Maple Leafs still fell 3-1 to the visitors and are now behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series as it shifts back to Bruins’ home ice for Game 5 Saturday night in Boston.

“When Bergeron doesn’t play tonight, you’re set up pretty good,” said Leafs head coach Mike Babcock. “You have to find a way to win, this is our building. You have to find a way. We were set up pretty good; we didn’t take advantage of it. That’s on us.”

It wasn’t that the Leafs were badly outplayed by the Bruins; in fact they controlled possession throughout the game (at 66 per cent possession), won the battle in the faceoff circle (at 63 per cent) and outshot the Bruins 32-21.

The difference ultimately came down to which team made the most of their opportunities, and it wasn’t the Leafs.

Toronto put an inauspicious start behind them after Bruins defenceman Torey Krug scored 28 seconds into the game and settled into a fast-paced first period. Tomas Plekanec, now centring the Leafs’ checking line with Patrick Marleau and Mitch Marner, answered for Krug’s score before the frame’s halfway point with his first goal since being traded to the Leafs by the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 25, and put Toronto in a good spot.

And yet there were other chances for the Leafs that went nowhere, like a two-on-one play from Marner to Marleau that was turned aside by Tuukka Rask, followed by a failed breakaway attempt by Marner that he later lamented on not getting a better shot off.

Rask was sensational all night, and by far outduelled Frederik Andersen at the other end after Andersen put on a show in Game 3 with a 40-save performance.

When the Bruins had their opportunities, they had little trouble putting pucks past Andersen. A bad pinch by Jake Gardiner turned into an odd-man rush score by Brad Marchand, and a similar turnover at the offensive blueline by Travis Dermott materialized into a two-on-one goal by Jake DeBrusk in the third. That was the game for Toronto.

“The margin when you’re down 2-0 [in a series, as Toronto was], the margin for error is slim,” said defenceman Ron Hainsey. “You can play two great games and still not get the bounces you need – 2-0 is slim, so you have to make [chances] count.”

“There is regular-season competitiveness, and there is first-round Stanley Cup playoff competitiveness. And it’s amping up the whole way through,” added Babcock. “In order to find that out, we’re going to have to play better than we are right now. But, in reality, when you leave here tonight as an individual, as a coach, as a player, you have time to evaluate yourself and most guys are pretty honest.”

For Auston Matthews and William Nylander, there is plenty to assess before Game 5 gets underway. They’re two of the Leafs’ most potent offensive weapons, but have just two points between them in four games (a goal and assist respectively, earned on the same scoring play in Game 3). 

While Babcock got them away from the Bergeron line at home, big veteran defenceman Zdeno Chara has played more than 40 minutes of this series against Matthews’ line, and halted them at every turn with his imposing presence in the defensive zone. Even with strong possession numbers on Thursday (63 per cent), Toronto’s top line was burned by the Bruins with zero points on the scoresheet and a minus-2 rating.

“I’m assuming [Matthews] thought he was going to come out tonight and dominate the game; that’s what I thought. Same with Willy,” said Babcock. “That didn’t happen. Not enough happened [when they were on the ice]. I’ll look at the tape and we’ll discuss it with our guys.”

One way or another, the Leafs won’t have much time to stew over their predicament with Game 5 looming on Saturday. To win three consecutive games against Boston, including two on the road, will take a herculean effort on Toronto’s part, and require they start making the most of offence that’s generated in the Leafs’ end.

And so the Leafs will return to Boston with the same simple goal in mind they had returning from there in a 2-0 series deficit last Sunday – just win.

“We’re in a simple situation – you win, you get to play again. You don’t win, you don’t get to play again. That’s worth digging in for,” said Babcock. “I think we can go into Boston and win a game, I really believe that. We’re going to need a game out of our goaltender and we’re going to need all hands on deck to have success.”

TAKEAWAYS

The Kadri conundrum?

Babcock singled out two lines as Toronto’s best on Thursday – the fourth line with Dominic Moore, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, and the Plekanec-led checking line. For the second straight game, Plekanec showed a side of his game the Leafs hadn’t seen since he arrived just before the trade deadline. The veteran was fearless on every shift, and dominating the Bruins at times in the process. At one point in the first period, he picked up Marchand in the Leafs’ end and tracked him all the way to the net, where he muscled the agitator into the cage behind Andersen. The shift in Plekanec from a fourth-line afterthought to an important role player has been seismic, and a major reason why the Leafs had the opportunity they did to win both games at home. In two games, the Plekanec line ceded just two points to Bergeron, Pasternak and Marchand after they combined for 20 points in the first two games.

So will Plekanec now have to shift back to the fourth line when Nazem Kadri returns Saturday from his three-game suspension? Or will Babcock opt to keep Plekanec up after his success in these last two games? Without last change on the road, Matthews’ line will likely be saddled primarily with Boston’s top-line matchup again, but the checking line could see some of them as well. With nothing left to lose, all eyes will be on Babcock once again as he makes his decision.

Unsung hero Hyman

Hyman is doing what he always does – digging pucks out along the boards, forechecking hard – but with a consistent intensity befitting the playoffs. Consistency has been what’s separated Hyman from his teammates in this series. It’s the little details of his game that have stood out against a good forechecking team like the Bruins.

Hyman matches them pound-for-pound on the puck, even facing off against two Bruins at once behind the net and still coming away with the puck. His relentless pursuit along the boards was clearly getting under the Bruins’ skin in the first period, as evidenced by forward Tim Schaller initiating a few whacks of his stick on Hyman to engage him after the play. Hyman responded with a few choice words and barked at Schaller all the way to the bench, obviously amused by the interaction. Hyman saw a lot of Chara as the night wore on, and didn’t back down to the big man once when a puck was up for grabs.

Beyond just irritating the opposition, Hyman has been contributing on the scoresheet as well. He has one goal and two assists in four postseason games so far, including the Leafs’ first goal of the series back in Game 1. And while his linemates Nylander and Matthews have struggled to assert their game against the Bruins, Hyman has been effective throughout. He finished Game 4 with two shots on goal.

Learned their lesson

It only took five power-play goals on 10 opportunities for the Bruins in Game 1 and 2 for the Leafs to finally get the message – stay out of the box. For days, inquiries about Toronto’s penalty kill have been floated at practically every man on that unit, but for all the detailed analysis of what could be done better, not having to rely on the kill at all also is an effective means of holding the Bruins’ power-play units at bay.

In Game 3, the Leafs took just one penalty, and they improved on that in Game 4 by taking no penalties at all. Only DeBrusk went to the box for one minor infraction, but in keeping with the theme of their night, the Leafs didn’t convert on that either.

Toronto will need to use the same caution when it comes to taking penalties in Game 5 – even if they manage to stop the Bruins on the kill. The repeated power-play opportunities have crushed their momentum before, and they’ll need every ounce of that on a do-or-die night.

Next game

The Leafs return to Boston for Game 5 on Saturday. Puck drop is at 8 p.m.​