May 6, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton (18) celebrates his goal with forward David Krejci (46) against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of game three of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins were once again in the Air Canada Centre attempting to keep the Toronto Maple Leafs generation long streak of post season losses at home going.(The Leafs have not registered a home playoff win over Boston since March 31, 1959.) The Maple Leafs played with an air of desperation that showed their tenacity and their skill. The Maple Leafs came out swinging with an early Joffrey Lupul goal that energized the crowd. The Bruins found themselves often on the offensive but couldn’t get shots through James Reimer. A poorly timed accidental screen by Zdeno Chara allowed Cody Franson to get the puck past Tuukka Rask to move the Leafs up by two.

The majority of the Maple Leafs might have been anticipating a win, but the Bruins were steadfast this evening. A charging call against the Leafs’ Leo Komarov late in the first period gave the Bruins the opportunity to score a rare power play goal at the hands of Patrice Bergeron.

Then the Krejci train left the station. A hard offensive zone press by Zdeno Chara (who got assists on all four goals tonight), and Brad Marchand had them bring the puck in on Reimer again. David Krejci quietly moved up into the left side in front of the net, and took the Marchand rebound past the net to tie it up at two. The Air Canada Centre got noticeably more subdued at that point.

The frustration on the Maple Leafs led to more turnovers and tempers boiling over. Colton Orr got called for an elbow, and the Bruins had a chance to move ahead for the first time of the night. The Krejci line advanced through the offensive zone, along with Chara to apply pressure to the Leafs. This time, it was a Chara to Horton collaboration that got the puck to Krejci, again on the left side. The one timer sailed past Reimer, and the Bruins were up 3-2 with 3:21 left in the second period. It’s a rare thing to say post-season power play goal for Boston, but they had two in the second period.

Toronto was quite finished though. Clarke Macarthur game threw for the Leafs with a responding goal just forty-four seconds later to tie the game back up, and bring the crowd back into the game. The third period showed Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel putting up an impressive barrage of shots on Tuukka Rask. It also saw James Reimer having to make some rather acrobatic scrambles to avoid losing in regulation.

A few missed opportunities and a few ringed posts summed up overtime. In the end, the Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf made a costly error that hurt his team. Phaneuf, engaged and placed a serious hit on Nathan Horton. Phanuef didn’t realize there were two other Leafs right near Horton. This allowed Lucic and Krejci to advance on the offensive zone nearly unchallenged. Krejci on the left looked to find a pass to Lucic, but saw it wasn’t going to work and took the shot himself. That shot gave the Bruins the win, and Krejci his second career hat trick in the postseason.

After the game, Krejci (who had again been awarded the Ranger jacket for ‘star’ of the game) put a lot of the praise for that goal on his team. “If it wouldn’t have been for Horty [Nathan Horton], he took that hit to make a play. And the other guys played a big part on the goal, Looch [Milan Lucic] was driving the net; I was actually looking the whole way to pass, then I heard Zee [Zdeno Chara] was behind me. I had that many options, but they took them away and I got left with the shot. Luckily, it went in.”

“I’m just trying to do my best,” he added, “Go out there and play as hard as I can and help the team win the game. That’s all.”

Milan Lucic chose to put the praise right back on Krejci. “I’ve seen it for six years now,” said Lucic. “It’s pretty amazing in my eyes that it’s gone overlooked as long as it has. He’s a big-time player. He’s got a lot of confidence, a real good skill set, he’s showing it in this series.”

All in all, it was a rough night.  A total of one hundred and twenty hits were recorded in the game, with Toronto beating Boston 71-49. Milan Lucic took a shot to the head in the first period. He ended up getting nine stitches, but came back to play. Toronto defenseman Mark Fraser took a Lucic shot to the face halfway through the third period. He ended up being helped off the ice and taken to the hospital.

The Bruins have the Leafs on the ropes, and have the chance to finish them off at home. Game five is Friday night at the TD Garden.

May 6, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins forward David Krejci (46) carries the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during game three of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at the Air Canada Centre. Boston defeated Toronto 5-2. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

May 4, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Brad Marchand (63) gets up off the ice slowly during the second period in game two of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

In the first game of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Boston Bruins threw down the gauntlet with an impressive 4-1 win. Tonight, Toronto proved it was up to the challenge by picking up that gauntlet and firing back with a 4-2 win of their own. The Maple Leafs came out with an intensity that was not to be found in the first game, challenging early and putting the Bruins on the ropes early.

The Bruins were able to keep up the tempo for the first half of the game, drawing first blood early in the second period. The Krejci line teamed up for a solid effort in the first two minutes, giving the opportunity for Nathan Horton to get one past James Reimer.  After that moment, the momentum shifted in favor of the Maple Leafs.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was called for “tripping” by an over zealous referee, giving the Leafs a chance to tie the game. Joffrey Lupul was able to catch a rebound in front of the net, and skirt it through the open side of Tuukka Rask‘s net with two seconds left in the power play to even things at one. Six minutes later, Lupul struck again with an impressive shot to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

The third period showed the Maple Leafs continuing the pressure and showing no signs of collapse. Phil Kessel finally earned his first goal against the Bruins, finishing off a breakaway just a minute into the period. That two goal lead proved a tough nut for the Bruins to crack, though not from lack of trying. Johnny Boychuk launched another ‘Johnny Rocket’ at Reimer, and whether or not it bounced off of Tyler Seguin, it went past Reimer to get the Bruins back within one. (It was Boychuk’s second goal in the postseason.)

The Leafs continued to be aggressive with the puck, and played the body with far more effectiveness this time around. The Leafs sealed the deal with 3:07 left in the game when James Van Riemsdyk put another one past Rask to put the Leafs back up by two, and that 4-2 score is how the game finished.

The Bruins were without Andrew Ference, who was serving his one game suspension for an illegal hit on Mikhail Grabovski in game one. Coach Julien was asked after the game if Ference’s absence played a factor in the loss. ”You miss a veteran like that,” offered Julien. “But certainly not the reason for the loss tonight.” The coach summed up where the Bruins went wrong pretty quickly. “[The Bruins]certainly weren’t as good. They were better and played a much better game than they did in game one, they made adjustments.”

Now it’s the Bruins turn to go ahead and make the proper adjustments as they head up to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto to try to regain the momentum in the best of seven series. Game three is to be played Monday night at 7:00 p.m..

May 1, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins mascot Blades waves a flag for center David Krejci (not pictured) after he scored a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

We were all nervous Bruins Nation. Would the Boston Bruins be able to shake off the funk that had them slip from the second to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference? Were the B’s ready? The last thing we wanted to see was a ‘one and done’ repeat of last season. Could the Bruins return to their old school play of hard core hockey?

Those questions were answered with a resounding affirmation as the Boston Bruins gave a healthy thumping to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game One of the Eastern Confrence Quarterfinals. The Black and Gold emerged with a 4-1 victory.

Over the season, we’ve run a lot of our own Three Stars of the Game, and it’s only fitting that we continue the tradition in the post season.

May 1st, 2013

Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs (Boston @ TD Garden)

Final Score: Boston Bruins 4 – Toronto Maple Leafs 1

Three Stars of the Game:

Third Star: Tuukka Rask

Second Star: Wade Redden

First Star: David Krejci

Causeway Crowd’s Three Stars of the Game:

Third Star (TIE): Nathan Horton and Tuukka Rask. (From Matt) “ Tuukka Rask – Not that he was tested all that much, but Tuukka had a very solid game between the pipes.  The Bruin’s offense finally started clicking last night, which gave Tuukka some rest during the game as the puck was in the Toronto zone for the majority of the game. But when Toronto did get their shots, Rask was big time saving 19 of 20 shots.”

Nathan Horton once again got the ‘game winning goal’ for Boston. He deftly knocked the Redden shot on goal into the net, much to the dismay of Reimer. Even though the Leafs protested that goal, multiple angles of the replay confirmed it was a legal play by Horton.  That power play goal by the first line winger was his ninth postseason goal of his career. In his post period interview with NESN’s Naoko Funayama, Horton was wearing the biggest smile on his face since the 2011 Cup Championship. He finished with three shots on goal, one point and a +2.

Second Star: Wade Redden. (From Billy)”Goal and an assist for a d-man? I like it.” So did Redden. Redden was another one of those picks from Chiarelli that had us scratching our heads at first, but once again we have to acknowledge a great pick up by the Bruins’ general manage. “ It was fun to be back out there … that’s for sure,” Redden said after the game. “I said before, I’m going to get the most out of it. I’ve been away for a while, so it was good to get back out there.”

(From Matt)” What an unbelievable pick up this is turning out to be. Over the past two games Wade Redden has been playing unbelievably.  Wade opened up the scoring today firing a slap shot that just got through Toronto’s goalie James Reimer.  He then played a big part in the second goal when his shot deflected off Nathan Horton’s stick.  Many people are questioning why Dougie Hamilton continues to be a healthy scratch, but if Wade Redden keeps playing like this, I have no problem with it. ”  A goal, an assist, three shots on net, and a +1 is usually a good night for any player. Those stats bump up to outstanding in a playoff run.

The last time Redden put in a mutli point performance in a playoff game was May 2006 when he played for the Ottawa Senators.

First Star: David Krejci. Everyone on the staff thought Krejci was just outstanding last night. He absolutely earned the latest in Andrew Ference‘s ‘star of the game’ apparel. (From Matt)”What a game Krejci had, scoring one goal and giving out two assists. This is the David Krejci that the Bruins need to show up in the playoffs if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs.  The David Krejci we know and love is back.”(From Billy)”[Krejci]does what he does in the playoffs, puts up points.”

Krejci and Jaromir Jagr share out notable trait. They can make people around them play better. Krejci had to hold up a struggling first line this season, and he did his best to remain near the top of the standings in points for the team. His continued excellence can only bring more headaches to a bruised Toronto team, and continue the Bruins success in the playoffs.

We here at Causeway Crowd would like to get your opinions on the Game (We’ll also except scathing criticisms or remarks on our eyesight and/or sanity.) We can always be reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CausewayCrowd Or stop in on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Causeway_Crowd