Fansided

3 Boston Bruins' who helped them steal Game 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins rebounded from a Game 2 loss at home to get home-ice advantage back with the three-goal third period for a 4-2 win in Game 3. Here are three players that led them to the victory.

By Scott Roche |
Boston Bruins v Toronto Maple Leafs - Game Three
Boston Bruins v Toronto Maple Leafs - Game Three / Claus Andersen/GettyImages
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Heading into Game 3 Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery had some lineup decisions to make. Defenseman Andrew Peeke, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline, will be sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered in Game 2 at the TD Garden Monday night.

Head coach Jim Montgomery also decided to make Matt Grzelcyk a healthy scratch and with those two out, Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon slotted in. James van Riemsdyk also slotted in up front in place of Jakub Lauko. The biggest decision, or it should have been a rather easy one, was who started between the pipes, and that went to Jeremy Swayman. 

For one night, it seemed like Montgomery pushed all the right lineup buttons in a 4-2 Bruins win and you could make the case that they stole back home ice advantage with a 2-1 series lead. It was a big-time bounce-back win. Here are three players that helped Boston steal a win with three third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie.

3. Jake DeBrusk

If there has been one player that has come to play this series, it’s Jake DeBrusk. He scored two second-period power-play goals in Game 1 with an assist and then in Game 3, he came up huge once again on the man advantage in the third period. With the score tied 1-1, DeBrusk collected a rebound of a Brad Marchand shot left by Toronto goalie Ilya Samsonov and buried it for a 2-1 lead.

DeBrusk finished with seven hits in the game, but it was his power-play goal early in the third that gave the Bruins some momentum and their first lead of the night. Say what you will about his regular season performances, but so far through three games, he has shown up ready to play.

2. Brad Marchand

It was a rather quiet first two games for Marchand and in the third period, the first-year captain stepped up when his team needed him the most. In Game 2, the two teams went to the third period tied 2-2 only to have Toronto win the game on an Auston Matthews goal. Wednesday night, Marchand was not going to let that repeat itself and he scored the game-winner.

He picked up an assist on DeBrusk’s goal, then 28 seconds after former teammate Tyler Bertuzzi tied the game, Marchand buried the game-winner with a wrist shot from the right circle perfectly placed under the crossbar and over Samsonav’s shoulder. He added an empty-net goal with 35 seconds left to seal the win. Big-time third-period performance from Boston’s leader.

1. Jeremy Swayman

Who else would be No. 1? Five games this season between the pipes for Swayman against the Maple Leafs and five Bruins’ victories. So far, he has Toronto’s number. Whether or not that continues remains to be seen, but if there is one clear thing, it’s that it has to be Swayman in goal for Game 4, and maybe until the Maple Leafs figure out how to beat him.

He made 28 saves Wednesday night and many were of the big-time variety. Right after Bertuzzi scored and before Marchand tallied the game-winner, he played the puck behind the net, but it bounced back in front and he was able to dive back and keep it from going in. If the Bruins win this series, remember that save. 

There will be two full-off days until Game 4 Saturday night back in Toronto, which is a big break for the Bruins. In fact, there will be another two days off between Games 4 and 5 with the latter being next Tuesday night in Boston. The Bruins have a big opportunity in front of them Saturday night in Game 4 which will be a big series momentum-shifting game.

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