Bruins

The Bruins are now playing with fire against rejuvenated Toronto team

“I think we saw an opportunity that we missed. And we're not going to let that happen again."

By Conor Ryan

May 1, 2024

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Jeremy Swayman — much as he’s been throughout this first-round series between the pipes — didn’t blink as he fielded questions in front of his stall.

“I think we saw an opportunity that we missed,” the Bruins netminder declared after Boston’s 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto on Tuesday night. “And we’re not going to let that happen again. So the motivation is completely internal and it’s contagious in this locker room. And we’ll be a different team come Thursday.” 

Swayman’s unwavering confidence doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He was far from the reason why Boston now has to make another trek up to Toronto on Thursday for Game 6. 

But just a short jaunt down within the bowels of TD Garden, a Maple Leafs locker room — seemingly on the ropes and trudging forward without their best player — likely shared a similar sentiment about the outlook of this series, especially after being gifted new life by Boston. 

“We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves, we didn’t mail it in,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe noted. “We went out and took charge of the hockey game in the first period and I thought we did a terrific job.”

Tuesday’s Game 5 meeting at TD Garden had all of the makings of a swan song for this underwhelming Toronto core. 

After dropping two games on their home ice, the Leafs returned to Causeway Street without their top offensive conduit in Auston Matthews — the franchise fixture down the middle who all but willed his team (one goal, two primary assists, 23:24 TOI, six hits, 16 faceoff wins) to a Game 2 victory.

But even with Matthews sidelined in an elimination game due to illness, a short-staffed Maple Leafs lineup still managed to rattle a Bruins’ transition game mired in molasses. 

Even though Boston and Toronto entered the first intermission stuck in a 1-1 deadlock, the Bruins landed just two shots on net against new netminder Joseph Woll. 

The Leafs held a commanding 30-7 edge in shot attempts over the first 20 minutes of play, with their forecheck compounding Boston’s woes with making clean passes out of their zone. 

“We just weren’t good enough,” Jim Montgomery said of Boston’s sluggish start. “I don’t have,  you know, something to give you that’s concrete, that contributed to our slow start, besides the fact that Toronto was better.” 

Without Matthews, the Leafs turned to a reworked top line with Max Domi centering Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner. In Domi’s 7:37 of 5-on-5 ice time matched up against Boston’s top blueliner Charlie McAvoy, Toronto held a 10-1 edge in shots on goal. 

Boston’s issues with gaining sustained O-zone pressure were made worse by a poor night at the faceoff dot, with Toronto winning 32 of 53 chances. 

“As much as we’ve got guys with lots of skill and Max is certainly one of them that can make plays in the neutral zone, our game and our start to the game has to begin with the forecheck,” Keefe noted. “That’s the playoffs and that’s what this series certainly demands. And that line did that extremely well.” 

While Toronto’s shorthanded lineup did just enough to outlast Swayman (culminating in a Matthew Knies OT tally at 2:26), the Bruins found themselves flustered by the play of Woll.

Pressed into service after a lackluster showing all series from Ilya Samsonov (.883 save percentage), Woll’s strong response in Game 5 narrowed some of the sizable gaps that the Bruins have taken advantage of in this series when it comes to goaltending. 

The former Boston College product turned aside 27 of the 28 shots that came his way, robbing Trent Frederic of a second tally (and a potential series clincher) with a sprawling pad save in the third period. 

As the Maple Leafs head back to Scotiabank Arena with a healthier Matthews and some semblance of stability in net with Woll, Montgomery and the Bruins are once again staring at a familiar conundrum with their goalie rotation — with Swayman (31 saves on 33 shots in Game 5) potentially looking at a fourth-straight start on Thursday night.

Granted, Swayman’s stellar play may have quieted some of those concerns, with the contingency plan being a Linus Ullmark start after last playing on April 22. 

But even with momentum now shifted back in Toronto’s favor, Keefe isn’t expecting the Bruins to replicate their no-show, first-period performance in Game 6. 

 “As difficult as this one was here tonight, the next one is going to be even harder, no matter where the game is played,” Keefe said. “Because now you got their attention. 

“I think part of the first period is them a little unsure as to how we were going to handle ourselves here tonight. I don’t think we’ll have that advantage going into the next game, psychologically. We haven’t been good on home ice, so we’ve earned ourselves another opportunity to fix that.”

Swayman’s post-game comments painted the picture of a Bruins team still poised to put this series away in Toronto. 

“I got goosebumps,” Swayman said after extolling the internal drive present within Boston’s room.  “It’s really exciting, and we know that we’re going to respond.” 

Unfortunately, a rejuvenated Maple Leafs team appears ready to issue a similar retort.