TORONTO (AP) With the Maple Leafs buzzing and Scotiabank Arena rocking after Toronto tied it early in second period, the Boston Bruins needed a push from their dormant stars.
David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand delivered.
Pastrnak scored twice in quick succession, Marchand had a goal and two assists and the Bruins held off the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Wednesday night to tie the first-round series 2-2.
”It’s not easy to win in this building,” Pastrnak said. ”A hell of a win.”
Game 5 is Friday night in Boston.
Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist for Boston, Zdeno Chara and Joakim Nordstrom also scored and Tuukka Rask made 38 saves.
At 42 years, 30 days, the 6-foot-9 Chara became the second-oldest defenseman in NHL history to score a playoff goal. Chris Chelios holds the record at 45 years, 86 days.
”If I contribute something offensively, it’s always a plus,” Chara said. ”But my focus is always playing well defensively. I take a lot of pride in playing well defensively.”
Auston Matthews scored twice for Toronto. Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott also scored and Frederik Andersen stopped 25 shots.
”We had real good energy,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. ”I didn’t think we had the kind of brain all that time that we wanted. Turned the puck over, two real big mistakes on the penalty kill. Just got in our own way a little bit.”
After the Maple Leafs overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie it early in the second period, Pastrnak put Boston back in front at 3:16 when he redirected a pass from Marchand on a 2-on-1. The Bruins then got a power play when Matthews went off for roughing, and Marchand whipped a backhand pass to a wide-open Pastrnak, who snapped the puck short-side on Andersen for his second goal in 1:35.
Chara made it 5-2 at 5:39 of the third.
”He’s a true professional. He’s a great leader,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. ”Still a really solid hockey player. They’re trying to find ways to expose him and he’s trying to adapt to the new NHL and has. There’s a reason why he’s still playing and still effective. Not only is he hard, but he’s smart. He’s a very intelligent man and has been able to figure out a way to keep playing this game and be effective.”
Matthews scored on the power play with 8:08 left, and Dermott made it 5-4 through traffic with 6:33 remaining. Nordstrom scored into an empty net with two seconds to go.
”We did a lot of good things,” Toronto center John Tavares said. ”We generated a lot of chances, got a lot of pucks to the net. We didn’t have our best start tonight, but we gave ourselves a good chance.”
NOTES: Boston was 2 for 2 on the power play. Toronto went 1 for 3. … Canadian hip hop artist Drake and Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse attended the game.
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