2. Hyman turns on jets, pulls Leafs even with terrific individual effort late in first. Toronto was outshot 9-7 by Boston in the first 20 minutes, but the game was tied 1-1 entering the second frame thanks to an outstanding individual performance by winger Zach Hyman. The sophomore NHLer saw a loose puck opportunity from his position all the way back in the Buds' defensive zone, skated as hard as he could up the ice, gained possession of it just inside the Bruins' blueline, and cut hard to the net before going to his backhand and beating netminder Tuukka Rask for his second career playoff goal.
Hyman's speed has always been an asset, but on this sequence, he showed a delicate scoring touch that undoubtedly will endear him to head coach Mike Babcock even more than he's already endeared himself to.
3. Boston retakes lead with second power play marker of the night, adds third goal just before second intermission.Babcock mentioned before the game that special teams could play a big role in deciding the winner of the series, and Boston's power play certainly had an impact Thursday: after Marchand's first-period power play marker, the Bruins got another goal on the man advantage at the 15:43 mark of the middle period when centre David Backes netted his 14th career post-season goal to make it 2-1 for the home team.
Boston's big line of Marchand, Pastrnak and centre Patrice Bergeron struck again before the second intermission, as Pastrnak fired a shot from the slot past Andersen with 38 seconds left in the period to give Boston a two-goal advantage entering the third. The Leafs knew that neutralizing the Bs' top line would be a priority for them, but that proved to be a tall order, as did preventing them from scoring on the power play.
4. Leafs' man advantage can't generate any offence.At one end of the ice, the Bruins went 3-for-6 on the power play. At the other end, the Leafs were unable to score on any of their three man advantages. Toronto came close a number of times - including one time when winger Mitch Marner had an open net, but couldn't control his backhanded shot into putting it in - but couldn't finish on any of them - and that differential in special teams performance could be seen as the key difference in the result of this contest.
5. Bruins add two goals in final frame, lock up Game One victory in convincing style. The Bruins outshot Toronto 16-11 in the second period and started the third in much the same manner, jumping out to an 8-3 shots advantage in the first half of the final regulation frame. That consistent pressure paid off for Boston with their fourth goal of the game, courtesy of forward Sean Kuraly at 7:41 of the third.
Toronto's emotions got the best of them after that, with centre Nazem Kadri getting ejected at 8:18 for charging winger Tommy Wingels. Wingels had thrown an elbow at winger Mitch Marner prior to Kadri's charge, but Kadri's act was all the officials observed, and Kadri paid the biggest price for it. His five-minute major penalty (in addition to the game misconduct) gave the Bruins even more opportunities with the extra man, and centre David Krejci added Boston's fifth goal (and third power-play marker) at 11:29 to wrap up the scoring for both sides.
The Leafs' discipline proved a major concern Thursday, and Babcock and his coaching staff no doubt will stress Toronto needs to play a smarter, tighter defensive game when Game 2 goes down Saturday.
