Bruins lose to Maple Leafs, will face Hurricanes in first round
The Boston Bruins finished as the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.
Jake DeBrusk scored for the Bruins (51-26-5), who had won four in a row and still had a chance to finish third in the Atlantic Division but will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves.
Boston played without forwards Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Erik Haula, Taylor Hall and defensemen Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Matt Grzelcyk to rest.
William Nylander scored twice and Erik Kallgren made 24 saves for the Maple Leafs (54-21-7), who rested forwards Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and John Tavares.
Toronto, which finished second in the Atlantic, will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
Trent Frederic scored 1-0 at 1:10 of the first period when he put in a loose puck at the top of the goal crease after Craig Smith centered the puck from behind the net.
Ilya Mikheyev tied it 1-1 at 3:51 when he deflected a point shot from Mark Giordano in the slot.
Nylander put the Maple Leafs up 2-1 at 13:16 when he scored on a breakaway after stealing the puck from Marc McLaughlin at the Maple Leafs blue line.
Nicholas Abruzzese made it 3-1 at 19:52 when he deflected Morgan Rielly’s point shot in the slot. It was his first NHL goal and point in his ninth game.
Nylander scored at 8:00 of the third period when he shot past Swayman’s outstretched glove from the slot to give Toronto a 4-1 lead.
DeBrusk cut it to 4-2 with his 25th goal of the season at 12:49 when he shot over Kallgren’s glove from just below the right face-off dot on the power play.
Pierre Engvall scored an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left for the 5-2 final.
Tonight’s lineup 👇@FanDuelCanada | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/OEGPdUFLI7
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 29, 2022
LEAFS WIN!!! #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/LThu3YGqOt
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 30, 2022
Living up to the name ⭐️#LeafsForever | @Molson_Canadian pic.twitter.com/JgHoGIVy3m
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 30, 2022
Here’s one for the mantel 👏 pic.twitter.com/aNzbLsnjWL
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 30, 2022