Maple Leafs vs. Bruins Final Score: Toronto Evens Series with 4-2 Win
By Josh Hill
The Toronto Maple Leafs came into the season this year with massive question marks about their goaltending. There were rumors they’d make a move for Vancouver Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo, but those rumors never came to anything. As it turned out, the Leafs had a viable netminder on their roster already, but despite turning in a solid and surprisingly good play all season long, the new question was could James Reimer keep it up in the postseason.
So far the answer hasn’t been found, as after a Game 1 where Reimer allowed four goals to the Boston Bruins, the Leafs netminder allowed just two goals on Saturday and helped Toronto to a 4-2 series tying victory in Boston.
Most of the action was reserved for the second and third periods as Nate Horton struck first for Boston but that goal was quickly answered by back-to-back goals by Joffrey Lupul which gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead. Toronto added a third goal when Phil Kessel scored in the third and despite getting a goal back, Boston allowed a fourth goal to James van Riemsdyk which ended up being the difference.
The series now heads to Toronto where the Leafs can use home ice advantage to get up 3-1 on the Bruins or at least send the series back to Boston tied. Toronto isn’t favored to win the series, but that question mark of James Reimer will be key in the next few games. If Reimer can be solid like he was on Saturday and the Leafs can give him proper run support, there’s no reason the Leafs can’t take this series back to Boston in charge.
As for Boston, the two games have been starkly different for them, and they have numerous things to correct if they don’t want to watch this series slip away from them. It’s not impossible by any stretch for the Bruins to gain the upper hand in the series while in Toronto, but they’ll need to work a lot harder than they did on Saturday night.