Auston Matthews had three points, scoring the winning goal in the third period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Monday. The series is now even with one victory for each side.
Max Domi and John Tavares also scored for the Maple Leafs. Domi finished the game with two points. Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves to sign just his sixth victory in 19 career playoff games.
Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak responded for the Massachusetts club.
Despite Jeremy Swayman’s good performance in the first game, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery turned to Linus Ullmark for the second game. This decision did not have the desired effect since the veteran gave up three times on 33 shots.
It was also the first time that two different goalies were used by the Bruins in the first two games of a series since the first round in 1996.
The series will move to Toronto for the next two games, scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday.
Marchand joins Bergeron
Geekie was the first scorer of the match. During a power play, he accepted a pass from Brad Marchand who crossed the slot before shooting into an almost empty cage. Samsonov did not have time to begin his move before the puck found itself in the back of his net.
Marchand also joined Quebecer Patrice Bergeron in third place in team history with 78 assists in the playoffs. Raymond Bourque (125) and David Krejci (85) are in front of them.
However, it only took the visitors 14 seconds to tie the game. Following a turnover, Matthews directed the puck to the net, and Domi took advantage of the rebound to make the red light flash.
Pastrnak then allowed the local favorites to return to the locker room for the intermission with the lead by scoring with eight seconds remaining in the first period. The Czech fired a powerful one-timer that gave Samsonov no chance.
The Maple Leafs came close to tying the game late in the second period when Ullmark caught a shot from Calle Jarnkrok, but video review failed to conclude that the puck had completely crossed the goal line.
A few minutes later, the Maple Leafs scored, but the video review this time was unequivocal: Tyler Bertuzzi had touched the puck higher than the permitted height.
With 94 seconds left in the second period, Tavares took charge. The captain beat Ullmark with a good shot from the blocker side to make it 2-2.
At 12:06 of the third period, Matthews gave the Maple Leafs the lead for the first time in the series. He skillfully caught a lobbed pass with his hand at the Bruins blue line before moving in alone in front of Ullmark.
He took the opportunity to end a drought of six games without a goal in the playoffs.
The Bruins had a power play in the final minutes of the game, but they were unable to tie the score.
Forward William Nylander missed a second straight game for the Maple Leafs due to an undisclosed injury.