TORONTO – Sheldon Keefe’s only focus on Friday was for his team to come out unscathed.
With that mission firmly accomplished, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now turning the page to the playoffs.
Next? Only twice defending Stanley Cup champion.
William Nilander scored twice when Toronto beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 in the regular season final, in which both teams rest most of their stars.
“Strange game for the coach,” Keefe said. “Your bench is weird. The boys play in different places. You try to do well in the game, but you try not to use boys too much.
“I watched the ice time more than I watched the ice game, to be honest. It was a weird game this way, but the boys did a good job.”
With the victory, the Leafs guaranteed that they would face Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, while the Bruins have to meet Carolina Hurricane.
“Consecutive champions, one of the best teams in the league,” Nylander said of Toronto’s next opponent. “It will be a difficult series, but it will be a good battle for us.
Ilya Mikheev, Nick Abruzze with his first goal in the NHL and Pierre Engval, who was left empty-handed, also scored for Toronto (54-21-7). Eric Calgren made 24 saves.
Leafs’ 115 points in the standings are 10 more than the franchise’s previous record set in 2017-18, while those 54 victories are also highly rated.
“They can be tough games to play,” Toronto striker Jason Spca said on Friday. “It doesn’t feel normal.”
Trent Frederick and Jake DeBrusk answered for Boston (51-26-5), which received 22 stops from Jeremy Swiman. Craig Smith made two assists.
“You want to play every game you can,” said Bruins center Charlie Coyle. “No matter what night you play, who you play with, you want to be in the lineup and make an impact.”
After finishing No. 2 in the Atlantic Division, Leafs gave Aston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares a break in the lead, while goalkeeper № 1 goalkeeper Jack Campbell served as a reserve.
The Bruins, meanwhile, were minus Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall. Charlie McAvoy stood in defense.
The combined absences from both clubs led to nearly $ 73 million in limited pay.
Playing in second place, Boston still had a chance to catch Tampa for third place in the division and a chance to face Toronto in the first round, entering the game, but instead will finish first in the Eastern Conference. .
“We got what we wanted,” said Leafs defender Morgan Riley. “We are in a good place to leave here and use the next two days to prepare for important hockey.”
The Bruins scored 70 seconds in the opening period of the match, which had a sense of manifestation when Frederick scored his eighth goal of the season after Calgren.
Toronto responded at 3:51 with a power play after Boston’s Mark McLaughlin was awarded a four-minute penalty for a high-scoring shot when Mark Giordano’s point shot glanced at Mikheev from the front for his 21st of the 2021-22 season.
The Leafs took the lead at 13:16 when Nylander stole the puck from McLaughlin and competed alone against Swiman before adding to his career-high 33rd goal.
Dressed for his ninth NHL game after signing with Toronto after finishing his college season in the United States in late March, Abruzze scored his first NHL goal with a good deflection of Rieli’s shot by 6.7 seconds by the end of the period. .
“I felt really good,” said Aburzese. “I had several chances in the last few games.
“It’s nice that this one came in.”
Rielli is impressed with the way the 22-year-old former Harvard player has thought about the game since arriving in Toronto.
“He’s not too big or he looks scary,” Riley said with a slight smile. “But he does a good job and wins a lot of battles and plays right.”
The Bruins began to lose weight in the second, but there was still little emotion until the end of the period, when Thomas Nosek cross-checked Toronto defender Timothy Lilgegren from behind in the boards.
Rielly responded by briefly clashing with the Boston striker to make up for small penalties before Nylander scored his 34th eight minutes after the third.
Nick Foligno, acquired at the deadline for trading in Toronto last season, scored a puck at home with 9:36 left in the regulation in a sequence that was properly challenged for offside.
DeBrusk eventually made it 4-2 with his 25th at 7:11 left in the rules, but Calgren closed the door from there before Engval put his 15th into an empty net.
“We have 82 games in the books,” Keefe said. “Now we can play for real.”
Notes: Leafs have a home ice advantage for the first time since 2004 – the last time they won a playoff series … Toronto has never played with Tampa in the playoffs … The Bruins eliminated Leafs in seven games in the first round as in 2018 and in 2019
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 29, 2022.
___
Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter.
Add Comment