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Leafs on brink of elimination after disappointing Game 4 loss

Al Sciola
Al Sciola
|
Apr 28 2024, 2:49 am
Leafs on brink of elimination after disappointing Game 4 loss
Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY

With a loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now on the brink of being eliminated from the playoffs as they find themselves down 3-1 in the series.

Keeping pace with the Bruins all night, the Leafs had trouble getting past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who now has seven straight wins against Toronto, (in regulation and playoffs).

Toronto may have gotten a major offensive contriutor back in their lineup with the return of forward William Nylander, but it didn’t give them much of a boost as they fell by a score of 3-1.

Former Leafs forward James Van Riemsdyk opened the scoring, netting his first fo the series late in the first period after Ryan Reaves gave the puck away.

 

The Leafs, who were unable to capitalize on a pair of power plays in the first period, entered the second with a little more urgency.

But the Bruins doubled their lead a little before the game’s halfway point as Brad Marchand — a thorn in Toronto’s side all series — netted his third of the playoffs with a power play marker.

Boston netted one more for good measure before the second period wrapped as David Pastrnak got his first of the series with just 42 seconds left in the stanza.

Meanwhile, with pressure mounting, the frustration on Toronto’s bench became abundantly clear.

Swapping netmidner Ilya Samsonov for Joseph Woll in the second intermission, the Leafs saw another notable lineup change ahead of the third period as centre Auston Matthews was not on the bench to start the period, remaining absent for the rest of the night.

Without their most productive forward, Toronto managed to get on the board and find some life six minutes into the last frame with Mitch Marner scoring his first of the series.

But it was too little, too late.

Fighting to keep their season alive, Toronto will head to Boston for Game 5 on Tuesday.

Leafs 2024 first-round playoff schedule

  • Game 5: Tuesday, April 30, Toronto at Boston, TBD
  • Game 6: Thursday, May 2, Boston at Toronto, TBD*
  • Game 7: Saturday, May 4, Toronto at Boston, TBD*

*if necessary

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