Good evening all and welcome to game five! I will be your recapper tonight and I do believe it’s my first of the season so uh, we’ll see how that goes, shall we?

First period

Babcock starts the Tavares line against the Bruins’ fourth line. Sean Kuraly is said to be playing with a splint on his busted right hand so we’ll see if anyone targets that.

Toronto gets the first shots on goal as well as the first icing (looks like Nikita Zaitsev, not a surprise) .

Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman come into the zone and then wait for John Tavares and Jake Muzzin before trying anything. The “anything” results in a pile in front of Tuukka Rask.

Freddie Andersen has to make a save on a shot from outside the Leafs’ blue line.

Leafs get a three on two but can’t do anything with it.

Shot by Travis Dermott saved by Rask.

The Matthews line is on against the Bergeron line in the Bruins zone and they’re getting shot attempts off no problem. Zaitsev looks good offensively.

Hyman to Marner and Marner doesn’t get all of it (courtesy of Zdeno Chara being Tall) before Rask is there.

Bruins get set up with a little bit of zone time but lose the puck. They try again but the Leafs fourth line gets the puck out.

Things are going end to end here without much in the way of shots on net.

Another icing against Toronto.

Connor Brown drops a pass to William Nylander as they enter the Boston zone but Nylander picks it up just offside. They face off against Pastrnak’s line.

Leafs are definitely getting in closer to Rask than the Bruins are to Freddie but so far it’s not helping them.

Muzzin puts a shot on net that Auston Matthews tips but Rask hangs on.

Freddie goes for a walk and I don’t care how clear the field is that is never good for my heart, Andersen.

Charlie McAvoy makes the Leafs defenders look silly and sends a nice wrister in on Andersen but nothing doing.

Freddie has to come out a bit to clear a chip pass by the Bruins.

Ron Hainsey pokes the puck away from David Pastrnak.

Couple dangerous looking chances for the Bruins get the TD Gardens crowd going.

Another icing against Toronto. 8:20 left in the period.

John Tavares and Kasperi Kapanen combine for a chance but Patrice Bergeron plays goalie and the puck stays out.

Hyman goes in one on one with Rask but can’t beat the goalie.

Nylander steals the puck from a Bruin but loses an edge as he does. Still, stops the entry.

Morgan Rielly puts a shot on and is denied.

Bruins ice the puck with the fourth line trying to change.

Torey Krug dumps the puck in. McAvoy shoots wide of the net.

Marner goes vertical trying to keep the puck in the Bruins zone but comes down in the neutral zone.

Trevor Moore’s shot deflects up into the netting.

Matthews finds Andreas Johnsson from behind the net but he can’t make anything work.

Hyman gets a penalty for... winning a puck battle, really but it’s called a trip. I suppose it’s possible Hyman’s stick interfered with McAvoy’s skating but if so McAvoy is bad at skating.

Leafs clear the puck. Bruins bring it back in. Shot by Bergeron saved by Freddie. Another great stop by Freddie.

Brown muscles the puck just enough out of the zone to allow a change. More Bruins chances before Marner clears. Another Bruins chance tipped wide and the penalty ends  with the Leafs still under pressure.

Finally Marner gets the puck and dumps it into the Bruins zone for a change.

Leafs are battling in the Boston zone when the buzzer goes. Shots are seven to six for the Leafs and now I absent myself to avoid Racist Uncle. Please enjoy Zach Hyman in the meantime.

Second period

Leafs get the first zone time, Chara gets the first shot. Freddie catches the puck easily.

McAvoy tries to be fancy and puts himself offside.

Muzzin’s point shot just misses.

Bergeron lands the puck in the benches.

Johnsson tries to pass the puck and ices it instead.

Pastrnak fans on a shot.

Kapanen comes in with Matthews but Matthews can’t quite handle the pass.

David Krejci tries to split the Leafs D and the Leafs D take the puck from him.

Gauthier and Tavares are somehow on the ice together and Rask has to dive for the puck.

Bruins ice the puck.

Leafs get some solid time the zone that ends with a lovely shot by Rielly and a save by Rask. Chara and Hyman go at each other after the whistle but nothing comes of it.

Matthews shot saved by Rask.

Patrick Marleau goes to the box on a call after he gets his stick in on the hands of Krejci. Second Boston power play. Leafs killers try to muscle the puck out but can’t quite do it.  A Bruins shot goes into the netting and we re-set.

After a few good Boston shots Hainsey finally gets the puck to Marner who clears it. More Bruins chances and good responses from Freddie before there’s a whistle, possibly for offside.

Bruins try to come back in but Mitch Marner is there and they have to try again. Penalty ends with the Leafs in their own zone. It takes them a while to get out long enough to change.

It’s Toronto’s turn to apply some pressure and Nylander just misses a couple of opportunities at the net.

Bruins icing and then they clear the puck again but the Leafs come back in and Tavares puts a shot in.

Andersen with a save on Marchand. He has to be good a couple more times before the Leafs are on their way out but Marner sends a puck out over the glass and Leafs are on the kill again.

Bruins lose possession almost immediately, manage to get it back just long enough for the Leafs to clear.

Shorthanded breakaway by Kapanen as Andersen springs him but he misses the net.

Hyman and Brown have a chance but not only can they not score but Hyman gets hurt and there’s a few seconds of five on three for Boston while he makes his way to the bench.

Generally a good kill for the Leafs, they spend a lot of it outside of the defensive zone.

Freddie’s seeing more shots than he was in the first, mostly courtesy of the power plays.

Some good zone time for Matthews and Nylander after the power play but they don’t get it done.

Hyman’s back on the ice, apparently he’s made of rubber.

Marchand shoots, Krejci follows it up with a shot off the post and Andersen is acrobatic in his efforts to keep it out. The Bruins and their fans think they’ve scored but it’s no goal.

Pace has slowed a little.  Back and forth with board battles and nothing much on net.

Rielly does some good work to keep the puck in and eventually it comes to Hainsey, whose slapshot misses the net.

Shot by Johnsson goes wide.

Debrusk shot, save Andersen.

Lot of intercepted passes.

Shot by Hyman with Marner and Tavares in front but Rask doesn’t allow a rebound.

Rielly point shot leads to a juicy rebound but there’s nobody there.

Johnsson avoids icing but the Bruins manage to get the puck back out before the Leafs do anything with it.

Debrusk tries to walk the Leafs D but he fails entirely.

Marner comes in just offside due to Chara and his stick again.

The fourth line tries to keep the puck in and can’t quite do it.

Tyler Ennis comes in under pressure and Rask has to be good.

Bruins ice the puck.

Hainsey slapshot hits Rask but bounces too hard for a good rebound.

Shot by Kapanen stopped by Rask.

Period ends with Boston flipping the puck down the ice. Shots on the period were nine-all.

Third period

I’ll do the recap, I said! Katya needs a break, I said! I regret all my life choices.

Tavares gets the first shot of the period, a long one that Rask saves easily but it leads to a battle around the net. Rask settles things down and the Leafs get an offensive zone faceoff.

Back and forth for a few seconds. Rielly takes the puck off of Danton Heinen but puts it into the netting. The Leafs take a minute to get out and are then are called for an icing that looked a bit dubious.

Marner carries the puck in but nothing gets to the net. At the other end Boston gets a couple of shots on Freddie.

Gauthier feeds Moore who heads into the zone and shoots. Save by Rask and then the Bruins break out and Freddie has to square up.

Another somewhat dubious icing call on the Leafs although Johnson might just be trying to sell having tipped the puck.

Marchand and Bergeron get a few chances on Andersen and he hangs on to the second one for a faceoff.

Battle off the faceoff and the Leafs get it out but Brown dumps it off the linesman and into the bench.

Coyle tries a wraparound that Freddie stops but it takes his teammates a minute to get the puck out.

John Moore misses a check on Connor Brown that allows him to take a shot but Rask has it. First offensive zone faceoff in a while.

Doesn’t mean the puck stays in, but the next shot is Kapanen on Rask so we’ve got another offensive zone faceoff. Still no love, Bruins get it out again.

Pastrnak sends the puck over the glass but not straight out. More defensive zone time and I’m starting to get worried.

Rielly absorbs a hit to get the puck to someone who can get it out. Short fourth line shift and then we’ve got a shot by Nylander.

Finally Leafs get a power play as Boston’s called for too many men.

Bergeron and Marchand get the puck out and make a nuisance of themselves in the Toronto zone. Matthews comes back in one on three but Rask doesn’t like his odds and stops play.

Shot by Rielly, save by Rask as Tavares isn’t quite in position in front. Bruins clear the puck. Marchand and Bergeron try some nonsense again.

A few good chances for the Leafs including a scramble in front of Rask but Boston kill it off.

The Leafs are starting to look better but Boston still has the puck too much. Props to Trevor Moore for beating out an icing. He didn’t have any help but it allows his teammates to change.

GOAAAAAAAAAL!

Auston Matthews breaks the ice. Just a beautiful shot, fed by a nice pass by Jake Muzzin.

Hyman was in front and he had stumbled into Rask just before the shot. Boston challenges for interference. The broadcast thinks it’s coming back, but it’s called good and the party starts.

There’s 8:22 left in the period.

Bruins try and answer back but the best they can do off the bat is a shot by Carlo.

Johannson looks like he’s got a chance but his stick breaks.

Kuraly tries a shot and Andersen has the answer.

Bruins are getting chances but they’re not necessarily good chances and they’re also being a bit too fancy.

Better chance as Krug’s shot is tipped but Freddie shuts the door.

Leafs come back on a three on two and Kapanen beats Rask.  It’s 2-0 Toronto. 6:07 left.

Toronto settles down for some zone time, a combination of shots on net and wasting a little time.

Bruins swarm but aren’t actually hitting the net.

Kapanen dumps the puck in and everybody changes. Bruins are called for icing.

Bruins get the puck out but not very far and Matthews has another shot on net.

Freddie deflects a shot into the netting and we have 3:40 on the clock.

Game has slowed down again which isn’t great for Boston.

I type that and the Bruins get a sequence of shots and Andersen has to be fantastic. He very much is, with some help from his teammates.

Bruins ice the puck. They get back into Toronto’s zone but lose control.

Rask is out.

Boston re-set and make another attempt at a zone entry. Still not going all that well for them.

Pastrnak gets a shot on but Freddie is there.

We’re down to the final minute. Boston is pressing and finally they break Andersen’s shutout. Pastrnak feeds Krejci and it’s a one goal game with less than 44 seconds.

Since it’s in the last minute, the league checks to make sure it wasn’t offside. Debate by the broadcast as to whether or not it’ll stand. They were wrong on the interference challenge, but I’d like them to be right on this one. Goal is called good though.

Bruins can’t pull Rask because Leafs get possession. When Boston gets it in, Hyman gets it out and there’s a delayed offside. Hyman is called for icing after the next faceoff and Boston gets an offensive zone faceoff with 13 seconds left.

Another Toronto icing with a second left. They add .2 seconds back on before the next faceoff.

Andersen makes one last save and Toronto is ahead in this series again, 3-2.

Many thanks to Omar and his gif-making skills.

Game CoverageMaple Leafs Playoffs