The Boston Bruins were barely holding onto a one-goal lead when defenseman Charlie McAvoy slipped and fell while trying to chase down Toronto’s Auston Matthews for a loose puck.
Matthews, the top goal-scorer in the NHL this season, found himself with a clear path to the net after McAvoy’s stumble. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman rushed out to stop him, but Matthews’ shot hit the post instead of going in.
“I thought it was going to be 1-1 as soon as he got past Sway,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We can’t let Matthews have those kinds of chances. He’s too good of a goal-scorer.”
Bruins rookie Jonny Beecher scored his first postseason goal less than three minutes into the game, giving Boston a 1-0 lead.
The score remained close until the second period, when Matthews narrowly missed tying the game by hitting the post.
“I was just trying to beat him to the puck,” Swayman said. “I’m relieved it didn’t go in.”
Shortly after Matthews’ near-miss, Brandon Carlo extended Boston’s lead to 2-0, followed by two power-play goals from Jake DeBrusk to make it 4-0. Trent Frederic sealed the win with an empty-net goal late in the game.
David Kampf scored the lone goal for Toronto, and Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves.
“We had some really good chances in the second period,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Matthews had a chance to tie the score, but we couldn’t capitalize, and then the penalties hurt us, allowing Boston to pull away.”
