Maple Leafs vs. Bruins Game 4: Full highlights, final score and more

And they did all this without their top center Patrice Bergeron, who was a pregame scratch from the lineup with an upper body injury.

Even without one of their best players, the Boston Bruins were able to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in game 4 and are now one win away from advancing to the next round of the playoffs. They expect us to be good. “We didn’t take advantage”.

The Bruins proved when Bergeron went down with a foot injury earlier this season that they could thrive without their best player. He didn’t skate in the morning, but he was in the dressing room answering queries from reporters afterward. Either way, the goal gave the Bruins an unlikely 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

Now the Bruins can finish the series with a win in Game 5 Saturday night.

– For what it’s worth, the Bruins are hopeful that they’ll get Bergeron back for Saturday’s Game 5.

The late-breaking drama didn’t leave the Maple Leafs much time to prepare for Bergeron’s absence. The same happened earlier in the season with a David Krejci injury, and then after the deadline when Rick Nash came down with some post-concussion issues.

The Bruins stunned the Maple Leafs just 28 second into the game to quiet an electric Air Canada Centre when Krug’s snapshot from the sideboards found its way past Nash and Plekanec in front before glancing in off Andersen’s shoulder. On that particular play, I felt a liberty had been taken on Mitch (Marner) and I’ll always stand up for a teammate or myself, that won’t change for me. He was determined, but there was no go-ahead goal. He tallied five assists in the first two games of the series as his line, along with David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, combined for 20 points in Boston’s two home victories.

Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk also had goals for the Bruins. Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs now face nearly certain elimination – but let me tell you this playa, the sun still came up this morning.

As uncertainty surrounded the team prior to the game, Tuukka Rask stepped up and backstopped the B’s to a huge victory in Toronto.

There is no doubt Rask was outstanding again. Andersen made 18 saves for Toronto.

Rask now sports a solid.926 save percentage. Tommy Wingels took his place on the Bruins’ roster, while Riley Nash slid into his spot as the top-line center. I say this because I favor Boston here and it’s risky to play the regulation line because of the threat of overtime… The Leafs were victimized in Game 4 by two very ill-advised pinches by defensemen and their collective effort in Games 1 and 2 could be described as nothing short of putrid. But then the Bruins gave them a boot to the gut.

Even though the Montreal Canadiens aren’t in the playoffs this year, that hasn’t stopped fans from sharing their thoughts on the different series and how they’re playing out. “The reality is when you leave here tonight…you’ve got time to evaluate yourself and those guys are pretty honest”. I cannot remember the last time Rask made a huge game-changing save, or just a key save in a key moment. And even if the Leafs do lose, up to this point, they haven’t been half bad and first round exit in a stupid system where two of the best teams in the league play each other in the first round is nothing to feel too upset about. So we have to dig in, play harder and compete better.