Bozak pots OT winner as Leafs edge Caps
Senators take series lead on Bruins with overtime win
After snatching Game 2 in double overtime, Kasperi Kapanen said the Toronto Maple Leafs would give the Washington Capitals a run for their money.
He was right.
Tyler Bozak scored the overtime winner and Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist as the Leafs pulled in front 2-1 in their best-of-seven series with Washington with a 4-3 win on Monday night. William Nylander and Nazem Kadri (two points) also found the back of the net for Toronto and Frederik Andersen made 23 saves.
The Leafs dug out from a pair of two-goal deficits in the victory, taking unlikely control of a meeting with the Presidents’ Trophy winners and perennial playoff disappointments.
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov all scored in defeat for the Caps while Braden Holtby gave up four goals on 28 shots with Game 4 ahead on Wednesday night.
All three games so far have been decided in overtime.
The Leafs were hosting their first playoff game in almost four years and coming off an exciting 91-minute double overtime win in Game 2, but it was the Capitals who got the early jump in Game 3. They scored twice in the first five minutes with both goals coming from their vaunted top line of Ovechkin, Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.
Nate Schmidt, who was filling in for an injured Karl Alzner, got the first one started by rushing into the Toronto zone with speed before finding Backstrom crashing the net across the ice. The Swede beat Leafs defenceman Nikita Zaitsev there and
stuffed in a shot short-side.
Zaitsev was playing his first game of the series and first ever in the NHL playoffs after sitting out the opening two games with a suspected concussion.
Senators 4, Bruins 3 (OT)
Bobby Ryan scored the winner on a power play 5:43 into overtime as the Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference quarter-final series.
Ryan tipped the puck past Rask off a pass from Kyle Turris. Ottawa was awarded the man advantage when Boston’s Riley Nash was whistled for roughing 4:38 into overtime after throwing a punch at Ryan.
It is the second straight game in the series that has gone to
overtime, with Dion Phaneuf scoring 1:59 in Saturday’s extra period to send the Sens to a 4-3 victory in Game 2.
Mike Hoffman scored two goals and Derick Brassard added another for the Senators. Craig Anderson made 17 saves.
Noel Acciari, David Backes and David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins while Tuukka Rask had 28 stops.
Game 4 is Wednesday in Boston.
Hoffman polished off a breakaway after a lengthy saucer pass from Erik Karlsson to put Ottawa up 1-0 at 7:40 of the opening period.
Brassard struck 25 seconds later, hammering home a tip from Ryan after Viktor Stalberg’s pass from behind the net, making it 2-0.
The Bruins managed three shots on goal in the first and
just one in the final 16:18 of the period, and neither side got off a shot in the last 9:47.
Hoffman’s power-play snipe 3:42 into the second put the Sens ahead 3-0.
For the second straight game, the Bruins erupted for three goals in the second to bring a sold out TD Garden crowd of 17,565 to life.
Acciari, making his playoff debut, scored on a redirect at 6:05 to cut the deficit to 3-1. Backes stole the puck and netted another goal 42 seconds later to make it 3-2.
Pastrnak tied it with his first career playoff goal on a wrister seconds after the Bruins’ 5-on-3 advantage ended at 13:51.
Anderson stopped all nine shots Boston sent his way in the third and Rask brushed aside seven to send the game to overtime.