Bruins' Top Line Must Step Up In Game 4 Vs. Maple Leafs

patrice bergeron nhl boston bruins

Patrice Bergeron waits for a puck between Frederik Andersen and Jake Muzzin of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Huge game for the Bruins in Toronto tonight at 7 p.m.

They trail the Maple Leafs in their first-round playoff series 2-1 after Monday's setback—and they didn't get any help from top-line forwards Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak. Seven total shots, but no points, and some sloppy giveaways. 

Marchand and Bergeron expected the Leafs to zero in on them.

"We'll look at some things and try to be a little better, but they're a good team, they play tight, they play hard," Marchand said. "We'll just have to compete and see what happens."

"It's tight right now, there's not much space, and I think it's on both sides," Bergeron said. "We were expecting a match-up like that, we were expecting a tight game like that. It's about finding ways to be better in our zone."

Jake Muzzin said he and Nikita Zaitsev have limited that unit's opportunities. 

"We didn't spend that much time in our zone," he said. "I thought we did a good job of breaking out and stuff like that. It's the same stuff over and over again—just, time and space, and play hard on 'em."

Boston's top line has to be its best, and create more scoring chances. When these teams matched up last postseason, the group had 25 even-strength points in seven games. Three games into this series, just two.

WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports


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