Bruins blow past Maple Leafs grab 10 series lead

David Backes and David Pastrnak scored second-period goals to break a 1-all tie and spark the Boston Bruins in a 5-1 rout over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Thursday night.

Brad Marchand, Sean Kuraly and David Krejci also scored and Tuukka Rask made 26 saves as Boston took a 1-0 series lead against Toronto. Game 2 of the series takes place Saturday night in Boston.

Zach Hyman had the Maple Leafs’ only goal and Frederik Andersen had 35 saves. Toronto won three of its four regular-season games against Boston, and the teams are meeting in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

A poor penalty kill did the Maple Leafs in as the Bruins went 3-for-6 on the power play while holding Toronto scoreless on three man-advantage chances.

Marchand, the Bruins’ leading scorer with 85 points in the regular season, sent the hometown fans into a frenzy with his goal 5:28 into the game. Marchand received a feed from Torey Krug and beat Andersen with a backhander to put Boston up 1-0.

Hyman pulled the Maple Leafs even on his goal with 3:08 left in the first period. After beating two Bruins defenders while charging down the right wall, Hyman collected the puck and honed in on Rask before beating the goalie with a nifty deke.

Backes put Boston ahead for good when he kicked a loose puck back to his stick and lifted the puck past Andersen with 4:17 to go in the second to make it 2-1. Pastrnak ripped a wrister from the slot after a nice pass from Patrice Bergeron to make it 3-1 with 38 seconds left in the period.

Kuraly batted a puck out of mid-air for his goal 7:41 into the third.

Toronto’s Nazem Kadri was sent off with a game misconduct and match penalty with 11:42 remaining in the third after slamming the head of Boston’s Tommy Wingels into the boards while he was already down on the ice. Wingels left the game and did not return.

The Bruins went on a five-minute major, and Krejci capitalized as he scored on a shot he tucked off Andersen’s pad for a power-play goal. Krejci finished with a goal and an assist.

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