Jake Debrusk had a game winning third period goal Monday night, leading the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 come from behind win over the Carolina Hurricanes in game four of a First Round Eastern Conference playoff series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Boston now leads the best of seven series 3-1.
Boston took the play to Carolina from the outset getting the first five shots on goal, but it was the Hurricanes who struck first when Justin Williams scored on their very first shot with 10:43 left in the first to make it 1-0.
The score stayed the same as Boston had many more Grade A chances in the second period, but couldn’t put one past Carolina goalie James Reimer. After a shot hit the post by David Krejci and many more chances in and around Reimer, Jordan Martinook slammed one past Jaroslav Halak off a nice breakout pass from Sebastian Aho with 12:08 left to make it 2-0 after two periods.
The third period comeback started when Debrusk beat Reimer to a loose puck in the Carolina zone. Reimer came out to try to play it, but Debrusk got to it first and then deeked around the goaltender and put it into an empty net with 12:34 to play to cut it to 2-1. Connor Clifton tied it when Joakim Nordstrom cut in from behind the net, and put one right on Cliftons stick in the right faceoff circle, and Clifton fired it beating Reimer stick side to make it 2-2 with 9:50 to go. Marchand put the Bruins ahead 1:30 later when he took a pass indirect off the boards from Torey Krug, cut in alone and scored with a right to left move five hole on the goaltender. Debrusk had what turned out to be the game winner and second of the night with 5:43 showing on the clock. Carolinas Teuvo Teravainen cut it to a one goal difference when he scored at 18:33 of the period. The ‘Canes though despite pulling Reimer for an extra attacker couldn’t find the equalizer, and moved one game closer to being eliminated.
Halak had 16 saves in the win, as Boston outshot Carolina 33-19 including 16-2 in the third period. Debrusk had the two goals to lead the way, while Clifton added a goal and an assist, and Ondrej Kase also added two assists. Reimer made 29 stops in the loss. Both teams went scorless on the powerplay. The Bruins will look to advance to the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs when game five faces off on Wednesday evening at 4 p.m.
The Boston Celtics got 32 points and 13 rebounds from Jayson Tatum to hold off the Philadelphia 76ers 109-101 in game one of a best of seven Eastern Conference First Round playoff series at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Joel Embiid had 11 early points as Philadelphia took a 26-25 lead after one quarter. A tight second quarter saw Boston finally increase to a nine point advantage late in the period, and a 55-49 lead at the half. Daniel Theis had a tip in with 6:10 left in the third quarter to give the Celtics their biggest lead at 70-59. Philadelphia wouldn’t go away and ended the quarter on a 20-5 run to take a 79-75 lead to the fourth. The green tied it on a three pointer by Jaylen Brown with 8:34 to play, and then took the lead for good on two from the foul line by Marcus Smart. The Celtics would increase that lead to 10, before the 76ers got within three late at 103-100. Boston would hit 6 for 6 from the line in the last 41 seconds to ice the victory. Gordon Hayward was injured late in the game and was seen leaving the arena on crutches and in a walking boot after the win.
Brown added 29 points, six rebounds, and four assists in the Boston win. Kemba Walker had 19 points and five assists, and Hayward finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Embiid had 26 points and 16 rebounds in the loss for Philadelphia, while Alec Burks and Josh Richardson each had 18, Tobias Harris 15, and Shake Milton had 13 points. Game two will be Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.
At Yankee Stadium in New York, the long season so far for the 2020 Boston Red Sox continued as they lost their eighth straight game by a score of 6-3 to the New York Yankees.
Aaron Hicks had an RBI double and Luke Voit had a two run homer, his first of two long balls on the night, to make it 3-0 New York in the second inning. Christian Vazquez had an RBI single, and Alex Verdugo and Jonathan Arauz had RBI doubles for Boston (6-17), but it wasn’t nearly enough. New York (16-6) added solo homers from Thairo Estrada, Voit, and Hicks to complete the four game sweep. The Yankees have now won 10 straight games against the Sox, the longest streak since 1953 (7-0 this season).
Martin Perez (2-3) took the loss on the hill for the Sox, allowing three runs on two hits over 3.0 innings. Vazquez had two hits to lead the offense. Michael King (1-1) picked up the win in relief of Jordan Montgomery. Voit had two hits and three RBI, and Hicks had a pair of hits and two RBI to lead New York. Boston opens up a two game series at Fenway Park with the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night at 7:30.
