Bruins set for Second Round

04/24/2019 By Christopher Williams

Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons

The Boston Bruins are the top remaining seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They will host Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday Boston will face the Columbus Blue Jackets, which swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

The Bruins entry into the second round comes as a result of them eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 in Game 7 on Tuesday at TD Garden.

Joakim Nordstrom started the scoring late in the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Marcus Johansson buried the second goal past Frederik Anderson three minutes later to put Boston up by two. Sean Kuraly, Charlie Coyle and Patrice Bergeron also tallied goals. John Tavares scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs.

Between the pipes, Tuukka Rask made 32 saves for the Bruins. Anderson stopped 27 shots for the Maple Leafs.

This is the second straight year in which the Bruins have defeated the Leafs in seven games. Toronto has not won a playoff series since 2004, extending its winless streak to 15 years.