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Bruins down Leafs to take 2-1 series lead

May 7, 2013 - 4:17 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Tuukka Rask made 46 stops and David Krejci posted a goal and two assists to lead the Boston Bruins in a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist while Daniel Paille, Rich Peverley and Adam McQuaid also scored for the Bruins, who now hold a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series after splitting the first two games in Boston.

"I think, as a team, we played a good road game," Krejci said. "Maybe we didn't have as many chances in Game 1, but I think it was a perfect road game and I'm pretty happy about that."

Jake Gardiner and Phil Kessel had the goals for the Maple Leafs, who were playing their first home playoff games in nine years. James Reimer gave up four goals on 37 shots in the loss.

"We made some mistakes that ended up in our net and when you do that you end up on the wrong side of the score," said Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle. "I'm not taking away from them because they earned it, but we gave them some grade A scoring chances and they took advantage."

Game 4 of this series is set for Wednesday night in Toronto.

The only goal of the first period went to the Bruins, as a faceoff win from the right circle had the puck come back to the point, where McQuaid fired a knuckler past Reimer for his first-ever playoff goal at 13:42.

Rask, who made 13 stops in the first period, made a huge save five minutes into the second when he used the left pad to stop a Joffrey Lupul chance on a 2-on-1.

Less than a minute later, the Bruins padded their lead. Jaromir Jagr stole the puck from Toronto's Ryan O'Byrne to the left of the Maple Leafs' net and skated to the other side. Jagr then used a short pass to get it to Peverley, who snapped it home for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins caught a break with nine minutes to play in the second, as the Leafs' Dion Phaneuf caught the post with a left-point slap shot that had beaten Rask.

However, the Leafs finally got on the board while on the power play at the 13:45 mark of the frame, as a weak Boston clearing attempt up the middle was picked up by Gardiner, who wristed it home for a 2-1 game.

Just 50 seconds later, though, the Bruins got the goal back when Milan Lucic skated around a defender down the left wing and passed it to the right, where Horton one-timed it in.

The Bruins made it a 4-1 game while shorthanded late in the second, with Paille stealing a Kessel pass in the neutral zone and skating in on a clear break before putting a backhander into the left corner of the net with 3:23 to play in the period.

Toronto got some life with a power play goal just 47 seconds into the third. With Rask out of the net after playing a shot, Kessel swept in the rebound from in front for a 4-2 contest.

The Leafs had the puck down low and several chances during a 4-on-4 halfway through the final period, but couldn't put any through.

Toronto failed to get any closer the rest of the way, as Rask made 18 stops in the frame and Krejci iced the win on an empty-netter with 1:17 to play.

Game Notes

It was the first playoff game at Air Canada Centre since May 4, 2004, when Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick scored in overtime to lift the Flyers to a series-clinching victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals ... Lucic had three assists in the game ... This is the 14th time that these Original Six teams have met in the postseason, but first since Boston swept Toronto in the opening round of the 1974 playoffs ... Toronto went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Boston was 0-for-3.