After a disaster of a second period, the Toronto Maple Leafs began the final 20 minutes facing a 4-1 deficit against the Boston Bruins. Despite trailing by three, the Leafs didn't give up all night long, and were finally rewarded with this goal from Phil Kessel early in the third:
It wasn't enough, though, as the rest of the game belonged to Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask. Rask stopped 45 of Toronto's 47 shots to protect his team's lead, and the Bruins won the game by a final score of 5-2 after adding an empty-netter.
Let's take a look at the big questions we had prior to this game:
Can the Leafs ride their home crowd?
The atmosphere was electric early, but once Boston went up 2-0 -- and then, later, 4-1 -- the life drained out of the Air Canada Centre.
Will Joffrey Lupul keep it going?
Lupul didn't score, but did have this solid chance in the second period:
Unfortunately, that chance was his only shot of the entire game.
Can Andrew Ference shore up the blue line?
Ference played more than 22 minutes and had three hits and two shots, though his presence didn't do much to stop Toronto from taking nearly 50 shots on goal.
The Bruins now lead the series, 2-1, with game four in Toronto on Wednesday.
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