nhl roundup Thursday’s playoff games

Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 1

BOSTON

Mitch Marner scored twice, the second on a short-handed penalty shot to give Toronto the lead for good, and the Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins in the opener of their first-round playoff series. It was Toronto’s first postseason penalty shot in 20 years. Frederik Andersen made 37 saves and William Nylander and John Tavares also scored for Toronto, which swiped the home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series as it tries to advance through Boston for the first time in six tries. Tuukka Rask stopped 29 shots for Boston, and Patrice Bergeron scored a power-play goal midway through the first on a pass from Brad Marchand.

Capitals 4, Hurricanes 2

WASHINGTON

Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin combined to score three goals on the first eight shots, and the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals survived a surge from Andrei Svechnikov and the Carolina Hurricanes to win Game 1 of their first-round series. Backstrom scored twice and Ovechkin scored on the power play to fire up a raucous sellout crowd in the first playoff game in Washington since celebrating the franchise’s first title in June. It looked like the Capitals would roll toward a statement victory against an opponent lacking playoff experience, but the pesky Hurricanes turned up the heat. Mrazek bounced back from a rough start to make four huge saves early in the third period, while Svechnikov scored twice in his playoff debut to put some fear into the Capitals, who were outshot 29-18 and outplayed for long stretches. Braden Holtby made 27 saves and the penalty kill came up big on two late Carolina power plays to allow Washington to take a 1-0 series lead.

Associated Press