TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs are a better team than shown by the results of the first two games of the first-round playoff series with the Boston Bruins.

They proved it Monday with a 4-2 victory at the Air Canada Centre in Game 3. They will have a chance Thursday night to even the series at two games each at the ACC.

“We knew we had to be better than we were in the first two games and we came into that game with more motivation Josh Allen Youth Jersey , we came in more competitive,” Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly said Wednesday. “That’s what we felt we had to do as a group. I think we all did that.”

The Bruins won the first two games of the series 5-1 and 7-3 in Boston.

“We knew they were going to be better, and they were,” Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. “They were out there flying around and making some good plays and pushed us back on our heels. … It felt like it was there for the taking, and it just slipped away. That stuff’s going to happen sometimes.”

Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock felt the score of Game 2 was not a good indication of how his team played.

“I thought Game 1 we were no good, I thought Game 2 we were way better than the score indicated, to be honest with you,” Babcock said. “I thought we started good in that game and it didn’t go our way, it kind of came unraveled. I thought (Monday) we had a better push. Our goaltender (Frederik Andersen) kind of part way through the game really settled in and got playing the way he’s capable of playing.

“That made a huge difference for us. Obviously, our fans and our building, we had last change, all those things.”

Maple Leafs center Leo Komarov is expected to miss his second straight game Thursday after leaving Game 2 with a lower-body injury. That means center Dominic Moore likely will be in the lineup again.

The Bruins are impressed by the stretch passes used by the Maple Leafs.

“It’s tough Darius Leonard Youth Jersey ,” Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. “We’ve seen it a couple times this series where the D will jump in and next thing you know they’re off to the races. They play that style where they just want to counter so fast with their speed. They want to use their speed at all times. So, you’ve really got to make sure you’re counting five guys all the time and keeping them in front of you because they’ll go for those stretches, those breakaways.”

Said Babcock: “I just think that any time you can transition from defense to offense fast, you have a better chance to have success, for sure. In saying that, the Bruins have done a pretty good job against us and we haven’t had as much success at that as we normally have. The other thing about it is, the harder you come back and defend quickly, the better chance you have to have success in that transition. We have to do a better job in that area if we’re going to continue to have success.”

The Bruins outshot the Maple Leafs 42-30 but their top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, so dominant in the first two games, did not get a point in Game 3.

“I don’t think they’ll be frustrated at all,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy. “They’ve been through — Pasta not as much Authentic Joe Mixon Jersey , the other two have been through — a lot of playoffs. Sometimes it’s going to go your way. Sometimes it’s not. Pasta had a lot of good looks that he’s going to finish. We saw it in the first two games. Clearly, it’s going to give them motivation. It should. When you keep them off the scoresheet, it’ll be talked about. At the end of the day, I don’t think it’ll bother them one bit.”

Boston’s No. 1 line accounted for 20 points in the first two games before it was blanked Monday.

“I think if you’re those guys, what they’re saying to themselves is they say, ‘We’re going to have a better night.’ Right?” Babcock said. “They’ve shown over a period of time they have lots of good nights. Our job is to make sure they don’t. The other thing that happened in the game is Freddie (Andersen) was real good. Not as much early, but really got his game going. If you look at Game 2, it wasn’t that way. That’s probably the biggest difference of anything.”

Babcock expects the Bruins to bounce back with a strong effort.

“I think this will be the most competitive game so far in this series,” he said. “Obviously, they’re going to be ready to play. Any time you don’t win, you want to bounce back hard. We expect their best game, for sure.”

WASHINGTON — The streaking Washington Capitals go for their sixth straight victory when they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night at Capital One Arena.

The Capitals (46-24-7) hold a five-point lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins Byron Jones Jersey , who they visit Sunday.

Washington extended its streak in style Wednesday night with 3-2 overtime win against the visiting New York Rangers. Lars Eller tied the game with 1:05 remaining and Evgeny Kuznetsov beat Henrik Lundqvist 38 seconds into overtime as Washington won for the ninth time in 10 games.

It marked the third time this season the Capitals tied a game with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

“We’re confident in any situation of a game,” goaltender Braden Holtby told NHL.com. “We play better when it’s close; one goal either way or whatever. I think with our skill, it forces us to turn things on late in the game and guys take that as a challenge.”

Kuznetsov, who assisted on Eller’s goal, notched his sixth straight game with two or more points (five goals, 13 assists). His 25th goal increased his season high, and his 77th point tied his single-season best set in the 2015-16 season.

Holtby, making only his third start in the past 11 games, was solid, stopping 35 shots to gain his third straight win.

“I felt comfortable,” he told the team’s website. “Obviously it’s something I’m not used to, not playing much. Stamina and such was a little different than I’m used to Quenton Nelson Colts Jersey , but it felt good to go out there and just get to work, and to play in a high intensity game.”

Philipp Grubauer, who started four of the past five games, was scratched because of a lower-body injury, but returned to practice Thursday.

“I have two goalies,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said told NHL.com. “If that’s an indication of where (Holtby’s) game is going, I know where Grubauer’s is at, then we’re in good shape with two goaltenders that have played valuable minutes for us. … We’ve still got some games left and we’ll see where we are.”

The Hurricanes (34-32-11) saw their three-game winning streak end Tuesday night in a 4-3 loss at New Jersey. Stefan Noesen scored with 1:33 left in the third period to give the Devils the victory.

Noah Hanifin, Phillip Di Giuseppe and Warren Foegele scored for the Hurricanes, and Scott Darling made 41 saves.

Carolina went 0-for-3 on the power play while New Jersey was 2-for-4.

“It’s tough when you play games that are fast, that hard fought, and it comes down to just a few plays Cheap Marcus Davenport Jersey ,” Hanifin told NHL.com. “Unfortunately, our power-play time was not good enough. We had a few chances and we didn’t do anything with them. We gave up power-play goals and they beat us in that department. We have to be better.”

The Hurricanes, still alive despite being 10 points behind New Jersey for the second Eastern Conference wild card spot with five games remaining, lost leads of 2-1 and 3-2.

“I thought it was back and forth all night,” Di Giuseppe told NHL.com. “No matter what, you want to win. We’re just trying to win for each other and obviously it was disappointing tonight, but there are a few more games.”

Foegele, 21, who scored goals in his first two NHL games this week, was reassigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL on Wednesday.

Hurricanes defenseman Justin Falk missed the last three games with an upper-body injury.

.