Perhaps the Boston Bruins just wanted to take it easy for 40 minutes. You know, go out hard play strong and then coast.
Well, that’s what they did Saturday on home ice. For 20 minutes of play, the Bruins rode rough shod over the Toronto Maple Leafs and posted a 4-0 lead after the first 
period play en route to a 7-3 thrashing of the Leafs.
David Pastrnak struck for a hat trick and six points in the win; at 21-years of age he is the youngest player to do so in a Stanley Cup Playoff game.
“I played with great players in a great team (this season) and we’re playing well now,” Pastrnak said. “It’s very easy for me to follow up the team. … We have a lot of guys who want it and they know what it takes.”
Tuukka Rask made 30 saves to pick up the win as the Bruins head to Toronto with a 2-0 series lead.
Pastrnak’s linemates, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron recorded four assists each.
“We are playing great as a line and we’ve been together for a while,” Pastrnak said. “We’ve faced it every game this season and we want to get better every game. We don’t think about the other team; we try to do our best and play simple and play pretty fast. I think we don’t think about what’s going to happen, just what we can do and what we can control.”
Jake DeBrusk, Kevan Miller, Rick Nash, and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins.
“The first period, we finished well in front of their net,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We have a plan in place how we think we can score and I think we executed well again, for the most part. And off we went.”
The Leafs got no closer than a three-goal deficit after the first period.
“They got four goals on six shots, that was pretty much it,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “I actually thought we were really jumping. I thought we looked good, I thought we had energy and I thought, at times in the game, we tried to push back. The bottom line is, you’ve got to keep it out of your net. They’ve done a good job of getting to the paint. Their skill guys have done a good job.”
Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak were the Leafs’ goal scorers.
“Hell of a night,” Marchand said. “You know he is an awesome player. He has been great for us all year. You know he’s progressing, continually working on his game, trying to play the right way. I think that is what has been most impressive about the last couple of games isn’t so much the scoring. … that’s great, but it’s the way he’s playing.”
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Bruins highlights | Complete Bruins vs. Maple Leafs series coverage]
Frederik Andersen got the start for the Leafs but never made it past five and three goals yielded; he was given the hook after that.
“We were outplayed for two games. I think, certainly if you add it up, 12-4 or whatever it is in six periods, we deserve every bit of criticism far and wide,” Leafs defenseman Ron Hainsey said. “The good news is, the story isn’t totally written yet. We’ve got some work to do tomorrow to look after what happened here tonight and continue to improve. We can try to change the story come Monday night.”
Curtis McElhinney relieved Andersen and did not fair much better with 19 saves and four goals.
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