These guys, you knew. These guys weren’t the schmucks who were getting run in Boston, getting punked like they were Yankees kids at a Sox game, getting serenaded by mocking Bruins fans. That team was unrecognizable, tomato cans, losing by four goals once and again. The Toronto Maple Leafs hadn’t lost by four goals all year long.And all they did Monday night was save their season with a rollicking 4-2 Game 3 win over the Boston Bruins in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Here, this was the team they were supposed to be.“Just more competitiveness, more hunger. I guess you could use the word desperation if you wanted,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly, who set up Toronto’s second goal with a stretch pass to Mitch Marner. “We went to Boston and we didn’t put forth an effort we could be proud of either night. And at home, we wanted to make sure we could change that.”Read more: Maple Leafs climb back into series with a little bit of luckMaple Leafs release last-minute seats on the cheapPastrnak knows linemates have his backIt’s only partly that simple, but that was a prerequisite. Toronto fought Boston to a territorial draw, and the killer chances went both ways. The big Boston line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak were still terrifying, pinging posts and flying, but they weren’t gods. The Leafs played damned hockey. This is who they are.“What you’ve got to remember is, these guys are young guys and they’re playing against real players, and they’re young guys,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “So you gotta go through some of these slappings in your life to respond and learn how to play and do things right.”This was better. Babcock, nervy as ever, moved the 35-year-old Tomas Plekanec from his miserable fourth-line life to the second line, against Bergeron and friends, and Plekanec responded with a physical, hard-fought game. They needed t ...
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