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 4-1 on Thursday night 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.
Game 2 is Saturday night.
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. But Marner tied it with about three minutes left in the period, sweeping in a rebound with such force he knocked himself off his skates.
Then, about three minutes into the second and Boston on a power play, the puck popped toward center ice and Marner had a clear path to the goal. When he was just outside the crease, Jake DeBrusk was called for bringing him down from behind, and sending him crashing into Rask.
Marner lined up for the penalty shot, came at Rask from the left side and then slid over to the right faster than the goalie could follow. He flipped the puck into the open net to make it 2-1.
Nazem Kadri sent Nylander off on a breakaway to make it 3-1 with 95 seconds left in the period. Rask came up with a pair of saves in the final minute to keep things from getting out of control, stopping
Tavares on a breakaway with 38 seconds left and then a 3-on-1 at the horn.
Boston pulled the goalie with 2:35 left, but Tavares scored off a center-ice faceoff with 79 seconds left.
>>MORE: Bruins prepare for yet another playoff matchup with Maple Leafs
9:38 p.m.: John Tavares snaps in an empty-netter from center ice to make it a 4-1 game, sealing the lead for the Maple Leafs to give them a 1-0 series lead.
8:44 p.m.: The Maple Leafs head to the third period with a 3-1 lead over the Bruins.
8:40 p.m.: William Nylander makes it a 3-1 game with 1:35 left in the second period on a breakaway goal past Tuukka Rask.
8:12 p.m.: Mitchell Marner adds another goal to his resume, this time on a penalty shot, and the Maple Leafs take the 2-1 lead during a Bruins power play with just over 17 minutes left in the second period.
7:47 p.m.: After one period, the Bruins and Maple Leafs are tied at 1-1 to start their series.
7:42 p.m.: With 3:16 to go in the first period, the Maple Leafs tie things up at 1-1 on a goal from Mitchell Marner.
7:27 p.m.: Patrice Bergeron opens the scoring for both the Bruins and the series, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the first period. The team that scored first won each of the team's four regular season meetings.
7:05 p.m.: And we're off! The Bruins and Maple Leafs are underway in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cups Playoffs.