Bruins' Montgomery: Pastrnak must step up vs. Maple Leafs - ESPN

TORONTO — Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery called out star forward David Pastrnak after a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night sent this first-round series to a Game 7.

Montgomery was asked if the Bruins needed more from their top skaters to avoid elimination come Saturday in Boston, and he identified Pastrnak in particular as needing to provide more to the group.

«Your best players need to be your best players this time of year,» Montgomery said. «I think the effort is tremendous. They need to come through with some big-time plays in big-time moments. [Brad] Marchand has done this throughout the series. [Pastrnak] needs to step up.»

Pastrnak has two goals and four points this postseason for a Boston team that once held a 3-1 lead in the series.

Boston got off to another sluggish start in Game 6 and was outshot 12-1 in a scoreless first period. The Bruins had opportunities in the second period to take a lead, but it was Maple Leafs winger William Nylander who broke the stalemate late in the frame to give Toronto an advantage it never relinquished.

Nylander scored again in the third period for a 2-0 lead. Boston's Morgan Geekie scored with 0.1 seconds left in the third period to rob Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll of the shutout.

"[Toronto] had a couple looks in the first period and their goalie made a couple saves," Pastrnak said. «We got much better as the game went on. But we have to be much better at the start.»

Boston eventually found a rhythm later in the game, but the Maple Leafs didn't allow much space or open ice for the Bruins to work with. Toronto was playing without star forward Auston Matthews for the second consecutive outing and while that appeared to galvanize Toronto's bench, the Bruins