TORONTO — Brad Marchand broke a tie midway through the third period and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

After Todd Bertuzzi tied it for Toronto with 8:35 left, Marchard put the Bruins back in front 28 second later. He took a pass from Danton Heinen and ripped a shot past goalie Ilya Samsonov’s ear.

Marchand capped the scoring with an empty-netter and also had an assist.

Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic also scored for Boston, and Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves. Swayman made 35 saves in Boston’s 5-1 victory in Game 1, then gave way to Linus Ullmark in Toronto’s 3-2 victory in Game 2.

Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Samsonov made 30 saves. Toronto was 0 for 5 on the power play and is 1 for 11 in the series.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto pulled Samsonov for an extra attacker with just over two minutes to go, but Maple Leafs captain John Tavares took a holding penalty with 1:04 left and Marchand sealed it with the empty-net goal.

The Maple Leafs opened the scoring with 6:50 left in the second. Mitch Marner deftly moved past a defender and slid a pass for Knies to redirect upstairs on Swayman.

Boston tied it with 2:23 left in the period when Frederic’s shot went off the post and in. DeBrusk gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 1:07 of third.

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