The Bruins, particularly David Pastrnak, had picked up their pace, and their momentum often forced the Maple Leafs back. Toronto took six penalties (three drawn by Pastrnak), but the Bruins couldn’t capitalize on any of the opportunities.

The Maple Leafs offense was efficient and goalie Anthony Stolarz was competent, but that had more to do with a Boston power play that couldn’t generate passes or plays.

The Bruins’ power play normally begins with the quarterback lugging the puck up the ice before dropping it into a trailer at high speed. But opponents rushed near the blue line (think goal line defense in football) and consistently prevented the Bruins from making sharp entries, as the trailer has little room to maneuver or find a teammate.

“That was probably the biggest failure was our entries from our escapes,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “But we’re winning faceoffs and we’re not running plays. If you win the toss, you shouldn’t have to escape.

Elias Lindholm, who plays the bumper role on the top unit, doesn’t see the starters as a big problem, but he acknowledges that the Bruins “could always be a little more connected” when they have the man’s advantage.

“I think the entry is not the problem,” said Lindholm, who enjoyed a little more than eight minutes on the power play. “I think we had some looks in the game. We could have one or two tonight and it would be a different story.

“So I’m talking about starters, you’re not going to be clean every night. The other team is watching you and doing their best to ruin your entrance.

“It’s not going to be perfect, but yes, we can do better, but I think we need to be a little bit sharper and so on and be ready when the opportunities present themselves.”

When the Bruins surged in the third, the disjointed power play crushed their drive.

“I didn’t create the momentum,” Pastrnak said. “Special teams. We didn’t do the work.

On the other bench, the specialists (with Stolarz, who stopped 29 shots) did their job.

The Leafs were led by Mitch Marner, who scored two power play goals from his quarterback position and also logged over six minutes of time on the penalty kill.

Scoring three power play goals is always impressive. Doing it without Auston Matthews, one of the game’s most prolific scorers, is a testament to the depth of Craig Berube’s club.

Coincidentally, Toronto’s success with the man advantage was due to its ability to enter Boston’s camp with relative ease. Marner’s speed, vision and decision-making sparked unity.

“I think we allow them to get into the zone a little too easily,” Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo said. “I think last year we eliminated things a lot near the blue line and had a lot more pressure.

“So I think we need to start pushing a little bit more, using our sticks and our body to create more pressure. I don’t give them a lot of time, but those shots from the moment we just have to get in front of them and face them and do a better job there.

The lack of success on the penalty kill is surprising given the Bruins’ pedigree as one of the NHL’s most consistent groups.

“Our penalty kill is something I’m very proud of,” Carlo said. “This group has a lot of pride and they need to improve.”

Montgomery said there’s a lot of blame to be had for the lack of success when it comes to kills and power play production.

“Our special teams, the numbers are the numbers, right? he said. “And the players that have the privilege of being shorthanded or on the power play and with us coaches, we have to be better with our plan and we have to be better in our execution.”

Jim McBride can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.