Maple Leafs announcer Joe Bowen accuses home crowd of lacking energy during Game 3 loss

By ARJUN B

Modified Apr 25, 2024 15:48 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs announcer Joe Bowen called out the crowd at Scotiabank Arena following Toronto's 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 3 on Wednesday. Bowen accused the home supporters of lacking energy and urged them to do better.

"The idea of going to any sporting event to support the home team is to be PRO ACTIVE," he wrote on X. "Give the team energy when they need it. Not sitting down waiting to be REACTIVE. The players can’t say it but I will tonight’s crowd was VERY DISAPPOINTING."

As the team's longtime play-by-play announcer who has called over 3,000 Leafs games, Bowen knows how much of a difference a loud, engaged crowd can make for the home team.

The Leafs, in the absence of William Nylander, got goals from Tyler Bertuzzi and Matthew Knies. Brad Marchand, Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic found the net for the Bruins to give them a 2-1 lead in the series.

Recapping the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins

The Leafs opened the scoring in the second period when Knies tapped in a pass from Mitch Marner. However, the Bruins responded just over four minutes later, with Trent Frederic beating goalie Ilya Samsonov to tie the game.

Boston took its first lead early in the third period on a power-play goal by Jake DeBrusk. The Leafs battled back to even the score at 2-2 midway through the period when Justin Holl's point shot deflected off Tyler Bertuzzi's skate and slid in off a Bruins defender.

But the tie was short-lived, as Brad Marchand gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead with a well-placed shot over Samsonov's glove.

Marchand sealed the victory for Boston with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe expressed disappointment in his team's performance.

“Little mistakes at very important times that end up in our net, but in general I just didn’t think we got to our game nearly as much tonight as we did in the others,” Keefe said.

Marchand pointed out that his team made vast improvements from the first two games of the seven-game series.

"I thought we elevated to another level from where we had been at the first couple of games, and it was great. It paid off," he said.

Game 4 will take place on Saturday in Toronto.