It was a hard-fought battle but the Boston Bruins’ effort fell just short of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
The Bruins tied the game twice in the second period, but the Leafs took the lead just before the second intermission and went on to win 4-2 at Scotiabank Arena.
David Pastrnak scored the Bruins’ two goals after not scoring for five straight games, and Jaroslav Halak kept his team in the contest with multiple big saves. But in the end, it wasn’t enough to claim Boston’s third straight victory.
The B’s lost more than just the game, however, as Kevan Miller suffered an upper-body injury in the first period and never returned to action.
With the loss, the Bruins slipped to 13-7-4, while the Maple Leafs climbed to 17-8-0.
Here’s how it all went down:
TORONTO STRIKES FIRST
Halak played well for the Bruins in the first, twice denying Nazem Kadri of prime scoring chances to keep the game scoreless. But with just over two minutes left in the opening period, Travis Dermott finally figured the B’s netminder out when he corralled the puck off a Pastrnak blue-line turnover and wristed the puck past Halak to put Toronto up 1-0.
PASTRNAK GETS 18
The Bruins dominated the Leafs to begin the second and it finally paid off.
Boston went on the power play after Par Lindholm was called for hooking just 1:55 into the second and Toronto’s penalty kill was overwhelmed by the Black and Gold. After spending over a minute in the zone with ample scoring chances, Pastrnak finally broke through Frederik Andersen with his 18th goal of the season.
MAPLE LEAFS TAKE LEAD
The defensemen made the difference for the Maple Leafs in the second after Igor Ozhiganov lit the lamp to break the 1-1 tie. Mitch Marner got the assist on Ozhiganov’s first NHL goal.
SECONDS OF PASTA
Pastrnak wasted no time tying the game yet again for the Bruins.
Torey Krug won an offensive faceoff and passed to a wide-open Pastrnak who put the puck past Andersen for his second goal of the night just 1:16 after Ozhiganov’s goal.
TORONTO GETS THREE
The Maple Leafs weren’t going down without a fight and were able to take back the lead on the power play late in the second.
Anders Bjork was whistled for tripping and Tyler Ennis skated right through Boston’s penalty kill and let one go that initially was denied by Halak, but Josh Leivo poked the loose puck by the netminder for the 3-2 lead.
HYMAN SEALS IT
Boston peppered Andersen with 12 shots in the third but was unable to find an equalizer before Zach Hyman put an empty-netter home to seal a 4-2 win.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return home Thursday night for a tilt with the New York Islanders. Boston will retire Rick Middleton’s No. 16 before the 7 p.m. ET puck drop from TD Garden.
This Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
