For the second night in a row, the Toronto Maple Leafs got the best of the Boston Bruins.
Following a 3-2 overtime win Friday in Toronto, the Leafs responded with a 4-1 victory over the B’s on Saturday night at TD Garden.
Boston held a convincing 39-24 shots advantage in the game, but the B’s simply couldn’t find the back of the net. Maple Leafs goalie Curtis McElhinney certainly made things more difficult for Boston, turning away 32 of 33 shots on net.
With the loss, the Bruins fall to 6-6-4, while the Maple Leafs improve to 12-7.
Here’s how it all went down:
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
The Bruins had double the amount of shots over the Maple Leafs in the first period, but Toronto made its scoring chances count in a big way.
Under nine minutes into the game, Mitch Marner put the Leafs on top with a blistering wrist shot. Marner took full advantage of a Bruins defensive lapse on the play, as Brandon Carlo’s errant outlet pass ended up right on tape of the Toronto center, who beat Tuukka Rask glove side.
The Maple leafs boosted their lead to two less than six minutes later on the power play. After Toronto cycled the puck around the Bruins’ zone, Nazem Kadri fired the puck on net, resulting in a James van Riemsdyk tap-in tally.
But Boston would counter with a deflection goal of their own less than a minute later. Torey Krug didn’t put much muscle on his wrister on net, but Frank Vatrano tipped the puck just enough to beat McElhinney and bring the B’s within one.
HEAVY HITS
The second period brought just about everything … besides goals.
Both the Bruins and Maple Leafs had a number of scoring chances, as they combined for 24 shots in the second stanza. But while the goal production from the first period wasn’t matched, there certainly was an increase in physicality.
Maple Leafs veteran forward Matt Martin found himself in the center of a number of highly physical plays. Near the halfway point in the period, Martin caught Anders Bjork fleeting up the ice with an absolutely bone-crushing hit.
While Martin’s hit was clean, it got a big rise out of the Bruins bench. Matt Beleskey eventually volunteered to avenge the big blast on Bjork, as he and Martin dropped the gloves in a brief bout that ended with both players tumbling to the ice.
LEAFS HANG ON
The Bruins were primed to even the score when they went on the power play less than three minutes into the third period, which was boosted to a one-minute 5-on-3 advantage following a Dominic Moore tripping penalty. Unfortunately for Boston, it couldn’t find the back of the net despite strong chances.
The Maple Leafs didn’t need a power play nor golden scoring opportunity to swell their lead back to two. Morgan Rielly notched his third goal of the season at the 6:52 mark in the frame by simply flicking the puck past Rask.
Boston held another power play later in the period, but its scoring woes continued. The Maple Leafs never relinquished their lead, and they added an empty-net tally off the stick of Patrick Marleau with just under two minutes remaining for good measure.
UP NEXT
The Bruins hit the road for a three-game West Coast road trip starting Wednesday night in Anaheim against the Ducks. Puck drop from Honda Center is set for 10 p.m. ET.
