Bruins Rally Falls Short, Leafs Get Revenge 4-3

TORONTO – The Boston Bruins finally got scoring from their depth forwards on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to upend their rivals from Toronto. The Maple Leafs got some revenge for last season’s playoff series against the Bruins with a 4-3 overtime win at Scotiabank Arena. The Maple Leafs (5-3-1, 11 points) jumped division rivals Tampa Bay and Montreal to reenter playoff position in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins, meanwhile, fell to 5-1-2 (12 points).

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined to sink the Bruins on this night. Matthews curled from the corner and slid a pass to Marner, who snapped his fourth of the year past Jaroslav Halak 3:54 into overtime to end a back-and-forth affair.

Toronto starter Frederick Andersen stopped 17 Bruins shots in the first period, as the Leafs struck twice in the opening frame of action. Andersen finished the game making 42 saves for the victory. Halak stopped 25 shots in the loss for the Bruins.

Morgan Rielly scored his first goal of the season just 5:55 into the game. The slick defenseman took a feed from Mitch Marner at the point and fired a weak wrist shot toward the Bruins goal. The shot deflected off of Brandon Carlo, who was tangled up with Matthews in front of Halak, and directly into the goal.

The Leafs struck again just under ten minutes later. Sean Kuraly was easily bumped off the puck along the wall and turned the puck over to Dmytro Timashov. The Russian forward walked off the wall and found his way into the slot, where he labelled a wrist shot over the glove of Halak. It was the first goal of not just the season, but the career of Timashov.

The veteran Bruins displayed the poise that has made them so tough over the years. Even when down by a pair, the Bruins continued to push and played their game. It resulted in a late goal, turning the momentum to the Bruins. Charlie Coyle won a puck battle down low behind the Maple Leafs net. He drew one defenseman to him and flipped a backhand pass into the slot for an oncoming Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk took the feed and snapped his first goal of the season home.

The Bruins parlayed their late goal into a dominant second period. They outshout the Maple Leafs 15-3 and controlled the pace of play. Andersen stood strong, making 15 saves to keep the Bruins at bay. Martin Marincin hooked DeBrusk late in the second period, setting the Bruins up on the powerplay to open the third period.

The Bruins powerplay connected in the opening minutes of the third period. Brett Ritchie corralled a loose puck and fed Danton Heinen, who waited out Andersen before he snapped home his second of the season at 1:36. The Maple Leafs responded right away, however. Alexander Kerfoot slammed home a rebound just 61 seconds later to give the Leafs the lead back. The seesaw continued later in the third, as David Pastrnak sniped home his ninth goal of the season at 15:34 to even things again.

Pastrnak’s goal set up an overtime period that saw both the Bruins and Maple Leafs get ample chances. Finally, Marner ended things 3:54 into overtime to give the Leafs the win.