Talking Points: Bruins Keep on Winning, Beat Leafs in OT

BOSTON – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 2-1 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Thursday night.

GOLD STAR: At a time in the year when the top Boston Bruins players are getting some rest and being allowed to recharge their batteries to full power ahead of the postseason, Charlie Coyle is instead putting the pedal to the metal. Coyle scored the game-tying goal in the third period to push things to overtime and had a terrific game for the Black and Gold finishing with two points and a plus-2 rating in over 21 minutes of ice time while also finishing with three shots on net, three hits and three blocked shots in a mega-performance from his third line center spot. Certainly, he looked like the same player that was an absolute horse for the Boston Bruins when they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.

BLACK EYE: The good news postgame was that Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said it was “precautionary” that Charlie McAvoy was removed from the game. But it’s still not ideal that McAvoy had to be lifted from Thursday night’s game in the second period with an upper body injury after absorbing a big hit in a friendly fire-style collision with a hustling Patrice Bergeron. The hope is that McAvoy is going to be okay, and Montgomery seemed to indicate that the B’s didn’t believe it to be anything serious following the game.

TURNING POINT: For the Boston Bruins, it was a subtle play ahead of the game-tying goal when Brandon Carlo was able to jump up and keep a puck in play in the offensive zone that eventually led to the Charlie Coyle game-tying score. It was Carlo’s 13^th assist of the season and exactly the kind of play that will loom much larger in the postseason when little plays and small details add up to big things as they did when Coyle collected the puck and hammered a wrist shot through an Oskar Steen screen in front of Ilya Samsonov.

HONORABLE MENTION: David Pastrnak was not feeling great and battling a stomach bug prior to Thursday night’s game but battled through and ended up being rewarded with his 57^th goal of the season for the overtime winner. It redeemed Pastrnak for a play earlier in the game when his cross-ice pass got picked off in the neutral zone and returned the other way for Toronto’s one and only goal of the game. Pastrnak finished with five shots on net and eight shot attempts overall in his 18:36 of ice time and deserves props for sticking it out when he was less than 100 percent.

BY THE NUMBERS: 61 – the third-most wins in NHL history behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings as the Boston Bruins continue their all-out assault on NHL history with win, after win, after win. Just two wins away from breaking the all-time record for wins in a regular season.

Bruins

Most wins in a season in NHL history

1. TBL – 2018/19 – 62 wins
1. DET – 1995/96 – 62 wins
3. BOS – 2022/23 – 61 wins*

* – 4 games to go – 1 win to tie – 2 wins to set the NHL record

— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) April 7, 2023

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think Sway has been under the radar a bit.” –Charlie Coyle talking about Boston Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman after another brilliant performance (31 saves) guided Boston to an overtime victory against Toronto.