Leafs close in on Bruins with 4-2 win
TORONTO — Tyler Bozak scored the go-ahead power-play goal with less than two minutes left in regulation as the Toronto Maple Leafs notched a huge 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Monday night.
The win pulled the Leafs (33-23-15, 81 points) to within one point of the Bruins (38-28-6, 82 points) for third spot in the Atlantic Division. Toronto, currently holding the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference, also holds a game in hand.
Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Leafs, who swept the season series with Boston (4-0-0). Frederik Andersen was sharp with 31 saves, James van Riemsdyk notching two assists.
David Backes opened scoring for the Bruins with Dominic Moore adding one with 10 seconds to play. Tuukka Rask yielding two goals on 27 shots.
A malfunctioning clock briefly delayed the start of the game and wasn’t used until the start of the third period. Game time was announced at stoppages by the public address announcer and displayed in a corner of the videoboard — issues that were most apparent during power plays with no time counting down penalties.
The opening 20 minutes were choppy as a result of the malfunctions but also entertaining. The two teams traded chances with playoff positioning on the line. Winning the first three meetings this season, Toronto entered the night three points back of thirdplace Boston with a game in hand.
It was the Bruins who opened the scoring though just over seven minutes in.
Emerging Hart trophy candidate Brad Marchand set up Backes for the goal, one he fired as two Leafs defenders — Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev — converged without effect.
The Leafs had only one shot on goal through the first 10 minutes — though problems with the NHL’s real-time stats system were also an apparent issue.
There was a playofflike vibe to the evening with intensity and scrappy play to match.
Connor Carrick, who was returning from an 11-game absence (suspected shoulder injury), traded feisty blows at one point with David Pastrnak. The Bruins were perturbed a short while later when Nikita Soshnikov hit Patrice Bergeron from behind in the corner of the Boston zone.
Bergeron leaped up after the hit and grabbed Soshnikov with both players drawing minor penalties.
The Leafs gained steam as the period went on.
After nearly scoring himself on a feed from van Riemsdyk, Mitch Marner dished to Rielly for the game-tying goal with less than six minutes remaining in the first. Rielly’s initial attempt was stopped by Rask, but the defender’s momentum carried him and the puck (off his leg) into the goal.