B’s stick six on Leafs
McAvoy shaken up late in win
Just when it looked like the Bruins were at the end of their rope with injuries and an inability to score on a consistent basis, they welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs to town. The sight of the blue and white triggered the B’s to their biggest offensive explosion in a month and lifted them to a 6-3 win last night at the Garden. But it wasn’t all grins and giggles for the home team. With the B’s up 6-2 and in control of the game in the third period, Leafs forward Zach Hyman delivered a late, high hit to Charlie McAvoy. The young defenseman, who was instrumental in driving the B’s offense in just his second game back from a concussion, was shaken up and left the ice but did return to the bench late in the game. It was a hit that will surely get the attention of the league, but more concerning for the B’s is the health of McAvoy, who demonstrated what he means to the team when he’s skating like he did last night. The B’s tried to exact some revenge when Chris Wagner lined up Morgan Rielly for a hit at center ice, setting off another skirmish. But that only led to a charging minor on Wagner and the Leafs scored a power-play goal. But the game was decided long before that. The B’s got a goal in the first period (Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson), two in the second (David Backes, Torey Krug), and then Danton Heinen scooped a wrister over Frederik Anderson’s shoulder for a 4-0 lead just 1:47 into the third. There was a brief spell of uneasiness when Travis Dermott’s blue line shot finally beat Jaroslav Halak at 4:03, but that was wiped out just 34 seconds later when David Krejci, who had earlier passed Cam Neely on the B’s all-time scoring list, scored on a 3-on-1 to make it 5-1. It was the first time the B’s scored five goals in a game since Nov. 10 against, you guessed it, the Maple Leafs. Ryan Donato added another goal for an even half dozen. After the morning skate, coach Bruce Cassidy mused about the lack of a so-called enforcer on his team and how some teams had taken liberties without Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller in the lineup. Cassidy contended that there was no need for one designated tough guy, that his team needed to rely on some team toughness, maybe initiate a little more aggression to put teams on their heels for a change. Sure enough, just 13 seconds into the contest, McAvoy crosschecked Mitch Marner to the ice and took a two-minute minor. That may not have been what Cassidy was looking for but, once the B’s survived the Leafs’ high caliber power play, they were definitely a more engaged hockey team than they’d been. And with the two defensemen out, and Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk on the shelf, the B’s needed to find any competitive edge they could against the second best team in the league. Halak was excellent in the first, turning away all 11 shots the Leafs offered, several of them Grade A chances. He made a tremendous stop on John Tavares off a Rielly feed early in the period. The collective chip on the shoulder the B’s carried into the game led to their first goal. After some post-whistle pushing and shoving in front of Andersen’s crease sent Krejci and Jake Gardiner off with matching roughing minors, the B’s scored on the ensuing 4-on-4. Matt Grzelcyk made a terrific indirect pass off the boards through the neutral zone to Pastrnak at the Toronto blue line. With Forsbacka Karlsson driving to the net, Pastrnak flipped a pass to the young Swede. The centerman redirected it and Andersen made the initial shortside save, but his momentum was taking him away from the post and JFK was able to chop home the rebound at 11:20. Thanks to three consecutive Toronto penalties, the B’s started to spend more time in the Leafs’ zone and were able to double the lead at 8:54 on the second penalty. The B’s had already hit two posts in the period (Heinen, McAvoy), but Backes