W.
Brad Marchand’s first goal of the season came in the nick of time to propel the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at the TD Garden and end the team’s losing streak.
“It was nice for the group to get rewarded for playing the right way,” Marchand said.
The Bruins outshot the Maple Leafs, 34 to 23, picking up a power-play goal from David Pastrnak and two even strength goals from the “bottom six” forwards in addition to Marchand’s OT heroics.
Despite getting off to a good start with pucks to the net in the first and limiting Toronto’s chances, the game was scoreless after the first period.
The Bruins and Maple Leafs then had a back and forth second period which had the makings off things about to fall apart when Toronto scored 35 seconds into the period.
But the Bruins stuck to the details, and stayed out of the box (mostly), and bounced back twice in the period to even the game and then eventually take the lead. Justin Brazeau and Mark Kastelic boosted the Bruins by crashing the net and adding two tallies within 36 seconds.
The B’s took away Toronto’s scoring lanes for most of the third period as they tried to close out the win. But Auston Matthews was left alone out front in the final minutes to give the Maple Leafs some hope and tie the game.
A turnover by Matthews in OT though, preluded Marchand’s backhander to end the game and give the Bruins a much-needed win.
Here are the game’s highlights!
First period:
Scoreless
Shots were 10-5 Bruins
Second period:
Auston Matthews fed a short pass to Matthew Knies in the slot where he put a wrist shot past Jeremy Swayman’s stick top-shelf 35 seconds into the second period. 1-0 Maple Leafs.
On the power play, Brad Marchand found David Pastrnak in the left-wing circle for a quick snap shot short side past Stolarz’s blocker at 2:57 of the second period. 1-1 game.
Mitch Marner fed a pass to Morgan Rielly circling the top of the right-wing circle for a quick snap past Swayman’s right shoulder at 7:44 of the second period. 2-1 Maple Leafs.
After attempts from Matt Poitras and Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau found the loose rebound as he was crashing the net for a wrist shot top-shelf past Stolarz’s glove at 13:28 of the second period. 2-2 game.
With a clean entry off the rush, Mark Kastelic, out front, tapped in Johnny Beecher’s pass for a low goal on Stolarz at 13:14 of the second period. 3-2 Bruins.
Third period:
With Stolarz pulled, Marner threw a shot on net that Matthews redirected past Swayman to tie the game late at 18:43 of the third period. 3-3 game.
Overtime:
Pastrnak capitalized on a turnover by Matthews to skate in on Stolarz only to fake him out and pass to Marchand. In the paint, Marchand found the loose puck from his own rebound to put a backhander in the back of the net at 2:26 of OT. Final score: 4-3 Bruins.
Game notes:
- One game at a time, but the win was a vast improvement from the last few games. The Bruins looked better on the rush, gaining more clean entries in the offensive zone. They took less penalties (three tonight) and put in the effort.
- “Things don’t change over night,” Jim Montgomery said postgame. He added though that they’ve placed an emphasis on taking less penalties and managing the puck better since the Utah game. He also felt the team was loose during morning skate and it carried over to game time.
- Marchand said postgame that the team didn’t fall back to bad habits getting behind or letting Toronto tie the game late. He said they played the right way and it paid off. “It’s one game, it’s not going to completely turn things around,” Marchand said. “But it’s a great way for us to realize when we play the right way we are a good team.”
- Brazeau is looking more and more like his 2023-24 end-of-season/playoff self which earned him a spot on the team. Tonight, he was that big body in the front of the net and he was rewarded for it. Brazeau ended the night with three shots on net. Montgomery said postgame that Brazeau is getting his confidence back. “He understands details in all three zones,” Montgomery said.
- Midway through the game, Montgomery changed lines again, moving around Morgan Geekie and Matt Poitras. A line he didn’t touch was the fourth line, and yet again, they came through when needed.
- Postgame, Marchand talked about how “the bottom six” forwards are really the Bruins’ top six forwards right now. He said they are chipping pucks in and competing the right way.
- If there are a couple things to work on: It was a bit disappointing that the Bruins couldn’t close out the game in regulation after a strong third period to hold the lead. The four-minute power play was a missed opportunity as it only generated a few chances.
- The Bruins will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at the TD Garden.