I'll give the Leafs credit though, they made this way more competitive than you would expect it to be especially considering that backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson (35 saves; 0-2-1) got the rare start for them. Even though they lost 4-3 in overtime at Toronto on Saturday night and have needed seven games the past two springs to squeak by them in the first round of the playoffs, I am still confident in stating that the Bruins are simply a better all-around team than the top-heavy Maple Leafs. Two guys outside the first line scored for Boston in the first meeting and they matched that this evening with Brett Ritchie and Par Lindholm of all people scoring the game-winner and insurance marker in the third period.
It was a night of milestones for the Black and Gold: goaltender Tuukka Rask's (28 saves; 5-0-1) 500th NHL game, Bruce Cassidy's 200th game as Bruins head coach and David Pastrnak reached 300 NHL points. The first two numbers were very notable in their own right but Pastrnak is currently the hottest goal-scorer in the league so he deserves the most attention at the moment. He did not disappoint the home crowd with another highlight reel goal along with an assist. In the meantime, he became the fourth Bruin to reach 300 points in fewer than 350 games played, joining Barry Pederson, Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque. Ever hear of them? The NHL's reigning First Star of the Week got his First Star of the Month campaign going by extending his point streak to seven games (10 goals, 7 assists) while also scoring a goal in four straight games (8 total goals) which ties his career-best goal streak.
Pasta actually had an earlier first period goal overturned after the play leading up to it was deemed to feature a naughty Bruins player in an offside position. No worries, that just gave him a few more minutes to think of a more creative goal as he took a pass from Brad Marchand (career-best 7 game assist streak), spun towards the net and flicked a shot with his stick between his legs. Hutchinson got a piece of the puck but it still slipped over the goal line at 17:15. Pastrnak's NHL-best 10th goal of the season was also assisted by Torey Krug (5 assists in his last 4 games) and it came on a power play.
As the contest went along, you figured that Toronto would start to lose their skating legs but it took until the third period for their fatigue to fully set in. They trailed 1-0 after the first period but the Leafs tied it at 4:23 of the second period as Kasperi Kapanen unleashed a rocket of a one-timer from Harvard's Alexander Kerfoot. Rask had no chance to stop it as Justin Holl had the secondary assist on the young Finn's third goal of the season. The teams continued to trade goals as Boston took a 2-1 lead 1:26 after that with Pastrnak switching roles with Marchand and becoming the feeder. David showed his underrated vision to quickly turn his body and hit Brad on the tape of his stick with a pass that Marchand quickly deposited top shelf via a wrist shot. Charlie McAvoy had the other helper on Marchand's fifth goal of the season. Brad's point streak has reached eight games with five goals and nine assists in that span.
Kerfoot struck again with his second goal in as many games against the Bruins to make it 2-2 at 12:54 of the second period. Another blown coverage allowed him to skate right down the middle on the power play and tee up a one-timer from Kapanen. William Nylander provided the second assist on Kerfoot's fourth goal of the season. After going to a shootout against Tampa Bay (4-3-1) last Thursday and overtime with Toronto on Saturday, Boston had no interest in playing beyond the allotted 60 minutes.
Ritchie scored in the season-opener against his former team-at Dallas (3-7-1)-on October 3 and hadn't been heard from much since then. David Krejci is on IR with an upper-body injury and Karson Kuhlman broke his leg blocking a shot on Saturday so he's expected to miss at least a month of action. This elevated Ritchie to the second line tonight. He had an assist against the Leafs on Saturday and he topped that with the goal that put the B's ahead for good, 3-2 at 6:35 of the third period. Jake DeBrusk's shot bounced off a Leafs defenseman and Ritchie was able to knock in the loose puck for his first goal at the Garden as a Bruin.
Sean Kuraly took a high-sticking penalty with under five minutes left in regulation that could have spelled doom with the Bruins nursing a slim 3-2 advantage. Luckily for his sake, Boston killed off the infraction and he made everyone forget about his mistake by jumping out of the penalty box into a 2-on-1 with Lindholm. Hutchinson stopped Kuraly's initial shot but the Swede followed it up with a backhander on the rebound for his first goal/point as a Bruin at 17:57. The Bruins had a few cracks at an empty-netter (which would have made those that took the over at 6.5 goals very happy) in the closing minutes but they couldn't help the degenerates cash those tickets.
With practice scheduled for Wednesday-Friday, the B's will have plenty of time to focus on their next opponent-the Blues (4-2-3)-who come here on Saturday night (7, NBCSN) for their first meeting with Boston since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in June. Clearly a matchup in late October is nothing compared to the highest stakes in June but with that said, it promises to be a memorable event for the Bruins who are trying to turn the page on that unforgettable loss. The weekend is jam-picked for the Bruins since they go to New York on Sunday night (7, NESN) to play the lowly Rangers (2-4-1) who lost their fifth game in a row tonight. Couple that with the fact that Patriots (7-0)-Browns (2-4) kicks off at 4:25 on Sunday afternoon and you can understand that way fewer eyeballs around New England will be fixed on that Original Six tilt.
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