Patrice Bergeron Still Owns the Maple Leafs, Figuratively

You can have your Panthers, Stars and any other anonymous NHL team that nobody except their families care about. Give me Original 6 teams playing each other and I'm in hockey heaven. It is still early November but you'll be hard pressed to find a much more pleasing game than Bruins-Maple Leafs tonight at TD Garden. Boston (10-5-1) came out on top of Toronto (11-6-0) 3-1 in the first installment since last postseason.

Patrice Bergeron scored the last two goals to snap the 1-1 deadlock and Tuukka Rask (33 saves) is still better than James Reimer (31 saves) but you knew that already. A new wrinkle is that Boston's power play is actually decent: they scored twice this evening and couple that with a 3 for 3 penalty kill for a pretty rock solid special teams performance.

Granted the Maple Leafs played last night in Toronto vs. New Jersey but this is the NHL, no excuses (unless I'm protecting the Bruins of course). Zdeno Chara has become quite a weapon on the man advantage as he parks his monstrous frame in front of the net, good luck moving him. He scored the opening goal at 15:27 of the first period, assisted by Jarome Iginla and Torey Krug. Chara's third goal of the season (all on the power play) came after Iginla's shot was stopped but he tracked the puck behind the net then threw it out front for Chara to bat it in.

Joffrey Lupul had the honors of Toronto's lone goal at 16:52 of the second period as he uncharacteristically beat Rask with a wrist shot, high to his glove side. I wouldn't call it weak but it was normally a save that Rask makes in his sleep.

Apparently, Bergeron waits until the third period (and overtime) to do his damage against the Maple Leafs. First he scored the game-winner at 1:06 of the third period, a power play goal from Carl Soderberg and Reilly Smith. Bergeron's fourth goal of the season was the result of net front work and a juicy rebound that he lifted over Reimer's helpless glove.

Toronto had pressure on Rask but Bergeron clinched it with his empty netter at 19:38. Loui Eriksson won a race to the corner then saucered the puck towards the net where Bergeron beat his man and redirected it in.

The B's get five more days in town: they host the Lightning (12-4-0) on Monday afternoon (1, NESN) then close out this five-game homestand on Thursday vs. Columbus (6-10-0). Boston beat Tampa Bay in the season-opener 3-1 at the Garden on October 3 but that already feels like it was a million years ago. Expect a better effort from the Lightning, who have won their last four games and currently hold the best record in the Eastern Conference.

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Krejci (3 G) & Bruins Haunt Toronto's Dreams, Beat Maple Leafs 4-3 In OT For 3-1 Series Lead

They might take years off our collective lives but I honestly can't name anything in sports that are more exciting than NHL playoff games that go to overtime. The Bruins and Maple Leafs treated us to a dandy tonight at Air Canada Centre as David Krejci's OT winner gave Boston a 4-3 win in Game 4 and 3-1 series lead for the B's.

Toronto has to feel like this was one they let slip their through gloves since they led 2-0 in the first period after goals by Joffrey Lupul at 2:35 and Cody Franson at 18:32. It sounds silly but Boston actually played very well in the first period but they were the victims of the dreaded bad bounces. The Maple Leafs scored on their first shot, Krejci hit the post when James Reimer (41 saves) was down and out then Zdeno Chara (4 assists-franchise record for defensemen) screened Tuukka Rask (45 saves) on Franson's goal.

The momentum flipped 32 seconds into the second period as Patrice Bergeron buried a power play goal (first goal of the playoffs) from Chara and Jaromir Jagr. What a concept, Boston actually used a power play to its advantage. They can do that? Krejci tied it at 12:59 (3rd goal of the playoffs) from Marchand and Chara thanks to another juicy rebound by Reimer. That's more than a habit with Toronto's shaky goaltender. Krejci gave the B's their first lead at 16:39 on a sweet one-timer from Nathan Horton and Chara, another power play goal (seriously).

Another break went Toronto's way 44 seconds later as Johnny Boychuk blocked a shot but it went right to Clarke MacArthur who tied it up once again. There were no goals in the third period but the action was intense. Nazem Kadri got a four-minute penalty for high sticking Chris Kelly and drawing blood. Boston's power play couldn't take advantage but their penalty kill unit stepped up with their first clean sheet of the series (Toronto was 0 of 4). No kill was more important than late in the third period when Chara went off for high sticking.

In the third period and overtime-when it mattered most-Rask was brilliant. The game-winner (Krejci's 2nd career playoff hat trick) came after Maple Leafs bozo/captain Dion Phaneuf tried to drill Horton, mostly missed and took himself out of the play in Boston's end. Krejci walked in with Lucic but never dished it (thank God). Instead, he waited out Reimer then just slid it under him. Horton and Chara had the helpers on the memorable tally at 13:06.

Boston will try to close the series out on Friday (7 p.m., NESN) in Game 5 at what should be a rocking TD Garden. By winning both games in Toronto, the Bruins have totally taken over this series after splitting in Boston.

UPDATE 5/10: Wade Redden is out with an undisclosed injury in Game 5 so Matt Bartkowski was recalled from Provdience and he's expected to skate on the third line with Adam McQuaid.

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Maple Leafs Record Their 1st Playoff Win In 9 Years

The Maple Leafs looked like a completely different team tonight in Game 2 at TD Garden than the shell-shocked, overwhelmed squad that lost 4-1 to the Bruins in Game 1 on Wednesday. Toronto got what they came for-a road win-with a 4-2 victory over Boston. Game 3 shifts back to Toronto's Air Canada Centre starting on Monday (7 p.m., NESN).

This was the Maple Leafs' first playoff win since April 30, 2004 and they certainly earned it. Unlike in Game 1, they didn't score the game's first goal but that didn't matter since they hit the Bruins with a three-goal run spanning the second period and start of the third. James Reimer (39 saves) gave up some juicy rebounds all night but the Bruins were only able to capitalize on one of them. He was good enough to notch his first career playoff win.

Tuukka Rask (28 saves) actually played really well with some outstanding stops but there is only so much he can do when his leaky defense is giving up breakaways and not taking care of guys right on his doorstep. It wasn't the reason they lost the game but Boston certainly missed the services of Andrew Ference (suspended for Game 2 after his elbow of Mikhail Grabovski in Game 1). That changed all the defensive pairings, the excellent combo of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg was broken up in favor of Chara and Adam McQuaid; Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk; rookie Dougie Hamilton (playing in his first career NHL playoff game) and Wade Redden. As you'd expect, things didn't go that well. That's why I think Hamilton will be a healthy scratch again in Game 3 when Ference returns.

Speaking of suspensions, don't be shocked if Maple Leafs goon/ladies man Dion Phaneuf misses a game after he elbowed Daniel Paille in a very similar play to what earned Ference a seat on the ninth floor.

Nathan Horton scored a goal for the second straight game, at 1:56 of the second period to give Boston its only lead (1-0). Milan Lucic and David Krejci assisted as Horton drove to the net and was lucky enough to have the puck bounce off his skate (which he didn't mean to do) past Reimer.

Toronto is a Canadian hockey team (you learn something new every day) so just like the Canucks and Canadiens, they have to dive like their life depends on that. There must be something in the water up there. It turned out well in Game 2 since a flop earned a tripping call on Chara which led to Joffrey Lupul's goal at 5:18 of the second period. Lupul tipped a shot from the point and then fought for his rebound, assists went to Jake Gardiner and Carl Gunnarsson.

Lupul gave the Leafs the lead for good at 11:56 with a backhander from Matt Frattin and Phaneuf. For whatever reason, Toronto seemed to win most battles for the puck and they were rewarded time and again.

Things went so well for Toronto that even Phil Kessel managed to score a goal. Seidenberg and Boychuk were caught napping in the Leafs' zone and Nazem Kadri hit Kessel with a stretch pass for a breakaway. He beat Rask 53 seconds into the third period for a 3-1 advantage. Ryan Hamilton had the second assist.

At least the Bruins didn't give up as Boychuk was credited with a goal at 10:35 that appeared to bounce off Seguin (who had screened Reimer). The Bruins had a boatload of chances for the next few minutes but the Leafs hung on and James van Rimesdyk notched his second goal in as many games with a beautiful backhander at 16:53.

Shawn Thornton and Mark Fraser fought with 0.5 seconds left, showing you how nasty this series is starting to get. The Maple Leafs actually had nine more hits (44-35) than the Bruins so that must have been a point of emphasis after they were manhandled in Game 1.

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Milan Lucic Is Boston's X-Factor

It's not hard to see that when Milan Lucic is playing his physical game and scoring goals, the Bruins are a different team. It only took 14 games but he finally scored another goal (his first since February 24 at Florida) as Claude Julien reconfigured his struggling forward lines and put Looch on the third with Rich Peverley and Jordan Caron. Tonight at TD Garden, Boston (21-7-3) beat Toronto (17-12-4) 3-2 in a shootout.

The two points was particularly important for a couple reasons: 1) The Bruins had fallen behind 2-0, 2) a win tied them with Montreal for first-place in the Northeast Division and 3) the Maple Leafs had beaten the B's 3-2 on Saturday night.

After a scoreless first period, Toronto took a 2-0 lead on Joffrey Lupul's one-timer on a power-play at 2:04 of the second period. After a deflection in the slot, Jake Gardiner found Lupul for the goal. The Maple Leafs doubled their lead at 8:01 after blocking a shot then getting a breakaway as Boston's defensive pair of Aaron Johnson and Andrew Ference were left in the dust. Nikolai Kulemin beat Rask, who once again had no chance as his teammates left him out to dry.

Lucic broke his personal funk at 9:49 with a pretty backhander after a pass through the seams of Toronto's defense by Peverley. Caron had the other assist on Lucic's fifth goal of the season. Haha only one more and he'll catch Daniel Paille and Zdeno Chara. Patrice Bergeron delivered the clutch tying goal with 9:24 left in the third period. Dougie Hamilton took advantage of a bad line change by Toronto to go behind their net and he found Bergeron for a backhander (his 9th goal of the season).

Not much happened in overtime but that's alright since the second and especially the third periods were barnburners which is not something that I often say. Tyler Seguin and Bergeron scored in the shootout while Rask (23 saves; 15-4-3) stopped Nazem Kadri and Kulemin. The B's improved to 4-1 in shootouts this season while the Leafs fell to 0-4. Boston won the season series with Toronto 3-1.

There is basically a month left in the regular season (17 games) so it doesn't get much bigger than Wednesday night (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network) as the Canadiens (20-6-5) come to TD Garden. Before that, the Habs are in Pittsburgh tomorrow night as they try to snap the Penguins' 12-game win streak. Good luck with that. Regardless of how they do there, Wednesday will be for first-place in the Northeast Division.

UPDATE 3/26: Today the Bruins signed defenseman Matt Bartkowski to a one-year extension (don't ask me why) and they signed University of Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Chris Casto to an entry-level contract.

UPDATE 3/27: This afternoon the B's claimed Senators left wing Kaspars Daugavins (1 goal, 2 assists, -7 in 17 games). He's best known as the clown that tried that stupid spin-o-rama in the shootout against Boston on March 11 in Ottawa. He might be a bum but I guarantee that he's better than Jay Pandolfo who is extremely lucky to still be playing in the NHL.

Another move today by the B's was that they called up defenseman Torey Krug from Providence. He has put up great numbers (10 goals, 24 assists) there this season in 55 games. Johnny Boychuk (foot) was placed on IR.

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Good news for the Bruins: no shootouts in the playoffs and probably no Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not particularly good. Granted, they've improved by leaps and bounds over the last few pathetic seasons of their Original Six existence but they'll once again likely miss the playoffs in 2010-11.

For some unknown reason, Toronto (36-32-10) has given Boston (43-23-11) fits this season and last night's 4-3 shootout win at TD Garden for the Leafs wrapped up a 4-2 season series in their favor.

The Bruins didn't even play that poorly, albeit they gave up two one-goal leads, but it's clear that shootouts are still their biggest weakness. So let's thank the Gods and Gary Bettman that the stupid gimmick is not used in the playoffs.

Joffrey Lupul led Toronto with two goals and an assist while Phil Kessel had two assists in the win. Rookie goaltender James Reimer (19-8-4) continued to play well for the Maple Leafs, stopping 35 shots in the win.

Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist for the Bruins while goaltender Tim Thomas (33-10-9) made 28 saves in the loss that still earned Boston the fraudulent one point.

Luke Schenn gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the first period as his shot took a lucky bounce of Tomas Kaberle's skate and past Thomas.

Boston exploded for three goals in the second period. Marchand tied it up at 1 just 2:09 into the frame with his fifth shorthanded tally of the season (21st goal overall). He intercepted the puck at center ice, then skated in, fended off a Toronto player and beat Reimer. One of Marchand's best plays of the season in what has been a superb rookie campaign for Marchmont (inside joke).

David Krejci was the recipient of tic-tac-toe passing, scoring his 13th of the season at 3:08 from Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

Lupul evened it at 2 with a power-play strike at 7:06 from Kessel and Tyler Bozak. It was a nice feed from Kessel and Lupul basically whiffed but it went off his skate (unintentionally).

Andrew Ference gave Boston it's final lead at 3-2 with his 3rd of the season at 8:31. He jumped up on the play and his quick release coupled with a key deflection fooled Reimer. Marchand and Patrice Bergeron assisted.

These two teams clearly don't like each other and their constant battles after the whistle morphed into a heavyweight fight as Lucic took on Jay Rosehill in a lengthy bout in the second period.

Lupul tied it at 3 at 7:53 of the third period from Kessel and Schenn. A poor clearance by Boston put the puck on Lupul's stick and he roofed it over Thomas.

Nobody could find the back of the net in overtime, despite a bogus penalty shot awarded to Toronto, so the teams went to the shootout.

Tyler Seguin, Michael Ryder and Rich Peverley all were unsuccessful for Boston and Nazem Kadri beat Tim Thomas for the winner.

With the point, the Bruins are guaranteed of at worst tying for the Northeast Division title with Montreal.

Boston hosts Atlanta tomorrow afternoon. As I said last weekend after their no-show against the Rangers, the Bruins are horrible in afternoon games but you have to believe they have some extra motivation in this one.