After two straight losses, the Bruins returned to their winning ways, beating the Leafs 4-2 behind three-point nights from Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins improved to 15-3-3 on the year with the win and improved to 8-0-1 in their last nine games against the Maple Leafs.
The first noticeable difference in the Bruins game from their last few lackluster games was their team defense. The Bruins did a great job of cutting the Leafs angles and stopping plays before they started. They contained the Leafs top two lines through physicality but couldn’t break through with a goal themselves despite a considerable possession advantage throughout the first period.
The Bruins would kill off about a half-minute of of a 5-on-3 in the middle of the period. After killing both penalties, the Bruins found their stride and began attack Ben Scrivens more consistently until Patrice Bergeron finally broke through with the game’s first goal in the final minute of the first. Patrice Bergeron knocked a rebound through Scrivens’ five-hole after Tyler Seguin‘s hard net-drive was originally stopped.
The Leafs would tie the score early in the second period when Nazem Kadri got his 11th goal of the year on a 2-on-1, beating Anton Khudobin blocker-side as the goalie went left to right. The Bruins would respond on a 2-on-1 of their own when Brad Marchand quickly got into the Leafs zone and found Tyler Seguin all alone on the other side of the zone. Seguin ripped a wrister that Scrivens got a piece of, but the puck found the back of the net.
In the second half of the second period the Bruins started using speed to put pressure on the Leafs. The speed began to lead to breakdowns and rebound opportunities. The Bruins extended their lead to two goals when David Krejci knocked home a rebound after a Andrew Ference shot was partially blocked out front but got Scrivens to commit to the shot and put himself out of the play. The Bruins would then kill off a penalty to end the period and brought a two-goal lead into the final frame.
The Leafs began to rally a bit and take momentum back as the period wore thin. The Leafs would eventually cut the lead in half when Jay McClement tipped home a Mikhail Grabovski shot past Khudobin on the doorstep. With the Leafs only trailing by one goal the Bruins defense tightened up and kept the Leafs at bay until Seguin scored his second of the night on an empty net to seal the 4-2 victory.
