Boston Bruins hold on for 2-1 win over Toronto Maple Leafs
Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist, while Tuukka Rask made 36 saves in the Boston Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, at Air Canada Centre on Monday night.
Mikhail Grabovski notched the lone goal for Toronto, who have lost six of their last eight games. Meanwhile, James Reimer stopped 31 shots in the losing cause.
Marc Savard scored the tie-breaking goal for Boston. Savard, wingers Milan Lucic and Horton accounted for the Bruins offence, to end their five-game road trip with a 3-0-2 record. Lucic had an assist on Savard’s winning goal.
“We’ve been talking about it lately, not to get negative and keep trying to stay positive, and keep creating chances and keep moving our feet,” Lucic said. “And I think that’s a big reason why we got chances and results tonight.”
The Maple Leafs drew first blood with Grabovski’s 14th goal of the season in the 15th minute of the first period, by taking advantage of the Bruins’ ill-timed line change. With one of Boston’s defenders moving toward the bench, Grabovski received
a long pass from Luke Schenn, and snapped the puck under the Bruins netminder's legs to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.
Boston tied it up in the eighth minute of the second period on a strong offensive possession, after the puck was cycled around the Maple Leafs zone. Horton finished a give-and-go from Dennis Seidenberg, and sent a shot through a group of players to make
it 1-1.
With four and a half minutes left in the same frame, Boston went high on Reimer once again to gain a 2-1 edge. Savard got the winner; taking a feed from Horton at the blue line and raising a one-timer from the point through a screen by Lucic.
“We’ve been feeling like we got stronger as a group the last couple games and not been rewarded,” Savard said.
The Maple Leafs battled hard to tie the game, but the score remained the same four minutes into the final period as Rask stopped three straight shots, which was Maple Leaf's best opportunity for the equaliser. The young goalie was stellar during the final
20 minutes, where he turned away all 18 shots he faced.
Rask also turned down numerous chances from ex-Boston star Phil Kessel, who had one assist in play-offs against the Bruins. Rask’s best stop against his former team-mate came in the third period, when Kessel beat a defenceman and fired a shot from close
range.
“It was probably his best game against us that I’ve seen,” Lucic said. “He’s got great speed and he’s so quick and he’s really good getting that shot off.”
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