Three-Goal Second Period Propels Bruins to Victory Over the Maple Leafs

With over a month left in the 2024 NHL regular season, teams are fighting tooth and nail heading down the stretch run to position themselves for improved playoff seeding. Entering action on Thursday, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs sat in comfortable positions that gave themselves reasons to anticipate clinching a playoff spot this season. However, the two teams had been heading in opposite directions the last month. Prior to the matchup between the division rivals at TD Garden, the Bruins had only won five of their last 15 games. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs were coming off a thrilling overtime victory against the Sabres on Wednesday and had been scorching hot, as they had won ten of their last 15 games. With the help of a three-goal second period, the Bruins were able to halt the Maple Leafs and come away with a 4-1 victory and sweep the regular season series between the teams. 

In the first period, at 5:37, the Bruins would jump out to a 1-0 lead as David Pastrnak would score his 39th goal of the season on the power-play into a wide-open net on a quick wrist-shot. Early on in the second period, the Bruins would extend their lead to 2-0 after Trent Frederic stole a pass from William Nylander at the top of the zone and tallied a breakaway goal. Midway through the second, the Maple Leafs’ lone goal in the game would come off a Mitch Marner power-play that would cut the Bruins lead to 2-1. With under three minutes left in the middle frame, the Bruins would quickly extend their lead to 4-1 after Morgan Geekie and Brandon Carlo both scored goals that came 1:07 apart. The Maple Leafs would fail to generate any momentum in the third period as the Bruins came away with the 4-1 win and their 20th home victory of the season. 

With the win, the Bruins improved to 37-13-15 for 89 points and remain nine points ahead of the Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division. In the win, goalie Jeremy Swayman would have an excellent showing between the pipes for the Bruins as he recorded 28 saves on 29 attempts to secure his 20th victory of the season. For the Maple Leafs, the loss dropped them to 36-19-8 for 80 points and third in the division. The Bruins would rattle Maple Leafs’ goalie Joseph Woll throughout the night as he finished with 22 saves on 26 attempts in the defeat. The Maple Leafs will look to get back to their dominant ways as they travel to face the Canadiens on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Bruins will look to build on their impressive performance on Saturday afternoon as they host the Penguins.