Bruins 3, Maple Leafs 1
BOSTON -- Center Patrice Bergeron scored his team's second power-play goal of the night early in the third period and goaltender Tuukka Rask turned aside 33 shots to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 decision over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Bergeron also scored into an empty net with 21.7 seconds left for his fifth goal of the season to seal the verdict.
The game was the first between the Original Six division foes since the Bruins pulled off a last-minute comeback and eliminated the Leafs in Game 7 of the first round of last spring's playoffs. And it was intense from the start, each team dominating a period before an even third.
The Boston special teams, facing a Toronto team that was No. 5 in the league in power plays and penalty killing, decided the game. The Bruins were 2-for-3 on their power play and killed all three Leafs advantages, running their streak to 18 straight kills.
Defenseman Zdeno Chara scored the other Boston goal while right winger Joffrey Lupul tied the game for the Leafs, who had won four of their last five coming in.
The Bruins won their second straight.
Leafs left winger James van Riemsdyk received a double minor for high sticking Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk with 1:40 left in the second period. The penalty carried over to the third and goalie James Reimer made a great save on left winger Carl Soderberg in tight before Bergeron put the rebound home for his fourth goal of the season, at 1:06 of the finale.
Chara converted a power-play pass from right winger Jarome Iginla to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 15:27 of the first period, but the Leafs tied the game with 2:08 left in the second period. Lupul, skating down the wing 1-on-4 with his teammates changing, surprised Rask with a 30-foot wrist shot from a tough angle for his eighth goal of the season.
Reimer made 31 saves for Toronto, but suffered his second loss in six decisions.
Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid, who fought Toronto forward Frazer McLaren 1:48 into the game, left later in the period after suffering an injury to his right hip or groin.
NOTES: Bruins RW Jarome Iginla and Toronto D Dion Phaneuf, teammates in Calgary, had a spirited second-period fight. ... Some familiar faces returned to Boston this week. C Tyler Seguin and RW Rich Peverley were in with Dallas on Tuesday, G Tim Thomas was with Florida on Thursday (but didn't dress because of injury) and C Phil Kessel and the Maple Leafs were the opponent Saturday night. ... The Bruins continue their five-game homestand with Monday's holiday matinee against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which will be Military Appreciation Day with five Bruins each donating $2,500 for tickets for service personal. ... The Leafs are at Minnesota Wednesday. ... Toronto was missing two important forwards; Cs Dave Bolland (severed ankle tendon) and C Tyler Bozak (hamstring) -- Bozak for a sixth straight game. ... Bruins C Patrice Bergeron, who capped his team's Game 7 late comeback that eliminated Toronto in the first round of the playoffs last season, said earlier Saturday, "It's one of those games that feels good to think about. The way we stayed resilient and showed character to come back and tie it and then win it."
