The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action tonight against the Boston Bruins in an Original Six matchup. The Maple Leafs are coming into this game looking to extend their winning streak to four straight games. Whereas the Bruins are looking to extend their lead to six straight games and play spoiler.
Related: Maple Leafs Game Day Preview: First Clash With the Bruins
This is one of the most watched games for both teams, the fan bases love it when they play each other. So, without further ado, let’s get to the recap.
Game Recap
1st Period:
The first period had everything aside from fighting. It was a classic Maple Leafs vs. Bruins rivalry, there were goals, hits, pace, energy, and more. The Maple Leafs opened the scoring with a goal from Nicholas Robertson. However, the lead didn’t last long before Morgan Geekie scored to tie the game. Just 20 seconds after that, Viktor Arvidsson was able to find the back of the net and gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Boston held the lead in the first period for 10 minutes before Matias Maccelli was able to tie it at 2-2 to end the period.
2nd Period:
The second period seemed like it would be more of the same and it was. But only for the Bruins, they were able to score twice to take a 4-2 lead. The first goal of the period was scored by Michael Eyssimont at 2:15 into the frame. The second goal of the period was scored by David Pastrnak on a nice dangle that slipped through the five-hole of Anthony Stolarz.
That was it for him, he got pulled and Dennis Hildeby came into the game. The Maple Leafs were able to add one back in the third with John Tavares scoring his eighth of the season, bringing his club within one. The second period also had a fight between Nikita Zadorov and Bobby McMann.
3rd Period:
The third period had a lot of the same pace and energy from the first 40 minutes of the game. The Bruins came into the period looking to hold on to their 4-3 lead and win the game. As for the Maple Leafs, they were trying to tie the game and that was clear based on their efforts. They had a lot of quick entries and long-range shots to try and get a lucky bounce. They almost had one on a play where William Nylander shot it wide, then got the rebound that banked off the boards and shot it off the crossbar and then the post and out. It wasn’t long after that when former Maple Leaf Fraser Minten beat Hildeby to give the Bruins a 5-3 lead with three minutes left in the period.
The Maple Leafs pulled their goalie and went to the power play within the last three minutes. However, the Bruins played lockdown defense and secured a 5-3 win over their arch-rival.
