BOSTON -- The young Toronto Maple Leafs reached a bit of a crossroad at TD Garden on Saturday night.

After blowing an early three-goal lead and late one-goal edge and facing what could have been a fourth straight loss, Mike Babcock's team found a way to win -- and may well have found a key to its immediate future.

"We were able to get a win," Babcock said after rookie William Nylander recorded his first NHL hat trick and James van Riemsdyk scored the winner with 1:36 left for a wild 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins.

"I've been in a number of these over the years where the club doesn't win in a while and it's usually ugly when you finally do win," Babcock said. "It was an ugly one and you appreciate it."

Van Riemsdyk, playing in his 300th NHL game, whirled and beat Bruins backup goaltender Zane McIntyre with his second goal of the game and 19th of the season -- just 1:18 after Patrice Bergeron tied the score with a power-play goal.

"We just kept going," said Babcock. "We were in a good spot. The puck went in for us and went in for them. In the end, Vanny was able to get one for us."

The win was the third in as many tries for the Maple Leafs over the Bruins this season. Toronto has scored 14 goals in the three games.

Goaltender Frederik Andersen made 36 saves Saturday to improve to 7-0-0 lifetime against Boston.

Nylander delivered his first NHL multi-goal game as the Leafs chased starting goalie Tuukka Rask with four goals on 14 shots -- three of them in his final 1:46 -- in just over half the game. McIntyre (0-4-1) relieved and wound up as the loser.

"It's tough because we've said that a lot," Boston's Adam McQuaid said of the comeback. "We kept battling back, which in great, but we kept putting ourselves in a situation to do that.

"These late goals can't happen and we just have to find ways to stop that from happening. We can't keep giving up points like that."

Rookie Auston Mathews had three assists and fellow rookie Mitch Marner two for the Leafs (24-17-9).

"It was huge," said Matthews, who had been struggling with only four points in the previous 11 games. "Back and forth game, a lot of penalties nearly cost us, all in all I think it was really a good bounce back from the last three.

David Pastrnak posted two goals and an assist for Boston. Bergeron had a goal and two assists, Zdeno Chara added three assists and Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug delivered a goal and assist apiece.

The Bruins, dropping their second straight (11 goals against), fell to 12-13 at home and lead Toronto by just one point in the standings -- the Leafs with five games in hand.

"You're always disappointed when you lose a game like that," said Bruins coach Claude Julien.

After the Leafs took a 5-4 lead on rookie Connor Brown's first goal in nine games with 4:45 left, the Bruins (26-23-6) went on the power play and Bergeron converted a rebound of Krug's shot with 2:54 remaining to tie it again.

The Bruins completed their three-goal comeback from 4-1 down when Spooner converted Chara's rebound 10:06 into the third period -- Spooner's first goal in 17 games.

The three-goal eruption chased Rask, making his 12th straight start and his 18th in the last 19 games, 10:17 into the second period. The Bruins struck back 38 seconds later when Pastrnak tapped home a short rebound for his second of the game and third since Dec. 14.

Pastrnak opened the scoring on Boston's first shot, just 2:17 into the game. The Leafs scored the next four goals before Pastrnak and Krug answered and the comeback was on.

Babcock noted Nylander gets motivated playing against Pastrnak, his friend and fellow Czech.

"We've got to bring Pastrnak on the road with us all the time to every rink," Babock said. "He always wants to be better than 88, so we've just got to get an 88 on every team and he'll be unbelievable."

NOTES: Bruins G Tuukka Rask and C Patrice Bergeron, both injured at Washington Wednesday night, played Saturday. ... Leafs C Auston Matthews came in dealing with a bit of the rookie wall, with two goals and two assists in the last 11 games. "I think that's part of it for sure," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "The other thing is the better you play, the harder they play. I imagine tonight, (David) Krejci and Bergeron and those guys know who he is, so they're going to play hard against him." ... Leafs LW James van Riemsdyk played in his 300th NHL game. ... The Leafs close their four-game trip at the New York Islanders on Monday night. The Bruins continue a four-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.