Toronto 4, Boston 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 15, 2016
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Referees:
Trevor Hanson, Jean Hebert
Linesmen:
Pierre Racicot, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance:
19466
By The Sports Xchange
TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs spread the scoring around on Saturday night.
After rookie Auston Matthews scored all four goals on Wednesday in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators, the Leafs received goals from four different players in a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins in the second game of the season for both teams.
Toronto (1-0-1) used a three-goal first period to win its home opener, which was preceded by the franchise's 100th anniversary celebrations.
"It was nice to follow that up with a win," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said.
The Bruins (1-1-0) have one more game on the road before playing their home opener.
"We dug ourselves a hole at the beginning of the game, made some poor choices and gave them untimely goals," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
"We came out in the first period flat and weren't able to get that next goal that would have made a difference."
Connor Brown, Mitch Marner, James van Riemsdyk and Milan Michalek scored for Toronto. Tyler Bozak added two assists.
David Pastrnak had the lone goal for Boston.
With Matthews, Brown and Marner combining to score their first six goals of the season, the Maple Leafs became the first team in the expansion era (1967-68) to have rookies score their first six goals of the season.
The emergence of youth has created some excitement around the Maple Leafs entering the season.
"We have to make sure we take care of the day-to-day business of the season," Van Riemsdyk said. "We just have to stay on an even keel, just keep pushing because we do have a lot of upside and we know there are probably going to be some growing pains.
Anton Khudobin made 20 saves in the Bruins' goal.
Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen made 24 stops.
Khudobin, who was going to start one of the first three games of the season, got the assignment Saturday because No. 1 goaltender Tuukka Rask had a sore leg.
"My start was not good," Khudobin said. "(Eight shots), three goals (in the first period). Just a little frustrating. In the second period, I found my game."
Toronto scored the first three goals before the Bruins got one back in the first period.
After a goalless second period, the Leafs regained their three-goal lead at 3:56 of the third period on a tip-in from in front of the net by Michalek for his first goal of the season. Morgan Rielly and Martin Marincin earned assists.
The Leafs took the lead at 2:14 of the first period with Brown scoring from the slot for his first goal of the season. It followed a faceoff in the Boston zone with Peter Holland and Matt Hunwick earning the assists.
Marner scored his first career NHL goal at 11:56 of the first to give Toronto a 2-0 lead. He scored on a shot from the top edge of the right faceoff circle. Bozak led him with a pass into the neutral zone and Nikita Zaitsev also picked up an assist.
"It was a weird game for me," Khudobin said. "My stick just got stuck in the pads as I was moving there. (Marner) made a pretty good shot no doubt."
Van Riemsdyk scored his first of the season from the slot at 13:13 as Toronto seized a 3-0 lead. Bozak set up his second goal of the game and Jake Gardiner also picked up an assist.
With Marner serving a slashing penalty, the Bruins pulled one back when Pastrnak scored his third goal of the season on a power play at 17:35. John-Michael Liles and Brad Marchand earned assists.
NOTES: Boston C Patrice Bergeron (ankle) missed his second game on Saturday. Bergeron also missed the season opener in Columbus, which was won 6-3 by the Bruins. He is listed as day to day with a lower body injury. ... Maple Leafs C Auston Matthews became the first player to score four goals in his NHL debut Wednesday, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. He became the first Maple Leafs player to score four goals in a game since C Matts Sundin on April 11, 2006, against the Florida Panthers. ... C Dave Keon was named the top Toronto player in the franchise's first 100 years. His No. 14 was retired. The 100th anniversary ceremonies preceded the game Saturday. ... The Maple Leafs visit the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday for their next game. ... The Bruins visit Winnipeg on Monday to complete a three-game, season-opening trip.
Top Game Performances
Boston |
|
Toronto |
David Pastrnak 1 |
Points |
Tyler Bozak 2 |
David Pastrnak 1 |
Goals |
Connor Brown 1 |
John-Michael Liles 1 |
Assists |
Tyler Bozak 2 |
David Pastrnak 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Anton Khudobin .833 |
Save Percentage |
Frederik Andersen .960 |
Anton Khudobin 20 |
Saves |
Frederik Andersen 24 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Boston
|
25 |
1 |
1-4 |
4-4 |
18 |
20 |
Toronto
|
24 |
4 |
0-4 |
3-4 |
18 |
32 |
Upcoming Games
-
Toronto will play their next game on the road against Winnipeg. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
-
Boston will play their next game on the road against Winnipeg. The Bruins have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .000 after a loss.