Bruins dominate Leafs with chippy 4-1 win, sweep regular season series
Posted March 7, 2024 10:13 pm.
Last Updated March 7, 2024 10:28 pm.
The Boston Bruins remained undefeated against the Toronto Maple Leafs this regular season, beating their division rivals 4-1 on Thursday night ahead of a likely first-round playoff matchup.
In a chippy and tense game, the Bruins were impressive against the Maple Leafs. Star winger David Pastrnak opened the scoring with a power-play goal, his 39th of the season.
Trent Frederic beat goalie Joseph Woll on a breakaway on the heels of a turnover from William Nylander before Mitch Marner would score and get the Maple Leafs on the board. That would be it for Toronto, as Boston’s Morgan Geekie and Brandon Carlo added insurance for the Bruins.
Both teams had 50 combined penalty minutes, as the Maple Leafs and Bruins went at each other all game. Tyler Bertuzzi and Parker Wotherspoon, as did Max Domi and Charlie McAvoy, dropped the gloves for fighting majors.
Toronto’s Jake McCabe was also sent off a few minutes in after he appeared to cross-check both Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand.
Leafs rookie Matthew Knies was called for roughing, while McCabe was sent off for the cross-check. Knies then left the game following a collision with Marchand. There was no penalty on the play.
Woll lost his second-straight game against the Bruins, stopping 22 of 26 shots. Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves, picking up his second-straight win against the blue and white.
Toronto players have been under the weather with the flu going around the dressing room and were playing the second game of a back-to-back, but Boston has now defeated the Maple Leafs in seven straight games dating back to November 2022. Should the current standings stay the same, both teams would face each other in round one of the playoffs, with the Bruins qualifying for home-ice advantage.
It’s Toronto’s last game before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. The front office acquired defenceman Joel Edmundson from the Washington Capitals for 3rd-round (2024) and 5th-round (2025) draft selections. The Capitals retained 50 per cent of Edmundson’s expiring contract, so he’ll only count for $875,000 against the Maple Leafs’ cap.
Edmundson is expected to make his Leafs debut on Saturday in Montreal. The acquisition followed Toronto trading for defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin, who has been playing alongside Morgan Rielly.
