Canada Sports News

Davis Pastrnak scored two goals in Boston Bruins‘ victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2. Though the first one was canceled after Mike Babcock challenged the call, and the officials saw an offside on the replay.

But that didn’t stop the league’s leading scorer from adding another one, a real masterpiece with 2:45 left in the first. Brad Marchand passed him the puck, and Pastrnak performed one of the most attractive plays of the season so far. He took the puck and slipped it between his legs, before sending it into Michael Hutchinson’s net.

“I tried it a couple times in practice but it didn’t work. It worked today, so I was kind of lucky,” said Pastrnak, who reached his 10th goal of the season, and leads the league in that category.

That was the only goal in the opening 20 minutes, and the fans had to wait until 4:23 into the middle period before seeing another one. But this time it was in Bruins’ net. Kasperi Kapanen sent a one-timer on Alexander Kerfoot‘s cross pass to tie the result.

Some 100 seconds later, Marchand was the one who brought back the lead to the home team’s side, indicating that these 20 minutes might be pretty exciting. Which eventually happened.

With 7:06 left in the same sequence, the visitors once again equalized the score, through Kerfoot, who netted a power-play goal. Previously, Zdeno Chara had to go out for two minutes because of tripping.

Those Bruins fans who were worried between the periods eventually had no reason for that. Tuuka Rask was flawless in the final period, as he denied all 8 shots the guests sent towards his net. The Bruins were shorthanded twice, but Maple Leafs didn’t know how to exploit that advantage.

Brett Ritchie struck with 6:35 since the start of the third, and when Toronto became more aggressive and decided to play riskier, Boston just sealed the win with Par Lindholm’s rebound goal. It was his first goal of the season.

The Maple Leafs players were very harsh towards themselves after the game, saying that they have to be better and to step up in the decisive moments. Auston Matthews explained to the reporters what he and his teammates need to do in order to start winning games.

“We need to be better. I think it comes from the leadership group. I need to be better. All of us need to be better. I think we just need to look each other in the eye and hold each other accountable.”

This loss was the third one in the previous four matches for Babcock’s team.

On the other hand, the team from Massachusets bounced back following an overtime loss in Toronto three days ago. The Bruins snapped a two-game losing skid, in which they won one point for a draw during the regulations. However, they are keen on recording wins, and the next chance to do so is against the champions, St. Louis Blues, this Saturday night in Boston. It is the rematch of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals.

Toronto heads back home to face San Jose Sharks on Friday.