Pavel Zacha scored twice and Jake DeBrusk had a goal and an assist Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Pavel Zacha scored twice and Jake DeBrusk had a goal and an assist Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
A regulation victory over an Original-Six rival and divisional opponent is good on any night.
However, it was the way the Boston Bruins won, 4-1, Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena that eased some of the concern that has come with the team’s recent slump and reaffirmed the level at which the B’s are capable of playing down the stretch.
Guys that have been desperate to get their offensive production going again covered the scoresheet – namely a two-goal night from Pavel Zacha, two-point showing from Jake DeBrusk and 5-on-5 tally from Morgan Geekie.
The Bruins earned a 2-0 lead in the first period and built on in it the second and third instead of letting Toronto back in the competition, and Jeremy Swayman was sharp with 32 saves on 33 shots.
Simply put, it was winning hockey.
“It felt good to come in here and have a big bounce back game from New York,” Swayman said to reporters Monday. “You see these guys backchecking the way they did, playing the right way for 60 minutes, it’s a big momentum game for us.”
Geekie gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 9:43 of the first period, tapping in a David Pastrnak shot while stationed by the right doorstep of Joseph Woll’s net. The play marked Geekie’s 14th goal of the season, and fourth in three games. Prior to the 25-year-old forward’s hat trick Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights, he had two points in his last 22 games.
Zacha shook off the schneid while skating on the power play with Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe in the box for slashing. DeBrusk dropped the puck down to Pastrnak beneath the goal line who found Zacha open in the slot to wrist it home and make it 2-0. Zacha’s 13th of the year was his first goal in 11 games – since Feb. 8 against the Vancouver Canucks – and just fourth point in the last 10 games.
“We had a great first period and we didn’t stop playing. They obviously made a push because they are a heck of a team with a lot of skill, but we didn’t break…That was important,” Pastrnak said to reporters Monday.
DeBrusk picked up a goal of his own – to complete a two-point performance – at 5:07 of the second period and extended Boston’s lead to 3-0. The winger, while on the rush with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle, sniped the puck top, right corner. The tally was DeBrusk’s first point since Feb. 21 against the Edmonton Oilers. Coming into Monday, DeBrusk had two points in his last 15 games.
John Tavares cut the Leafs’ deficit to two goals at 3:52 of the final frame. The Toronto captain wristed it from above the left circle for the 3-1 scoreline after Morgan Rielly dished it to him from the blue line.
Despite Tavares’ goal, the Bruins were able to keep the Leafs’ top-three goal-scorers – Auston Matthews, William Nyllander and Mitchell Marner – off the board. What’s more, it had been 11 games since Boston allowed one (or less) goals against. Since the Feb. 8 shutout against the Vancouver Canucks, the B’s had allowed three or more goals a night.
“Defensilvey, we were getting back above pucks, we were winning goal-line races to our own end, and it led to a lot of transition, a lot of O-zone time,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said to reporters Monday.
“Good offensive hockey players and stars in the league like them, they’re gonna get their opportunities. But I do think that we were on top of them and we weren’t giving them second or third opportunities.”
Zacha cushioned the Bruins’ advantage – and logged his first multi-goal game of the season – at 10:35 of the third. Zacha knocked in a wrap-around, behind-the-net pass from Pastrnak for the final 4-1 score. Pastrnak collected his third assist of the night on the play.
“We’re going to have this game to look back on to know what we need to do to win big games like this,” Swayman said.
The Bruins have a quick turnaround and will host the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop at TD Garden before facing Toronto again Thursday on home ice.
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