BOSTON – For Toronto Maple Leafs fans who watched and cheered as their club reeled off four consecutive victories, scoring in bunches and clamping down at the business end, Saturday’s trip to Boston provided a cold wake-up call.
“We were on top of them,” asserted the ageless Zdeno Chara, victorious in career game No. 1,400.
In getting outworked, outscored, out-chanced, out-goaltended, outmuscled, out-disciplined and out-everything-else’d against a member of the NHL’s true elite, the Leafs and their fathers flew home late with one to grow on.
The Bruins defeated Toronto 4-1 and have now captured standings points in a ridiculous 20 of their past 21 outings. The final score actually does the visitors a favour.
Even the lone Leafs goal came off a Bruin’s blade.
“There’s not a lot of holes in their game,” Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly confirmed. “One of the hottest teams in hockey. They’ve been playing well. They’re doing everything right.”
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Patrice Bergeron, arguably the most complete hockey player on Earth, was the early beneficiary of a fierce Bruins forecheck, gathering a Danton Heinen pass, and simultaneously snapping the puck top-corner past Frederik Andersen and breaking Toronto’s shutout streak at 146:46.
Mitchell Marner tied the game on the power play when his slap-pass ticked off Charles McAvoy’s stick for an own-goal, and Toronto was fortunate to escape a zippy first period tied.
“After one, you hadn’t been great, it’s time for a pushback. We didn’t have a pushback,” Babcock said. “They skated us.”
In one furious Period 2 sequence, Tyler Bozak was robbed on the power-play by Tuukka Rask’s back-diving stick save, and a James van Riemsdyk tip pinged a post. The Bruins then drove the play the other way on the kill and drew a penalty of their own.
Relentless.
“We talked about that,” Bergeron said. “We said it’s a type of hockey you’re going to see later in the year and, you know, heavy teams that can skate and that are obviously going to be in your face.”
As Boston poured on pressure with both its backcheck and forecheck, clogging the neutral zone like Taco Bell clogs plumbing, those missed empty nets and clanged posts felt increasingly like opportunities lost.
“The game is fair. I thought they were quicker, better, executed, had more players going than we did tonight, and it showed,” Babcock said. “They play fast, they play right, they have a good pace to them.”
Antsy to join a winning team after sitting six games to nurse his upper-body injury, Toronto’s Rielly had an eventful re-entry to the lineup. He had his hands full defending the Bergeron line early, notched his 27th assist on the Marner goal, and made a nice full-body slide on David Pastrnak to bust up a 2-on-1 chance for the Bs.
“Whenever you come back, you’re a little bit cautious,” Rielly admitted. “It can be frustrating the way they close it down. So, credit to them, they did a good job, it’s important we get better tomorrow, we come in on Monday [versus Anaheim] and get back on track.”
Toronto’s other newly healthy top-pair defenceman, Ron Hainsey, endured such a rough go in the second period, he may have half-wished to be back home on the couch with the flu.
A speedy Pastrnak beat Hainsey on a fumbled dump-in and extended his point streak to eight games with a smart wrister.
Hainsey then committed an unnecessary interference penalty away from the play, and the Bruins pounced on the man-advantage when Torey Krug one-timed a blast, giving themselves a two-goal lead that essentially made the final 20 minutes elementary.
The Bruins added an empty-netter and improved to a sturdy 20-1-5 when drawing first blood. They hold a five-point edge over Toronto for the second seed and home-ice in Round 1 of the Atlantic Division playoffs — with four games in hand. They have the league’s best goals-against average and second-best possession metrics.
Was this a potential playoff preview of Round 1? Maybe.
Those footsteps the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning can hear are getting louder by the night, and Saturday’s display proved that Boston is widening the gap on its nearest pursuer.
“No question, we’re chasing them right now and we want to get to where they’re at,” Leafs defenceman Connor Carrick said. “There’s another level of consistency and intensity that we can get to every night.”
Consistency and intensity? Look around the entire league. For the past 90 days, Boston has been the model.
BOSTON — Tuukka Rask watched his own defenceman redirect a Toronto player’s shot into the net behind him.
The way he’s been playing, he could still joke about it afterward.
Rask made 23 stops and posted a point for a career-best 20th straight game, leading the surging Boston Bruins past the Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday night.
With the Bruins leading 1-0, the Maple Leafs tied it at 8:03 of the first period, helped by Charlie McAvoy. Positioned in front of his own net, the rookie tapped Mitchell Marner’s shot — it was going fairly slowly after it hit Boston forward Sean Kuraly’s stick and was heading wide — into the net to the right of Rask as he was attempting to control the puck.
McAvoy immediately put his right glove to his face in disbelief and looked down while he was skating behind the net.
"It was more funny than anything," said Rask, standing at his locker dressed in a suit and wearing a New England Patriots winter hat. "When I saw his reaction, it was like a slow-motion film."
Rask skated over and patted him on the back.
"He’s a leader on this team. It’s good to see him do that," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said of Rask. "There’s a lot of that that goes on, guys have each other’s backs."
McAvoy returned to the lineup for the first time since a heart procedure nearly two weeks ago.
David Pastrnak and Torey Krug each scored on a power play in the second period and Patrice Bergeron added his team-leading 22nd goal for Boston. Tim Schaller had an empty-netter as the Bruins collected at least a point for the 20th time in 21 games, moving four points ahead of Toronto for second in the Atlantic Division.
Rask hasn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 26. He improved to 18-0-2 in his last 20 starts, and had an assist on Schaller’s score.
Marner and the Maple Leafs knew Rask was on a hot streak, and they felt like they needed more traffic in front of the net.
"He’s been unbelievable the last month and a bit," he said. "We knew that coming in. When you give him his eyes, he’s going to make the saves."
The Maple Leafs had their four-game winning streak stopped and lost for the first time in seven games against Boston after going 5-0-1.
"They came ready to play," Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen said. "They were right on top of us getting out of the zone."
Pastrnak’s score moved the Bruins ahead 2-1 when he came in on the right wing and fired a shot that caromed in off Andersen’s left shoulder at 8:03. Krug one-timed a shot by Andersen with 3:13 left in the period. It was Andersen’s first regular-season loss to Boston after he won his first nine games.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara played his 1,400th NHL game.
The Bruins had jumped ahead when Bergeron fired a wrister past Andersen 4:29 into the game, stopping Toronto’s shutout streak at 146 minutes, 46 seconds.
Less than a minute later, Rask made a right-pad stop on Kasperi Kapanen’s clean break-in.
NOTES: Toronto D Ron Hainsey returned after missing the previous game due to an illness. … Bruins D Kevan Miller was out with an upper body injury. . Boston F Brad Marchand served the fourth of his five-game suspension for elbowing New Jersey’s Marcus Johansson. … The teams face each other once more in the regular season, in Toronto on Feb. 24.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Anaheim on Monday in the opener of a five-game homestand. They beat the Ducks in the only other meeting this season.
Bruins: At Detroit on Tuesday in the first of two straight on the road. They’ve won both games against the Red Wings this season.
What a week it’s been for the Toronto Maple Leafs, eh?
Mike Babcock finally listened to us! In scratching every semblance of grit and dead weight, the Toronto Maple Leafs iced perhaps the most balanced and talented lineup the team has seen since the 2004-05 lockout.
So, now that the Leafs are finally living up to their potential, thanks to their wonderful new additions, it begs the question:
Does the emergence of Travis Dermott make the Leafs able to contend for a cup this year?
Let’s hear what the EIL staff had to say.
Mike Stephens
As Travis Dermott shatters every expectation we had for him with each passing game, I absolutely am of the belief that the Leafs can contend for a cup this year.
And yet, there are a few caveats.
Although it may be difficult to topple a powerhouse like Tampa, the Leafs possess all the necessary tools to do so. They boast a ridiculously deep forward group, a bonafide elite goaltender, and now a mobile backend capable of actually holding a lead.
In fact, the only area truly in need of improvements is at fourth line centre.
Can you imagine this current Leafs roster with Brian Boyle at 4C? The thought is borderline erotic. The only downside here, however, is there appear to be no sizeable upgrades available on the trade block.
Frankly, the Leafs would be better suited to just call up Miro Aaltonen from the Marlies to see if he could be the answer. As of today, Toronto currently sits in a playoff spot, with a 15-point lead over the next closest team.
What is there to lose?
Aaltonen is talented, fast, and there’s no harm in giving him a shot to see what you have. Regardless, come April, this team is poised to make a significant run.
Let’s enjoy it, folks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won four games in a row.
It is not a coincidence that the Toronto Maple Leafs have won these games while employing a new set of lines.
By adding Kasperi Kapanen and Travis Dermott into the lineup in exchange for Matt Martin and Roman Polak, the Leafs are way, way faster. By giving non-fourth line minutes to Connor Brown: Way faster. Even when Holl came in for Hainsey: way faster.
Speed kills.
The Leafs were already arguably the fastest team in the NHL. Their slowest players are probably Polak, Hainsey and Martin, and with the kids in the lineup, you can really see the difference. They just skate everyone into the ground.
Now, we’re not going to be seeing Ron Hainsey out of the lineup permanently any time soon, but that is OK – he brings other things besides speed. But if we’re done with Matt Martin and Roman Polak, which I don’t see how Babcock can insist on playing them anymore, then the Leafs are back to being, for sure, the fastest team in hockey.
They Earned It
Kasperi Kapanen and Travis Dermott should never play a single AHL game ever again. They are way too good, way to fast to not be in the NHL. Permanently.
Even though he’s by all rights a legit top-nine guy, Kapanen and Komarov combine to make – by far – the fastest and best fourth line in the NHL. It is insane.
With Dermott, the Leafs suddenly have one of the fastest, most mobile defense corps in the NHL. Rielly, Gardiner, Zaitsev and Dermott are all +++ skaters. Connor Carrick isn’t half bad either.
This kind of speed is something other teams can’t compensate for. Just about every strategy has an equal and opposite counter strategy. Not speed. The NHL’s obstruction rules make it impossible to prevent fast players from taking advantage. It might seem like a small thing, with only a couple new players, but at the NHL level, that is a pretty big edge.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won four games in a row, and the last two especially were impressive, with 55% and 62% possession ratings, respectively.
At this point, I don’t think it’s ridiculous to consider the Leafs among the best teams in the NHL, among the top three or four Stanley Cup Contenders and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s equal.
And it gets even better tonight, because my favorite player, and one of the best skaters in the entire world, Morgan Rielly, will be back.
stats from naturalstattrick.com
