RECAP: Bruins gut out a fantastic 5-3 WIN!

Nothing quite like a good momentum builder against your modern rival, amirite?

First Period

Things didn’t start off great, as the Leafs got on the power play fairly early, and while they may not be very well constructed, they do still have a Nick Robertson, something I am told is actually quite good to have.

Anyway, he bounced the puck in on the backdoor step. 1-0 Leafs.

However, that seemed to be just the signal for the Bruins to set their heads on straight and promptly turned straight up ice. That found them in a pretty unusual position in that they found oodles and oodles of ice in front of Toronto’s netminder, and Morgan Geekie decided that he should continue his Rocket Richard campaign with a shot that he got the rarest of things on; a second chance.

Seriously, he somehow got that shot off after whiffing on the first try with at least two Leafs in poke check distance. Wild stuff. 1-1 Everybody.

Then, Victor Arvidsson decided to pick Myers’ pocket, and wouldn’t you know it; Myers had made the absolutely bizarre decision to take his possession directly across the goal mouth. 2-1 Bruins!

But, of course, the Leafs couldn’t leave well enough alone, and as a late power play died, Matias Maccelli got the easiest shot he’s ever gonna take, as no one marked him as he made his way to the net. 2-2 Everybody.

No further scoring, and we head to the middle frame.

Second Period

It was at this point that Boston got the go-ahead to just stunt on the Leafs.

They got things started with a chance that I thought for sure just ended up underneath Stolarz, but upon further video review, they determined was in fact a goal as Stolarz may have guided it into the net himself.

I…will take it! 3-2 Bruins!

Then, David Pastrnak put Simon Benoit, John Tavares, and Anthony Stolarz into the torment nexus!

The description of this maneuver from the B’s on the NHL’s page is “Masterful”, and I think that’s the best possible descriptor for it.

Unfortunately, the Leafs couldn’t let Boston have all the fun, and as such a power play opportunity gave Toronto another chance to get directly on top of Swayman, and John Tavares potted him a missile from the tail end of the royal road to cut the lead. 4-3 Bruins.

Goddamn Amulets giving him hypnosis or whatever.

Anyway, onto the final frame of regulation.

Third Period

So hey, we got two former Leafs on this B’s squad, and so far neither of them have factored into the game. Might as well see if there’s a chance for these guys to get one, right?

Say Fraser, how do you feel about giving it a shot? Mark Kastelic can do a good portion of the heavy lifting if you just throw it in the zone!

Great stuff. Thank you for playing, and congratulations on your 6th goal as an NHLer! You might make a habit out of this one day!

Anyway, Boston held strong, the Leafs couldn’t capitalize on a late power play…

and the Bruins Win 5-3!

Game Notes:

• Your TOI Leader was Andrew Peeke (!!), who logged 23:13 tonight.
• Something about playing the Maple Leafs seems to bring out the best in the Boston Bruins, even if they were down a Charlie McAvoy.
• That said I’m gonna need that penalty kill to be a point of pain for practice. It got better over the course of the game but that early kill was gross out front.
• Nikita Zadorov kiiiiinda got a borderline hit in on Scott Laughton, and then promptly got a free fight win after Bobby McMann decided to go ahead and defend the honor of this apparently load-bearing 4th liner the Leafs can’t keep totally healthy. Valiant effort, but there’s all sorts of valiant efforts in fights; You only get credit for going the distance or winning.
• Hey, Mason Lohrei? Good night for you. Genuinely great night for you. This is the kind of thing you should be doing if you wanna be a mainstay in the Bruins lineup. Watch what you did here tonight for reference material. Two assists on top of it all was just gravy.
• Regarding Michael Eyssimont’s goal tonight…I dunno if that really counted as a goal, but I will take it. Frankly I’m amazed we didn’t have the shot from inside the goal itself right behind Stolarz to confirm it shown on the broadcast. That’s just gonna let Toronto fans continue to believe their team is uniquely cursed and hated by the league.
• Pasta with a highlight reel goal for 399, absolutely carving two of the Leafs finer qualities if you take them in isolate. This naturally means 400 is gonna be some rebound pop-in or a deflection that garners no real fanfare.
• Toronto and letting former Leafs score on them. A tradition like no other…Alex Steeves never got his though, so we’re gonna have to run him back on the 11th. Keep your skates sharp, buddy!
• Y’know if you took out the Man-disadvantage goals, Jeremy Swayman actually played a really goddamn solid game. All the goals he let up were pretty understandable given the circumstances, and critically, which has been his strength throughout his career, he tightened his game up considerably after a goal or two went in, which gave the Bruins a major advantage. Maybe a .909 SV% is disappointing, but I choose to believe he kept them in this where it counted.
  • Critically, and I feel like this bears noting: Y’wanna know what Jeremy Swayman never did over last year and into this year? One thing that he specifically has chosen to avoid doing in order to draw lots of attention to his play? Call his teammates out for playing like ass in the middle of him playing some of his worst hockey. Anthony Stolarz on the other hand? He’s almost a week out from that and has put up an .883 through alla that. That’s at least responsibility being taken.
• My last bit of slander for the night: I’m just so happy that Leafs management all went in on big and tall defenders who do no zone exits last offseason and last trade deadline. Even better, the Leafs fanbase all saw these big ol’ giraffes who hate zone exits and decided that they were actually good now. I will relish the ability to get Fraser Minten’s out of this team for as long as their collective puck knowledge remains directly in hell. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, makes me happier than a team spending more money than god on things that don’t matter and being surprised at the results because they didn’t read any fine print. They truly asked for this, and are horrified that they’re getting exactly what they asked for.
• I had to watch the CBC feed tonight, and towards the end of the game they had some real classic broadcast issues in the 3rd. Feed went to a test pattern a couple of times, audio dropped entirely multiple times, it was rough. It was also quick, which is a testament to the nameless techs and grips hard work, but still weird to have that kinda thing happen on a 2025 sports broadcast.
• 6 straight, and now they’re 2nd in the Division. If this keeps up we’re gonna have to start thinking pretty seriously about their best playoff matchups. Wouldn’t that be fun in year 1 of Marco Sturm?

Man if you liked this game in Toronto, you’re gonna love this when they play it again in Boston. The B’s play next against the same foe on 11/11. That game starts at 7pm EST.

We’ll see you there!