Maple Leafs at Bruins
The resurgent Boston Bruins have a chance to move into third place in the Atlantic Division when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday in their final home game of the regular season. The Bruins extended their winning streak to four games by rallying for a 3-2 victory at Detroit on Thursday to move into a tie for third with the slumping Red Wings, who still hold a game in hand on Boston.
Although the Bruins' hot streak followed a six-game skid, they have earned points in nine consecutive home games (6-0-3) to move three points clear of hard-charging Ottawa. The Maple Leafs were on the verge of their first three-game winning streak since mid-December before surrendering a pair of third-period goals in a 4-3 setback at league-worst Buffalo on Wednesday night. Toronto prevailed in a shootout at Boston on New Year's Eve but has lost 22 of 23 road games since that win.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBC, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (29-43-6): Toronto's victory over Boston on Dec. 31 was memorable in that forwards Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul and Peter Holland were hurt in the game - with the former missing a week and the latter sidelined for nearly a month. “I guess you can look back and say it was a turning point in our season,” said Holland, who hopes to return to the lineup Saturday after missing three weeks. “But hindsight’s 20/20. Whether that was the cause of our downfall or not, who knows?” Tyler Bozak has three goals and three assists in the past three games.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (40-25-13): Boston entered the week sporting a 4-19-0 mark when trailing after two periods, but scored twice in the third to upend Florida before tallying three times in the final 20 minutes to knock off Detroit. “It’s great to see,” said forward Reilly Smith, who had a pair of assists Thursday. "We've got to do a better job of coming out with a little bit better effort, keeping it close. Two goals is too much in the third period to rely on that all the time." Rookie Zach Trotman described his game-winning tally - his first NHL goal - as "surreal."
OVERTIME
1. Bruins G Tuukka Rask is 10-3-1 with a 1.92 goals-against average versus Toronto.
2. Maple Leafs G Jonathan Bernier has lost seven consecutive starts .
3. F Brett Connolly, acquired at the trade deadline from Tampa Bay, collected two assists Thursday in his Boston debut.