Maple Leafs slip past Bruins 6-5
BOSTON -- Rookie William Nylander had three goals and James van Riemsdyk scored with 1:36 remaining to send Toronto to a wild 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, ending the Maple Leafs' three-game losing streak.
The young Leafs blew leads of 4-1 and 5-4 before van Riemsdyk beat Bruins backup goaltender Zane McIntrye just 1:18 after Patrice Bergeron tied the score with a power-play goal. Van Riemsdyk untied it with his 19th goal of the season.
The win was the third in as many tries for the Maple Leafs over the Bruins this season. Toronto has scored 14 goals in the three games.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen was the winner in all three and is 7-0 lifetime against Boston.
Nylander notched his first NHL hat trick as the Leafs chased starting goalie Tuukka Rask with four goals on 14 shots in just over half the game. McIntyre (0-4-1) relieved and wound up as the loser. Had he won, it would have marked the second victory of the season by a Bruins goalie other than Rask.
Rookie Auston Mathews had three assists and fellow rookie Mitch Marner two for the Leafs (24-17-9).
David Pastrnak posted two goals and an assist for Boston, Bergeron had a goal and two assists, Zdeno Chara added three assists, and Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug delivered a goal and assist apiece.
The Bruins, dropping their second straight (11 goals against) fell to 12-13 at home and lead Toronto by just one point in the standings – the Leafs with five games in hand.
Andersen made 36 saves and improved to 22-11-6.
After the Leafs took a 5-4 lead on rookie Connor Brown's first goal in nine games with 4:45 left, the Bruins (26-23-6) went on the power play and Bergeron converted a rebound of a Torey Krug shot with 2:54 remaining to re-tie the score.
The Bruins completed their three-goal comeback from 4-1 down when Spooner converted a Chara rebound 10:06 into the third period -- the first goal in 17 games for Spooner.
The three-goal eruption chased Rask 10:17 into the second period. McIntyre took over and the Bruins struck back 38 seconds later when Pastrnak tapped home a short report for his second of the game and third since Dec. 14.
Pastrnak opened the scoring on Boston's first shot, taking a pass from Patrice Bergeron and beating Andersen at 2:17. The Leafs challenged the goal for an offside call, but replays showed it was inconclusive and the goal stood.
The Leafs scored the next four goals before Pastrnak and Krug answered.
A scramble around the Toronto net in the closing seconds of the period resulted in the puck going in -- but after the horn.
NOTES: Bruins G Tuukka Rask and C Patrice Bergeron, both injured at Washington Wednesday night, played Saturday. ... Leafs C Auston Matthews came in dealing with a bit of the rookie wall, with two goals and two assists in the last 11 games. "I think that's part of it for sure," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "The other thing is the better you play, the harder they play. I imagine tonight, (David) Krejci and Bergeron and those guys know who he is, so they're going to play hard against him." ... Leafs LW James van Riemsdyk played in his 300th NHL game. ... The Leafs close their four-game trip at the New York Islanders on Monday night. The Bruins continue a four-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.