BOSTON (AP) — Matt Grzelcyk scored the tiebreaking goal with 76 seconds left to give Boston a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and prevent the Bruins from losing back-to-back games for the first time all season.
Toronto led 1-0 and 2-1 before Boston took its first lead at 3-2 on A.J Greer’s goal midway through the second period. But Auston Matthews, returning from an undisclosed injury that cost him two games, tied it for Toronto early in the third.
It stayed that way until Grzelcyk slapped the puck through a screen and into the net. Toronto goalie Matt Murray complained that he had been interfered with, but there was no challenge.
Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak also scored for Boston, and Linus Ullmark stopped 18 shots. The Bruins have the NHL’s best record — 11 points ahead of Atlantic Division rival Toronto.
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The Maple Leafs had beaten Boston four straight, dating to before the pandemic.
Michael Bunting and Pierre Engvall also scored for the Maple Leafs, and Murray made 30 saves.
NEW DEAL
After the game, the Bruins announced they signed Pavel Zacha to a four-year extension with an annual cap hit of $4.75 million. Zacha, 25, has five goals and 20 assists this season.
Zacha spent the first seven years of his career with New Jersey, which picked him sixth overall in the 2015 draft, before he was traded to Boston last summer for Erik Haula. Zacha has 74 goals and 130 assists in his career.
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FIGHT NIGHT
Boston’s Nick Foligno and
BOSTON (AP) — Matt Grzelcyk scored the tiebreaking goal with 76 seconds left to give Boston a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and prevent the Bruins from losing back-to-back games for the first time all season. Toronto led 0 and 1 before Boston took its first lead at 2 on A.J Greer’s goal midway through the second period. But Auston Matthews, returning from an undisclosed injury that cost him two games, tied it for Toronto early in the third.
