The Toronto Maple Leafs went into TD Garden on Tuesday night and had no business leaving with two points.
It was all thanks to Pontus Holmberg tying the game 4-4 with under a minute left, and then Mitch Marner called ‘game’ with an overtime breakaway winner. It capped off an ugly night for the Maple Leafs, but they still stole two points from their rival Boston Bruins. Marner’s OT winner was his second of the night as he really loves playing hockey in Boston these days:
The Maple Leafs didn’t start on time and paid for it. 29 seconds into the game, Bruins forward David Pastrnak found his way behind the a sprawling Jake McCabe and past Chris Tanev, in all alone on Anthony Stolarz, and very quickly the Leafs were behind the eight ball 1-0.
The early frustration didn’t end there, as the usual suspects were out, as Brad Marchand tapped one in on the door step with just under six minutes left in the opening frame to make it 2-0. The puck hit McCabe in the face and sat pretty for Marchand to tap it in, which was a horrible bounce, but unfortunately McCabe’s night was a rough one from there filled with bad reads, costly turnovers, and worst of all, he lost his defense partner Chris Tanev to an upper-body injury.
Tanev left the game early on in the first period and did not return. Everyone is holding their breath hoping it’s nothing serious as Tanev’s the Leafs’ most important defenseman. McCabe’s going to need to bounce back quick if Tanev is unavailable Friday against the Rangers.
Speaking of the Leafs’ blueline, Morgan Rielly recorded his 500th career NHL point when he cut the Bruins’ lead to 3-1 at the 13:52 mark of the second frame. Rielly showed of his traditional wrist shot and it bounced in off a leg in front, and behind Bruins’ netminder Jeremy Swayman:
Rielly’s 501st point came on a beautiful outlet pass to spring Nick Robertson, who took care of the rest, wristing one past Swayman glove side. Robertson’s heating up with three goals in his last two games, and he’s up to 11 on the year. It will be interesting to see how things shake up for him before the trade deadline March 7, and if he stays in Toronto, who his linemates will be post-deadline.
The Maple Leafs came into the game the heavy favorites against a vulnerable Bruins’ lineup but for most of the game they hung Stolarz out to dry, and somehow found a way to grind it out in the end. They owe Stolarz huge for his performance, and ability to keep them in the game.
Craig Berube’s team can get away with this type of game in February, but he’ll be preaching to clean it up down the stretch. The one good thing is it doesn’t appear likely a run to the Stanley Cup will go through Boston this season for the Maple Leafs.
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