TORONTO (AP) — Pavel Zacha scored twice to help the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Monday night.
Jake DeBrusk had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (36-13-14), who had dropped four of five. Morgan Geekie also scored, and David Pastrnak had three assists.
Jeremy Swayman made 32 saves for the Bruins, who are eight points ahead of the Leafs for second in the Atlantic Division.
“Big momentum game for us,” Swayman said. “Really happy with our team’s effort.”
John Tavares scored for the second straight game for Toronto (35-18-8). Joseph Woll stopped 23 shots.
The teams play again Thursday in Boston.
“A few too many mistakes,” Tavares said. “They just did a little better job around their net than we did around ours.
“Playing against a team like Boston, and games down the stretch, those are big difference makers. Margins are very small.”
The Bruins put together a solid start that included a couple of great short-handed chances on an early penalty kill. Geekie made it 1-0 at 9:43 when he redirected a Pastrnak pass for his 14th goal of the season.
Denied by Woll on a breakaway 14 seconds into the game, Zacha made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:42. It was Zacha's first goal since Feb. 8 and No. 13 on the season.
“Great first period and we didn’t stop playing,” Pastrnak said. “We bent, but we didn’t break.”
Boston, which lost 5-1 to the New York Islanders on Saturday, opened a 3-0 lead in the second. DeBrusk, who had an assist on Zacha’s goal for his first point in six games, finished a rush for his 14th goal.
Auston Matthews came close to adding to his NHL-best 53 goals on a Toronto man advantage late in the period, but his effort was cleared off the line by Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo.
The Leafs got one back 3:52 into the third when Tavares ripped his 19th upstairs on Swayman. But Zacha responded at 10:35, making it 4-1 after Pastrnak threw the puck in front.
“They played well most of the game,” Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. “We were streaky.”
The Bruins were without shutdown defenseman Hampus Lindholm for a seventh straight game with an undisclosed injury.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
Maple Leafs: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
