Marchand gets first goal of season to lift Bruins to OT win over Maple Leafs

BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand scored his first goal of the season 2:26 into overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak had a power-play goal, and Justin Brazeau and Mark Kastelic scored 36 seconds apart later in the second period for Boston. It was the Bruins’ eighth consecutive regular season against Toronto.

Auston Matthews tipped in Mitch Marner’s shot from the point, tying it with 1:17 left in regulation for the Maple Leafs. Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly also scored for Toronto, which has lost three straight.

It was the teams’ first meeting since Boston knocked out Toronto in Game 7 of the opening round of the playoffs last spring.

Takeaways

Maple Leafs: Their defensemen had a couple of breakdowns deep in their own end, which led to Boston’s two quick scores in the second period. For a team that’s struggling to score early in this season, they can’t give up easy chances.

Bruins: For the first time in his coaching career with Boston, Jim Montgomery entered the game with a losing record during a season. In 2022-23, his first as their coach, the Bruins opened 17-2-0 and last year they started 9-0-1.

Key moment

Matthews made a bad clearing pass, and Pastrnak and Marchand went hard to the net, with Marchand flipping a backhander in for the winner.

Key stat

Marchand had not scored a goal in the first eight games of a season for the first time since his second season in the league, 2010-11, when he also scored in the ninth game. He also assisted on Pastrnak’s power-play goal in the second period.

Up next

The Maple Leafs visit Winnipeg on Monday, and the Bruins host Philadelphia on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl