BOSTON (AP) — Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle scored in the shootout and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Thursday night.
DeBrusk and Paval Zacha scored in regulation for the Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 9-0-1 record. Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves.
Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov stopped 38 shots.
Toronto forward William Nylander extended his season-opening, franchise-record point streak to 10 games. He was credited with an assist on the Maple Leafs goal that tied the game in the second period after Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins, who have not lost in regulation this season, opened the scoring at 18:51 of the first when Charlie Carlo centered a pass from the right circle and Zacha finished in the slot for his third goal in as many games. Boston defenseman Mason Lohrei, a 22-year-old making his NHL debut, was also credited with an assist.
Boston doubled its lead in the opening minutes of the second period when Marchand had the first chance and DeBrusk scored his first goal of the season.
The momentum then shifted and Toronto evened the score at 2 heading into the third. Marner made a nice move to free himself before getting off a wrister that got Toronto on the board at 6:31 of the second. The equalizer came 63 seconds later as a turnover in the Boston zone led to Matthews sending a shot past Swayman.
The Bruins went to overtime for the third time in four games and made quick work of the Maple Leafs in the shootout, as Swayman stopped both shots he faced.
Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren was ruled out for a return with a lower body injury that he sustained on a hit from Marchand late in the first period.
Boston played its first game without No. 1 defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was suspended four games by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson during Monday’s game.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.
Bruins: At Detroit on Saturday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Brendan Mcgair, The Associated Press
