Maple Leafs win game, beat Bruins, lose Samsonov

Another beautiful game from the Leafs.

The Boston Bruins. Man, I hate the Boston Bruins.

Tonight Denis Malgin played his 200th regular season game and Rasmus Sandin hit number 100.

The game didn’t start flashy, didn’t make anyone get excited. Denis Malgin tried to get the scoring opened in his big night, but Linus Ullmark kept him off the scoresheet.

Auston Matthews came close to a fluke goal.

The Leafs put the pressure on the Bruins and force the Bruins to collapse around the net, but they can’t build enough of a wall around the net as Matthews tucks it around Ullmark and the post after a nice kick pass from Michael Bunting.

Timothy Liljegren is fitting in well with this game, having a give away, and then lies in front of the goal to help block a Bruins offensive chance. Samsonov is able to make the save and get the whistle on that one.

The Maple Leafs are having a great game, continuing the excellent play we saw on Wednesday night against the Flyers. Denis Malgin is getting physical, not too many silly mistakes, and all against the Bruins!

David Pastrňák fumbles around with the puck and misses a great chance to tie the game, and the 10-1 Bruins aren’t playing like a team who came out of the game blowing away the competition. They’re still getting away with nonsense from the refs though, so at last there’s some consistency.

The Leafs don’t let up in the first period for a second after scoring that goal. Alex Kerfoot has a couple nice chances, John Tavares is another almost, and Sandin just wants to hit people, not the puck.

The first period ends with the Maple Leafs up 1-0, and leading in shots 11-7.

John Tavares opens the second period with an almost goal, he’s looking to continue scoring like he did on his hat-trick night against the Flyers.

Linus Ullmark is getting a work out.

John Tavares is called for lightly tapping slashing Jakub Zboril, and on the Bruins power play Brad Marchand is tripped on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot. He scores the goal and gets his 800th career point in the process. The rest of the power play is not effective for the Bruins, and they don’t get a goal.

Poor Samsonov just slipped and fell over.

Game is tied at ones.

The Maple Leafs don’t get down because of that goal, they don’t let up and continue to pressure the Bruins offensively. The Bruins want to build off that goal, get the lead, but can’t get anything past Samsonov when he’s on his feet.

Jake DeBrusk gets called for holding TJ Brodie and William Nylander comes out to force his way into the Bruins zone and perfectly sets up Auston Matthews for the Leafs second goal of the night.

2-1 Maple Leafs!

Auston Matthews goes for the hat trick, it’s stopped by Ullmark and when Bunting goes for the rebound Connor Clifton ross checks him, giving the Leafs a power play with six seconds left in the second period.

2-1 Maple Leafs after two, they also lead in shots 26-14.

Oh, also, Leafs, maybe keep your sticks to yourselves.

We start the third period with some good news!

Erik Källgren takes the Leafs net, and has the responsibility to keep the lead for 20 more minutes. Hopefully the Leafs can keep they play as high as it’s been all night to help him out.

The Bruins kill off their penalty, and then trip Rasmus Sandin to give the Leafs another go with the man advantage. The PK does a very good jo of keeping the Leafs from being able to set up any quality shots, and it ends without a goal.

The Leafs pushed hard for a goal, but couldn’t and the Bruins also tried to score, and couldn’t. Look, I’m not a very good analyst. But! The Leafs do work hard to help out Källgren.

John Tavares is called for interference with Brad Marchand, a few people call dive, but not the refs. The Maple Leafs kill off the penalty with ease, minus one close call, and John Tavares jumps out of the box but they can’t complete the play to get the go ahead goal.

Rasmus Sandin checks DeBrusk hard into the end boards and is called for boarding, so another Bruins power play is on deck.

The Bruins are able to set up on the power play more than they were in past opportunities, but the Leafs PK is sliding and reaching all over the ice to takeaway any chance they have or scoring. the penalty expires with the Bruins shooting all around the Leafs net, but Källgren makes the necessary save and the crowd cheers the overworked Leafs penalty kill.

The Bruins are getting most of the offensive time as the game clock ticks down, lots of great defensive plays by the Leafs to defend the lead and the Bruins are getting frustrated that they can’t get a clean shot on net.

The crowd is on it’s feet for the final few minutes as the Bruins have the Leafs trapped in their own zone, sending shot after shot on net, but the Leafs play great defense, and Källgren standing tall.

The Maple Leafs hold on to their 2-1 lead, handing the Boston Bruins their second loss of the year. The Maple Leafs played one of their best game sin recent memory against the Bruins, their best game of this season, and impressively for the second game in a row.

We’ll wait and see how Samsonov is, but the Leafs have a quick turnaround, playing in Carolina tomorrow at 5PM against the Hurricanes.

Hopefully there’s no serious injury, and the Leafs can continue their impressive play on the road.

See you all tomorrow, and Go Leafs Go!