TORONTO — Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
B’s lose Kevan Miller to injury: Like clockwork, the Bruins’ blue line lost yet another key cog just as players like Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy inch closer to a return. Just ahead of the Maple Leafs’ opening tally by Travis Dermott in the first, a shot by John Tavares ricocheted off of Kevan Miller’s stick and appeared to catch him in the neck, with the veteran defenseman heading down the tunnel and missing the rest of the game.
At look at the play that forced Kevan Miller to miss the end of the first period. Weird bounce off the initial shot by Tavares. pic.twitter.com/jo7vwKV8XS
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 27, 2018
The Bruins officially ruled out Miller at the end of the second period due to an upper-body injury. Since coming back from a broken hand that knocked him out of game action for 13 games, Miller was a force back on the blue line, averaging an absurd 24:14 in his last four games before going down with an injury.
Postgame,
Bruce Cassidy
noted that Miller will remain in a Toronto-area hospital overnight for observation, but X-rays were negative.
Frustrating final:
Boston finished the contest with a 40-31 edge in shots on goal, while the power play peppered
Frederik Andersen
with six shots on goal over two stints on the man advantage. In total, Boston held the edge in attempts, 89-64.
A microcosm of the game came in the second period, just after Boston failed to convert on a power play in which
Brad Marchand
could not curve a wraparound backhand feed past an open Leafs net before later ringing one off the post.
Just 18 seconds later,
Mitch Marner
generated Toronto’s counter, setting up a score from
Igor Ozhiganov
, with the defenseman’s shot deflecting off of
John Moore
’s leg and past
Jaroslav Halak.
With
Auston Matthews
nearing a return from a shoulder injury and
William Nylander
needing to make a decision on his contract by this Saturday, taking down the Leafs is only going to be harder from here for the Black and Gold.
THREE UP
David Pastrnak:
While
David Krejci
and
Jake DeBrusk
have carried the B’s offense for most of the team’s recent point streak, Pastrnak finally snapped his scoring slump against a team that he’s picked apart for an extended stretch now. Pastrnak’s tallied a pair in the second stanza, the first off a one-timer on the power play and the second generated off of a crisp feed from
Torey Krug
at the point. In his last 11 games against the Maple Leafs (including playoffs), Pastrnak has tallied 11 goals and added 11 assists. Yeeeesh.
Patrick Marleau:
The elder statesmen of the Maple Leafs was recognized during the first media timeout on Monday — earning a standing ovation from the crowd at Scotiabank Arena in what was his 1,600th career NHL game. Marleau also earned a stick tap from the Bruins for the honor, with only 10 players (
Gordie Howe, Mark Messier, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Mark Recchi, Chris Chelios, Dave Andreychuk, Scott Stevens, Larry Murphy
and
Ray Bourque
) reaching the milestone before Marleau. Not too shabby.
Colby Cave:
Cave responded well after getting bumped up to Boston’s top line, posting a Corsi-For Percentage of 63.41 in 14:48 of five-on-five play. Following a sluggish outing from
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson
, look for Cave to get a few more looks in the middle between Pastrnak and Marchand.
TWO DOWN
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson:
The search to find Patrice Bergeron’s replacement (alright, it’s probably not fair to list anyone as a pure “replacement”) continues for the B’s, as Forsbacka Karlsson was bumped down to the third line at the start of the second period after another listless stretch from the B’s top line. “JFK” finished with just 10:58 TOI with a 45.00 CF%.
Anders Bjork:
Given a chance to get back on track after getting scratched the previous two games, Bjork struggled in his return to the lineup, logging just 9:19 TOI on an ineffective third line. Bjork also was whistled for a trip on Tyler Ennis in the closing minutes of the second period that led to the eventual game-winning goal from
Josh Leivo
.
PLAY OF THE GAME:
This pass by @ToreyKrug though, David Pastrnak with his 2nd of the game #NHLBruins trail 3-2 after 2 pic.twitter.com/J3e7dh10bV
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) November 27, 2018
LOOKING AHEAD
The Black and Gold will return home on Thursday for a matchup against the New York Islanders. Rick Middleton will get his No. 16 jersey immortalized in the TD Garden rafters ahead of puck drop, with the ceremony scheduled on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.