BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 2 - Secondary scoring lifts B’s past Leafs, Rask hits milestone

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis…

Box Score

David Pastrnak has been unstoppable: Man, what a damn shame that David Pastrnak’s hand/thumb was in a sorry state by the time the Bruins entered postseason play last spring. Because if he was operating at the level that he’s currently at, Boston may not have even needed seven games against the Blues. The 23-year-old winger continued his warpath against the rest of the NHL on Tuesday, tucking a puck past Michael Hutchinson off of a filthy, spin-around move down in the crease near the end of the first period. He was at it again in the middle stanza, setting up Brad Marchand for a tally at 6:09 with a no-look, cross-ice feed.  Now up to 39 points in his last 26 games against Toronto, Pastrnak is playing at a Hart-Trophy level of play in the early going this season — and his contributions are big reason why Boston was able to capture three out of a possible four points against the Leafs over the last four days.

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Anders Bjork likely earns another look: The Bruins’ decision to start Anders Bjork on the fourth line tonight certainly made a lot of sense, given that dependable forwards in Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner have averaged around 14-15 minutes a night so far this season — with Bjork likely to receive a similar workload while asked to play a simplified, north-south game. 



It wasn’t the strongest showing for the winger, but he put together a strong enough sample size to warrant another look — landing four shots on goal during his 13:17 of ice time. Still, the Bjork-Kuraly-Wagner line labored on Tuesday night, with the B’s out-attempted, 11-6, during its 10:33 of 5v5 TOI. Given the fact that another winger vying for the same minutes as Bjork in Brett Ritchie also lit the lamp on Tuesday night – it might signal another trek down to Providence for Bjork once the likes of David Krejci and Joakim Nordstrom return. But postgame, the Bruins announced that Karson Kuhlman will miss at least the next four weeks due to a hairline non-displaced fracture of his right tibia — which opens another vacancy on the top six for at least the foreseeable future. As such, look for Bjork to stick around through at least Saturday night — if not longer.

Secondary scoring breaks through: With Krejci, Kuhlman and Nordstrom all ruled out of Tuesday’s game due to injury, Bruce Cassidy had to cut his losses when it came to his lineup — with a third-line trio of Danton Heinen, Par Lindholm and David Backes essentially used as spare parts with just 6:00 of 5v5 ice time logged together. But even with both the second and third lines thrown into a blender, the B’s still managed to break through outside of their big guns on Tuesday, with Brett Ritchie and Lindholm scoring the final two goals of the evening to help Boston come away with the 4-2 victory over Toronto. Even if the Lindholm line was used sparingly, the pivot still managed to strike at the conclusion of a PK shift, capping off a 2-on-1 rush with Sean Kuraly to close out the scoring — while Ritchie gave Boston the lead for good a little over 10 minutes earlier by driving to the net alongside Jake DeBrusk. 

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With so many injuries, it hasn’t always been pretty for Boston when it comes to getting consistent production out of its bottom three lines — but these hodgepodge combinations are getting it done, for now.

TWO UP

David Pastrnak: A regular entrant on this part of our game report so far this year, Pastrnak didn’t let an overturned goal due to offsides discourage him much on Tuesday night, as he orchestrated one of the most impressive tallies of his standout career just minutes later to open the scoring for Boston at 17:15 in the first. Since the 1967-68 season, there have been four occasions in which a Bruins skater has been the first player in the NHL to reach the 10-goal mark:

Pastrnak (Oct. 22, 2019)
Charlie Simmer (Oct. 22, 1985)
Phil Esposito (Oct. 30, 1974)
Phil Esposito (Oct. 25, 1973)

Tuukka Rask: On a night in which Rask became 72nd netminder to log at least 500 games in net, the B’s goalie kept a potent Maple Leafs offense relatively in check, stopping 28 of the 30 shots that came his way on the night. Rask, also just the 27th goalie to hit that 500-games mark with one organization, is now 4-0-1 on the year with a .944 save percentage. 

TWO DOWN

David Backes: Once again, Backes seems to be a man without a line out there on the ice, as the veteran only logged 7:13 of ice time in Tuesday’s victory. Through five games, Backes is averaging just 9:07 of ice time and has yet to record a point. 

Sean Kuraly: Even if he helped set up Lindholm’s goal in the third with a strong drive to the net, the fourth-line center left quite a bit to be desired on the night. Along with his line’s poor showing when it comes to shot share, Kuraly was also knocked for a pair of giveaways against the Maple Leafs. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

I mean, what else did you think it was going to be? 

Just complete filth from No. 88. 

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PARTING THOUGHTS

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will have the next three days off before revisiting an old foe in the St. Louis Blues — who will return to TD Garden for the first time since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday night.