Recap: Two goals from Matthews lift Leafs over Bruins, 2-1

Facing a media frenzy off the ice, the Bruins dropped just their second game of the season on it, losing 2-1 to the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

In what was a relatively tight game all around, two goals from Auston Matthews proved to be the difference, helping Toronto win their second game in a row and ending the Bruins’ seven-game winning streak.

Matthews got the scoring started midway through the first period, catching Linus Ullmark by surprise at the near post to make it 1-0 Toronto.

Five minutes into the second, Brad Marchand was hauled down on a power play breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. He didn’t miss, making it a 1-1 game.

The Leafs would respond with a PPG of their own ten minutes later, and it was Matthews again — this time with a crease-top tap-in to make it 2-1 Toronto.

Surprisingly, that was it for offense in this game, as neither team managed to score in the remaining 25ish minutes.

The Bruins did outshoot Toronto 7-2 in the third, but you’d hardly call that buzzing the cage.

Instead, the game ended as a 2-1 Leafs win, with the B’s dropping to 10-2-0 on the season.

Game notes

• The Bruins came into Saturday night’s game with the league’s most potent offense, averaging 4.17 goals per game and 34.6 shots per game. The Leafs had done a good job limiting shots this far this season (fourth-best at 27.8 per game), and did an even better job tonight, holding the B’s to just 21.
• Weirdly, the Bruins had exactly seven shots in each of the three periods. 7’s across the board are good in a casino, but not as good in a hockey game.
• Matthews deserves credit for finding that tiny bit of space, but you have to think Ullmark would like to have that first goal back.
• I can’t remember the last time I saw a team awarded a penalty shot while on the power play. Great move by Marchand to cash in.
• That goal by Marchand was the 800th point of his NHL career. Fourth-line pest, agitator, etc.
• It was an uncharacteristically quiet (especially against the Leafs) night for David Pastrnak, who landed just one shot on goal.
• David Krejci skated a shade over 17 minutes in his return from an upper-body injury, looking no worse for the wear in the process — maybe needs another game to get back to full speed, but wasn’t horrible.
• It’s pretty remarkable that we’re sitting here on November 5 (or 6, depending on when you read this) and the only Bruins losses of the season have come in the province of Ontario. Cursed province!
• As a brief aside, I noticed some of you in the Public Skate talking about Momma Mary, and how she had passed away toward the end of September. I was dealing with some pretty hectic real-life times at that point, and feel bad that I missed that news back then. MM was a huge part of this community, posting more than 19,000 (!!!) comments over the course of five years. While it’s not great to post this on a recap of a loss to the Leafs, my condolences to her family. Thank you to those who mentioned it in the comments, and hopefully we can all hoist a celebratory Jameson in her honor sometime in June 2023.

The B’s will be back in action on Monday night, when they host the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden.