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Top guns: Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron lead Bruins to win over Leafs 03.07.13 at 9:38 pm ET
By Mike Petraglia

Tyler Seguin leaps over Clarke MacArthur (16) after scoring the go-ahead goal in Boston's win over Toronto Thursday night at TD Garden. (AP)

Tyler Seguin set up the game’s first goal with a powerful offensive rush and scored the go-ahead tally as the Bruins avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season with a 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs Thursday night at TD Garden. Anton Khudobin got the start in net and stopped 25-of-27 shots for the Bruins (15-3-3), who also managed to stay ahead of the surprising Maple Leafs (15-10-0) in the Northeast Division. Boston has 33 points while the Leafs have 30, with the Bruins enjoying four games in hand on Toronto.

Seguin added his second goal of the night on an empty-net tally with 14.8 seconds left to provide the final score.

Before getting on the board first, the Bruins had several chances in close on Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens. Chris Kelly was denied on a backhander in front. The puck bounced out to Rich Peverley, who couldn’t control the loose puck to put it into the open net. Jay Pandolfo also had a chance on the same shift but was stopped by Scrivens.

It was Pandolfo’s first game filling in on the third line, as Chris Bourque was placed on waivers earlier in the day. The Bruins and Leafs appeared to be headed for a scoreless first period when Seguin picked up a loose puck in front of the Toronto bench and split two defenders. He skated in on Scrivens, who made the initial stop but couldn’t contain the rebound. Patrice Bergeron was there to put in the rebound between the legs on a backhander to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 52.3 seconds left in the first.

The Bruins led after 20 minutes, extending their shutout streak over the Leafs to 146 minutes, 47 seconds, which spanned a pair of shutout wins last season and on Feb. 2. The Leafs finally broke through when David Krejci lost a puck in the offensive zone, leading to an odd-man break on a 4-on-4 situation. Nazem Kadri finished off the rush with his 11th goal of the season at 2:32 of the second, ending the shutout streak at 149 minutes, 19 seconds.

But the rest of the second period belonged to the Bruins. Bergeron took control of the puck in the neutral zone and fed Brad Marchand down the left wing. Marchand found Seguin rushing down the right wing and fed him with a circle-to-circle pass. Seguin beat Scrivens for a 2-1 lead at 7:11 for the go-ahead tally. Over the last nine games, the Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin line has 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points, with 15 of those points coming in last three games.

Khudobin was big several times in the first and second period, including pad saves on Tyler Bozak in each period.

The Bruins made it 3-1 when the Krejci line finally broke through. Andrew Ference fired a shot from the high slot. Scrivens couldn’t contain the rebound and Krejci was there with the backhander into the open net for a two-goal lead after 40 minutes.

The Leafs made it a one-goal game when Mikhail Grabovski skated to the middle of the left circle and fired a shot through a screen that Khudobin never saw until it was past him and in the net with 5:08 left in regulation. The Bruins had a great chance in the final two minutes to restore their two-goal lead but Scrivens stopped a Bergeron slap shot in close before Seguin’s second goal of the night.

The Bruins helped their cause by killing off all three Toronto power plays, including a brief 5-on-3 in the first period. The Bruins have killed off 79-of-86 penalties this season, good for an NHL-best 91.8 percent rate.

The Bruins are off Friday before hosting the Flyers Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. For more from DJ Bean, Mike Petraglia and the WEEI.com team at the Garden, visit the Bruins team page at weei.com/bruins.

Read More: Anton Khudobin, Ben Scrivens, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand Print  |  Email   | Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Fab4ever

    Krejci and “give away”…they go hand in hand…what is up with this kid? Did anyone feel like the B’s were awesome tonight? I didn’t….Khudobin was very, very good….the power play…ZZZZ…make a move Chiarelli..

  • Old Time Hockey

    spewing your negativity everywhere tonight. We can’t just have a good win against a division rival anymore we have to be awesome. Toronto is a much tougher team this year. 100% better on defense

  • Hello

    So when is Horton due back? Oh, that’s really him? Sheesh. He has the slowest reaction time of any player I can remember and it’s not something new (post-concussion). It’s like a half second beat between when he should react and when he actually does. Right now he’s just kinda there, and barely even that. He’s starting to really annoy me.

    It almost seems like there’s a gentleman’s agreement between teams sometimes that one or two lines are going to coast against each other and let the other lines determine the game. It’s weird. Tonight it was Bergy and Campbell lines playing full speed. Paille is so fun to watch sometimes. Unorthodox, but if you can get Campbell power play time I think you can get Paille some too. Ugly it up a bit. Play dump and chase power play. Let Paille collect the puck, send it back to the point and then head to the net for tips. Plus he’s a better option to roll back to cover for Dougie when that’s necessary. 

    Ok that’s it. Good night, and thank you Bruins for winning.

  • Bruinman86

     He’s been hot and cold his entire career.  He needs more games against the Flyers!  He just loves to carve them up.  If the B’s make a major trade I suspect Krejci is the guy to go.  We need a sniper, especially on the PP.

  • NYCBruinsFan

    Good win, but where are the Bruins in the 3rd peroid these days?  They were lucky the Leafs didn’t tie it up with the last shot accross the middle towards the end of the game. Anton did a great job in net.  While I’m happy to see the B’s win tonight, I only wish they would have scored a PP goal when they had the two chances and not give up a goal in the 3rd.  Oh well, two points tonight.  Too bad the Habs won tonight too.  Even though they have played three more games than us, it’s disturbing to see them in 1st in the North East Division.  Oh and by the way, go UMass Lowell Chiefs too. 

  • NYCBruinsFan

    Marchand, Bergeron and Seguin ROCK!  What a great night for that line. Talk about sync and synergy. They are the best in the NHL. 

  • NYCBruinsFan

    I pray Krejci doesn’t go.  He has 18 point so far this year, tied with Seguin for 3rd.  While his entire line’s +/- isn’t great, all it takes will be for the guys to start producing like we know they can.  Great goal by him tonight.  

  • Innovator

    Part of me wants it to be a playmaking center moving Kelly to left wing…I loved the Dany Briere idea,,esp for the power play…Another part of me wants it to be Seguin centering that line,but its hard to break up he,bergy and marchand considering how well they’re playing…How good was Brian Rolston for us,,,,he’d be nice right about now.

  • Uncle Buck

    Glass half full point of view….Ference played much better, the third line was solid and the #2 goalie looked very impressive. Pandolfo did not look out of place either.  

  • Titletown1

    Lucic is getting a free pass here; he’s been absolutely invisible for most of this season.

    The B’s still need a goal scorer.

  • Fab4ever

    Not negativity…it’s a fact…and Claude confirmed what myself and a bunch of others believe…the season is getting deeper, teams are playing better…yes the Leafs are better as well but they need to tighten up…the giveaways kill….and if you read the entire post, I gave props to Khudobin..

  • Fab4ever

    That could happen…but I don’t think Krecji is endearing himself to many by his poor play lately….

  • Fab4ever

    One of the NHL Netwrok guys was mentioning that maybe Jagr might be up for grabs….I don’t know what the cap impact would be but if the B’s don’t have to mortgage the future, he’d be perfect…big, strong, veteran presence…

  • Fab4ever

    I can dig it….but Krecji is peeing away games…he scored a gimme last night…I could have put that shot in the net…2 games, 2 huge turnovers…

  • Innovator

    You know,I probably wouldn’t mind him,considering our situation….Isn’t he kind of the anti-Bruin?!

  • Bruinman86

    no, but he has proven he can get it doen in the playoffs and in the finals. So that should help the value. Still think they overpaid him.

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