Music: {allcanada} Maple Leafs finally beat Bruins

Saturday, March 23, 2013

{allcanada} Maple Leafs finally beat Bruins

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs made the most of their 13 shots, scoring once in each period to beat Boston 3-2 on Saturday night and end their eight-game losing streak to the Bruins.

The Bruins did almost everything right -- they dominated play for most of the evening and outshot Toronto 33-13. But the Maple Leafs scored an early goal in each period and hung on in the final minutes after the Bruins cut a three-goal deficit to one.

Toronto had dropped its last eight meetings with Boston -- all in regulation -- since a 4-3 shootout victory on March 31, 2011.

Red-hot Nazem Kadri, Mikhail Grabovski and Frazer McLaren scored for Toronto, with McLaren's goal 1:34 into the final period turning out to be the game-winner after defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference scored for Boston.

James Reimer turned in a superb 31-save effort for the Leafs. Anton Khudobin surrendered three goals on just 11 shots before being lifted after McLaren's goal made it 3-0.

Kadri, coming off consecutive three-point games, opened the scoring 4:58 into the game by going top shelf to the short side on Khudobin. Clarke MacArthur threaded a pass from just inside the blue line through Brad Marchand and Seidenberg, catching Kadri in stride at the left circle. The goal was Kadri's 14th, tying him for the team lead with James van Riemsdyk.

Kadri now has a four-game point streak in which he has three goals and six assists.

John-Michael Liles earned the secondary assist by getting the puck up ice after a Boston turnover in the neutral zone. He left the game midway through the second period with a lower-body injury after getting his legs taken out from under him by Daniel Paille at the far boards in the Leafs zone. The injury forced coach Randy Carlyle to play with only five defenseman for the second half of the game.

The Bruins outshot Toronto 11-4 in the opening period but could not beat Reimer. With five minutes remaining in the period, Paille had the goaltender prone but wasn't able to gain full control of the puck to sweep it in from the side of the net after Gregory Campbell's initial shot created a scramble in the crease. Reimer also denied Nathan Horton twice on excellent chances just before the horn.

Grabovski took advantage of a broken play to make it 2-0 at 2:52 of the second period. He made a nice move around Milan Lucic to gain the Bruins zone but then was unable to get away a clean pass after fooling Matt Bartkowski by pulling up at the right circle instead of rushing to the net. After his two attempts to center the puck failed, Grabovski ripped a shot on net and beat Khudobin low to the far side for his eighth goal of the season.

Ryan Hamilton, who was recalled Thursday from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, was credited with an assist, his first point in two games this season and the second of his career.

The Bruins dominated the remainder of the period, outshooting the Leafs 9-5 for a 20-9 margin after two periods.

Bruins coach Claude Julien lifted Khudobin after McLaren's backhander from the edge of the crease went into the net off the goaltender's left pad 94 seconds into the final period for a 3-0 lead.

Seidenberg scored 56 seconds later to end Reimer's shutout bid. Boston came in waves for most of the rest of the period and got within one on Ference's sixth-attacker goal with 1:16 remaining. That set up a wild flurry in the final minute, but the Bruins couldn't get another puck past Reimer.

Prior to the game, the Maple Leafs welcomed back Mats Sundin, their career leader in goals and points. He dropped the puck for a ceremonial faceoff to honor his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2012. Fans gave him a rousing ovation that was preceded by a video tribute.