TORONTO, ONTARIO – The Bruins were hoping to continue their road success to open the season while still missing their best player, Patrice Bergeron, when they took in the Auston Matthews Show in Toronto on Saturday.
As it turned out Matthews didn’t factor into the game, but the cracks began to show with a team that’s clearly missing No. 37 as they fell by a 4-1 score to the Maple Leafs amid their celebration for the 100th anniversary. Anton Khudobin allowed three goals on the first seven shots of the game while starting in place of Tuukka Rask, and the Bruins could only scrape for one goal after handing the Leafs a three-spot at the start of the game.
The only score for the Bruins arrived on the power play at the end of the first period as Brad Marchand, of course, was at the center of everything with a nifty pass off the half-wall to a trailing John-Michael Liles. Liles fed David Pastrnak off the rush, and the 20-year-old scored his third goal of the season while roofing a shot on Frederik Andersen.
That was it for the Black and Gold, however, as Connor Brown scored amid a scrum in front just 2:14 into the first period, and Toronto scored two more goals in 67 seconds to knock the wind right out of the Bruins. While Matthews ending up going scoreless in the game, it was fellow Leafs rookie Mitch Marner that put on a show with a sizzling wrist shot past Khudobin for his first NHL goal and a tripping penalty drawn on the B’s goalie in the second period after another energetic shift.
The Bruins finish up their three-game odyssey to start the season with a Monday night tilt at the Winnipeg Jets before readying for their own home opener at TD Garden.