Maple Leafs score late in third to defeat Bruins

TORONTO-- Ron Hainsey scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:23 left to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

Toronto moved one point ahead of Boston for second place in the Atlantic Division; the Bruins have five games in hand.
"Overall this was our best game against this team by far, we were able to do a lot of the things we wanted to do," Hainsey said. "We looked like we skated, we were really moving well up the ice and we looked pretty fresh for having played five games in a week."
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Hainsey's shot from the point went past Rask's glove. The Bruins challenged for goaltender inference but the goal was upheld.
"You win some, you lose some. If we're generating more stuff around their net, maybe those calls go our way," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said when asked if he agreed with the call. "I think that was an issue tonight for us, we weren't around the front of their net enough. So no I'm not [upset], they made a good play to gain possession of the puck and got it to the net. It's up to us to be a little harder as well."
Mitchell Marner had a goal and three assists, Nazem Kadri scored twice, and Frederik Andersen made 20 saves for the Maple Leafs (39-20-5), who have won four in a row and matched their record with a ninth consecutive home win.

Brad Marchand scored twice, Jake DeBrusk scored, and Tuukka Rask made 32 saves for the Bruins (37-14-8), who had won two in a row.
"We didn't have a good game," Marchand said. "They came to play better than we did tonight. It was an unfortunate goal at the end, but we shot ourselves in the foot long before that."
Toronto trails the Tampa Bay Lightning by four points for first place in the Atlantic; the Lightning hold two games in hand.
Toronto went 3-1-0 against Boston this season.
"It's always nice to beat them, last time they handled us and I thought today we were better," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I think if we played them (in the Stanley Cup Playoffs) it would be a real good series. We like our hockey team; we think we've been getting better for a while, learning how to play the right way. So if we play hard, we have a chance to play with anybody."

Kadri tied it 3-3 on the power play with 56 seconds left in the second period when he one-timed a pass from Marner in the slot. DeBrusk deflected a pass from Ryan Spooner at the top of the crease at 1:55 to put the Bruins up 3-2.
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead 6:11 into the first period when Marchand was set up in the slot on a pass from David Pastrnak. Marner tied it 1-1 1:04 later when he took a cross-ice pass from William Nylander.
Kadri scored a power-play goal to make it 2-1 at 10:30. James van Riemsdyk deflected Marner's shot at the top of the crease to Kadri at the side of the net.
Marchand tied it 2-2 at 15:02 when he took a pass from Pastrnak, who was behind the goal line and shot short side over Andersen's shoulder.

Goal of the game

Hainsey's goal at 18:37 of the third period.

Save of the game

Andersen's save on Torey Krug at 19:49 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Kadri's goal at 19:04 of the second period.

They said it

"What happened was they were a lot better than us. We came out of the first period tied 1-1 but they were clearly the better team. I thought the gaps for our defense weren't good enough to kill some plays so we could get some transition going." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"I think we just settled down a little bit and started to communicate with each other a little better (after the first 10 minutes). That translates to making plays and not spending so much time in the defensive zone and playing more offense. Communication was there after the first 10 minutes and I felt like we poured it on." -- Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri

Need to know

Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was seen leaving the arena wearing a walking boot. There was no information provided on his condition. He played 19:15, including eight shifts for 6:48 in the third period, finishing the game on the ice. … Marner has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past eight games. He leads the Maple Leafs with 51 points, one ahead of Auston Matthews, who was scratched with a shoulder injury. … Toronto won nine a row at home from Nov. 11 to Dec. 26, 1953 and from March 6 to April 7, 2007.

What's next

Bruins: At the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; SN360, MSG-B, NESN, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SUN, SNO, NHL.TV)