McElhinney makes 38 saves, Maple Leafs top Bruins

BOSTON -- Curtis McElhinney made 38 saves, and three players had two points to help the Toronto Maple Leafs extend their winning streak to four games with a 4-1 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.

Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Rielly each had a goal and an assist for Toronto (12-7-0), which was without center Auston Matthews for the third straight game because of an upper-body injury. Patrick Marleau scored an empty-net goal to help complete the sweep of the home-and-home; the Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 3-2 in overtime at Air Canada Centre on Friday.
\[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins highlights\]
"Any time you get four wins in a week, it's a good week, so, good for us," coach Mike Babcock said.
Frank Vatrano scored, and Tuukka Rask made 21 saves for Boston (6-6-4), which has lost three games in a row (0-2-1) for the first time this season.
"You need points. [Friday] night, we're a minute away and couldn't close," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said, referring to van Riemsdyk's tying goal in Toronto. "Tonight, we were there. If you continue to play hard, things will go your way."
Marner intercepted Brandon Carlo's outlet pass and beat Rask with a wrist shot high to the glove side for a 1-0 lead at 8:52 of the first period.
Seven seconds after Carlo was called for hooking Matt Martin, van Riemsdyk extended the lead to 2-0 with a tip-in goal on the power play at 14:16.

Vatrano deflected Torey Krug's shot from the left point at the hash marks to beat McElhinney at 15:18 and cut the Maple Leafs lead to 2-1.
Toronto was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, including 3-for-3 in the third period, when Boston had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:07.
"I thought the guys did a real good job in that area," Babcock said. "They play their big line lots, and they play a lot [Friday] night, so then as the game goes on when you're playing guys, it's hard. So both teams probably a little bit fatigued and that affects probably the power play more than the penalty kill."
Rielly scored on a shot from the left point that changed direction at least once before getting past Rask at 6:52 to put the Maple Leafs ahead 3-1. Marleau scored into the empty net at 18:13 to make it 4-1.

Goal of the game

Marner's top-shelf wrist shot 8:52 into the game.

Save of the game

McElhinney's right-pad save on Krug at 4:37 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

McElhinney sprawled to stop Brad Marchand's backhand from in tight at 15:20 of the second period.

They said it

"I remember just since I've been in the League, actually, [Boston has] been a tough team to play against, and it's one of those measuring-stick type games, just because, again, they're always right there in the mix for everything. These are always fun games to play in. When I first got here, it's wasn't always really going our way necessarily against these guys, and now we've been able to string a few [wins] together." -- Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk on winning six consecutive games against the Bruins
"[Toronto goalie Curtis McElhinney] was great. Like I said before, we have a lot of faith in him. He's always there when you need him, and tonight was another example of that. He was great and he made it easy for us to go back and get pucks. Good job by him." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly
"I was kind of the Achilles' heel tonight with my mistakes. If I didn't make those, we probably would be ahead in those areas. It's unfortunate, but maybe next time we'll get a good bounce and my mistakes will be covered." -- Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo, whose giveaway led to Toronto's first goal and who screened Rask on the Maple Leafs' third goal

Need to know

Rielly extended his point streak to four games, the longest of his NHL career. He has five points (one goal, four assists) during the streak. ... Krug extended his point streak to seven games with an assist on Vatrano's goal. He has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during the streak.

What's next

Maple Leafs: Host the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, MSG, NHL.TV)
Bruins: At the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; SN360, PRIME, NESN, NHL.TV)