Highlights from the Bruins' 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs

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FINAL SCORE: Bruins 6, Maple Leafs 3

FROM JOE HAGGERTY:

1. Good job by Brandon Carlo stepping up and dropping the gloves with Nazem Kadri in front of the Boston net. Carlo is obviously the bigger and stronger player, and he got the better of the brawl between the two players. The Bruins could use a little more nasty like that from Carlo on a regular basis, particularly with Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller both out of the lineup. But in gener,al the Bruins could use more mean and snarling play from the 6-foot-5 Carlo, who has the strength and the size to do it for the Black and Gold. It’s just a matter of getting the mild-mannered, pleasant big D-man into the kind of mood where he’s ready to throw down.  

2. Danton Heinen finally snapped out of an extended offensive funk as he scored a goal and collected two points along with a plus-2 rating in snapping a 12-game pointless streak. It was also a 12-game goal-scoring drought as well. Heinen was active as he’s been all season with four shots on net and six shot attempts overall and he ended up scoring on a great feed from Ryan Donato that hit him in stride with the puck. Heinen dangled through a couple of Maple Leafs defenders and then flipped a puck over Frederik Andersen for his third goal of the season.

3. Good goal by JFK getting to net-front and redirecting a David Pastrnak pass at the Leafs net in the first period. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson then crashed the net and poked home the second chance rebound through the short side for his third goal of the season. All of the rookie center’s goals this season have arrived as a result of him crashing the net, so you would hope he continues to do that while seeing the fruits of his labor. It’s the one area of the game where the Bruins want to see the youngster consistently more engaged and proactive looking for his offense as he was around the net again vs. Toronto. 

4. A scary incident with Charlie McAvoy in his second game from a concussion as he’s leveled with a late, dirty elbow from Zach Hyman in the corner of the Boston zone. McAvoy was in his just his second back from a concussion after missing the previous 20 games, and the Leafs forward made certain he went right after him in the garbage time of the third period. That’s exactly the kind of plays that we’ve seen other teams make against the Bruins where they’re unafraid to go after Boston’s best players with dangerous, reckless hits before there is no price to be paid. One just hopes McAvoy is okay after playing very well with a plus-4 in 18:36 of ice time before leaving the game. The good news is he returned to the bench for the final minutes of the third even though he didn’t get into the game.

5. I’m not going to lie. The Bruins are playing much, much better than I thought they were going to tonight. They’re playing physical and pushing the Leafs around, they’re burying some offensive chances and they’re enjoying some really strong special teams play while also getting an extremely good effort from Jaroslav Halak. I did not see this coming from the injury ravaged B’s unit. They also got big offensive contributions from players like Ryan Donato and Danton Heinen that haven’t been consistent this season, and that kind of contribution can make them a much better team. 

HIGHLIGHTS

JFK TAPS IT IN

BACKES MAKES IT 2-0

CARLO VS KADRI

KRUG ADDS ANOTHER

HEINEN DEKES AND SCORES

HYMAN'S LATE HIT ON MCAVOY

KREJCI ADDS SOME INSURANCE

DONATO GETS ONE OF HIS OWN

MATTHEWS TALLIES LEAFS' THIRD

BRUINS RECORD: 15-10-4

BOX SCORE.

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THURSDAY: at Senators, 5:00 p.m. (NESN)

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