Toronto Maple Leafs right wing William Nylander with left wing Matthew Knies after he scored during the third period at TD Garden.Winslow Townson/Reuters
Matthew Knies scored a pair of goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
Max Domi and William Nylander also scored for the Maple Leafs and John Tavares had three assists as Toronto outshot Boston 35-20 and avoided a three-game season sweep in the Original Six rivalry. Anthony Stolarz finished with 18 saves.
Elias Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy scored for Boston, which still holds the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Jeremy Swayman had 31 saves for the Bruins, who lost at home for just the second time in their last 16 games.
Stolarz was back in net for the Leafs, three days after taking a puck to the throat during warm-ups and ending up at the hospital as a precaution. Stolarz stopped Lindholm on a rebound in front early in the second period, then made a point-blank save on Morgan Geekie to keep Toronto within a goal. Stolarz came through again in the third with a nice glove save on a backhand by Viktor Arvidsson to preserve the lead.
Boston’s Nikita Zadorov was called for a major boarding penalty with 2:07 left in the second, leading to a 4-on-3 power play and Domi’s goal on a backhand that put the Leafs up 2-1. Tavares, who was driven headfirst into the boards by Zadorov, assisted on the goal.
McAvoy pulled Boston within 3-2 on a power-play goal 5:08 into the third. But Knies sealed it for Toronto with an empty-netter on the power play with 22 seconds left.
The Bruins announced late Monday that they signed 2025 first-round draft pick James Hagens from Boston College to an amateur tryout agreement and assigned him to Providence of the AHL. Boston selected the 19-year-old Hagens seventh overall in last year’s draft.
Up Next
Maple Leafs: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
Bruins: Visit the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.