Brad Marchand turned a potentially collapsing ending into a heroic thriller when the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maples Leafs, 4-3, in overtime Saturday night.
As has happened on several instances already for Boston this season, the Bruins failed to close out. Ahead of the Maple Leafs, 3-2, with just 5.7 seconds remaining in regulation, Toronto’s Auston Matthews netted a clutch game-tying goal to send the rivalry contest into overtime.
But as quickly as Toronto’s home crowd erupted at Scotiabank Arena, Marchand silenced them.
Toronto’s William Nylander tripped and lost possession of the puck with less than 20 seconds left in overtime, giving David Pastrnak a wide-open lane to net and ultimately feeding Marchand after his first attempt to send Boston back to the win column.
Boston’s win improved its record to 16-4-3 and extended its winning streak over Toronto to five games.
