So much for a soft send-off into sunny weather and the all-star break
. The Maple Leafs played their final game before the NHL’s winter recess not against an also-ran but against their arch-enemy, the Bruins, the No. 1 team in the league.
“A game like this is a nice one to have right before the break,” Sheldon Keefe, the Toronto coach, said in the morning. “I am sure the guys’ wives or girlfriends have their bags packed and are ready to go. It’s only natural, but this one here you can’t overlook.” The Maple Leafs started erratically but will sail into the furlough from the deep freeze a distant second in the division, 13 points back of you-know-who.
The loss dropped the Maple Leafs to 31-13-8 with 30 regular-season games to grind out from here. Boston is 39-7-5. Back and forth it went: Samsonov extinguished a breakaway by Connor Clifton; Ullmark stuffed a give and go between Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall. With a little more than a minute left Samsonov made a pad save to deny David Pastrnak from a few feet out.With 38 goals, Pastrnak is second in the league to only Connor McDavid. The Oilers captain has an otherworldly 41 goals and 92 points in 50 games.
Carlo put the Bruins ahead 2-1 7 minutes 27 seconds before the second intermission. A.J. Greer stretched the margin to 3-1 with a wrist shot from the left wing a little more than two minutes into the third period. Two seconds later, Greer found himself getting hammered by punches from Wayne Simmonds, who was inserted into the lineup for just such an occasion.
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