Boston Bruins: 3 studs who shined in win vs Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins won 5-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, on the last game before the NHL All-Star Break. The Bruins were coming off a 3-game losing streak against the Lightning, Panthers, and Hurricanes.

The Boston Bruins stepped up after their loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1 on Sunday, where Taylor Hall scored the only goal for the Bruins.

The Toronto Maple Leafs previously won against the Washington Capitals on Sunday, 5-1, where five different players scored for them.

In the Atlantic Division, the league-leading Bruins (83) are 13 points ahead of the Maple Leafs (70).

There was no scoring in the first period, and not until 7 minutes into the second period when the Bruins scored first and the Bruins lead 2-1 after the second period. A.J. Greer won the game for the Bruins when he scored the 3rd goal with 2 minutes in the 3rd period.

These are the three studs for the Boston Bruins in this game.

1. Pavel Zacha scores the final two goals for the Boston Bruins

Zacha continues to prove that he’s been a great addition for the Bruins as shown by his two-goal performance on Wednesday. This would be Zacha’s second time scoring two-goals in a game for the Bruins this season. The first time was in the 6-0 shutout against the Philadelpha Flyers on January 16th where he scored 2 goals and also dished an assist for his third point of the game.

The first goal for Zacha was after a pass from Charlie McAvoy, Zacha deked out Maple Leafs defenseman T.J. Brodie for a wrist shot past goaltender Illya Samsonov. Then Zacha scored the final goal of the game from a nice pass from David Krejci that left Samsonov with an open spot which Zacha was able to shoot in.

Although, the Zacha goals just solidified the Bruins win as they were already up 3-2 after Calle Jarnkok scored a goal for the Maple Leafs in the 3rd period. Zacha had a great offensive performance for the Bruins.

2. Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark was a save machine

Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark made 33 saves on 35 shots in the win. This accounts for a .948 save percentage for Ullmark.

Ullmark allowed a power play goal from Mitch Marner in the 2nd period and Jarnkok in the 3rd.

One play in particular that Ullmark shined was in the 1st period, where Maple Leafs center David Kampf shot the puck from the left side and Ullmark made a save, then it rebounded to Rasmus Sandin and then Ullmark made a great save and that sequence showed his great focus.

Despite some losses, Ullmark has been able to make a lot of saves in the last three games, as he made 32 saves on 35 shots in both the losses against the Hurricanes and Lightning. The Bruins offense can help Ullmark in the rest of the season if they keep up their end of the production for the B’s.

3. Derek Forbort Scores on the Penalty Kill

Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort scored the first goal for the Bruins and it was a shorthanded goal as they were on the Penalty kill in which Connor Clifton was serving in the box for tripping.

This was Forbort’s 4th goal of the season, and he was assisted by Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. Also, Forbort now leads the team in short-handed goals with 2 this season. His 1st of the season came on December 13th when the Bruins won in a shootout against the New York Islanders. As a team, the Bruins have 4 on the season.

After the All-Star break, the Boston Bruins will face the Capitals at home before going on the road to face the Stars and Predators.