BOSTON – Bruins captain Brad Marchand could have scored his first goal of the season and closed out the Toronto Maple Leafs with an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining.

However, that didn’t happen. Marchand got stuck and was whistled for offside before he could shoot.

But as the Maple Leafs forced overtime, Marchand didn’t miss his second chance to put Toronto out for good.

Marchand got his chance after a terrible turnover by the Maple Leafs in their defensive zone and a feed from David Pastrnak. The Bruins captain’s first shot in front of the door was stopped by Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz, but Marchand turned in the loose puck to lift the Bruins to a thrilling 4-3 win over their Original Six rival at TD Garden on Saturday night.

It was certainly the way for Marchand to score his long-awaited first goal of the season, as he also took sole possession of third place in franchise history for all-time winning goals.

“I was hoping it would happen on the empty-netter, to be honest,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said. “You could see how happy the bench was when we scored that goal. He is our leader, he is someone who embodies what it is to be a Brown – in the right way. The way he carries himself on the ice, off the ice, everything.”

Marchand felt the weight of his goalless drought as the match wore on. It was the longest stretch without a goal to start a season since his first full year with the Bruins in 2010-11.

“Yes, it is,” Marchand said when asked if it felt like getting the monkey off his back. “I have been through many different periods in my career, both good and bad. You have to stay balanced. I wasn’t that concerned with it. But of course it’s nice to get that out of the way.”

The Bruins needed it, too, after entering the game on a three-game losing streak and surrendering a late lead when Auston Matthews scored with 1:17 left in regulation time. But Marchand, who tied Rick Middleton for the fourth-most all-time goals in Bruins history, didn’t feel any panic from the bench after the Maple Leafs scored the tying goal.

And then Marchand made sure he came through for his teammates, while also getting into the scoring column himself.

“Perfect timing,” Pastrnak said.

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Here are more notes from Saturday’s Bruins-Maple Leafs game:

— Pastrnak has his signature look, but it has nothing to do with his hair. Pastrnak cut his teeth against the Maple Leafs when he took a high stick to the face of William Nylander.

“The old look is back,” Pastrnak said. “I can’t wait to visit the dentist again.”

Pastrnak also opened the scoring for the Bruins with a power-play goal in the second period. It was Pastrnak’s 30th career goal against the Maple Leafs, his highest against any franchise.

— Justin Brazeau was not in the Bruins lineup for two of the three games during Boston’s most recent road trip. But his response to being a healthy scratch was excellent. He brought tremendous energy to both ends of the ice against the Maple Leafs, scoring his second goal in as many games.

“I think it just went back to what I do,” Brazeau said. “Of course I don’t think I got quite the start I wanted. I knew I could play and I knew I could come back and help this team.”

— Montgomery admitted that prior to the game against the Maple Leafs, he saw something in his team that had been missing lately.

“The group was loose this morning, which I was happy to see,” Montgomery said. ‘They hadn’t been out for a while. You wouldn’t have seen a smile on our faces during the morning skate – we did. We had a lot of energy. Positive energy creates a good attitude and a good attitude creates good habits. The motivation then comes easily to play the right way.”

— The Bruins conclude their three-game homestand on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers, who are in last place in the Eastern Conference. TD Garden’s puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.