BOSTON – – Brad Marchand scored his first goal of the season 2:26 into overtime, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak had a power-play goal and Justin Brazeau and Mark Kastelic scored 36 seconds apart later in the second period for Boston. It was the Bruins’ eighth straight regular-season win against Toronto.

Auston Matthews tipped in Mitch Marner’s shot from the point to tie it with 1:17 left in regulation for the Maple Leafs. Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly also scored for Toronto, which has lost three in a row.

It was the first meeting between the teams since Boston eliminated Toronto in Game 7 of the opening round of the playoffs last spring.

Takeaways

Maple Leafs: Their defenders had a couple of breakdowns deep in their own end, leading to Boston’s two quick scores in the second period. For a team struggling to score early in the season, they can’t give up easy chances.

Bruins: For the first time in his coaching career in Boston, Jim Montgomery entered the game with a losing record for a season. In 2022-23, his first as coach, the Bruins opened 17-2-0 and started 9-0-1 last year.

Key moment

Matthews made a poor clearing pass, and Pastrnak and Marchand went hard to the net, with Marchand throwing in a backhander for the winner.

Key stat

Marchand had not scored a goal in the first eight games of a season for the first time since his second season in the league, 2010–11, when he also scored in the ninth game. He also assisted on Pastrnak’s power-play goal in the second period.

Next

The Maple Leafs visit Winnipeg on Monday and the Bruins host Philadelphia on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl