TORONTO (AP) - Mitch Marner stepped up with Auston Matthews sidelined by a shoulder injury.
Marner had a goal and three assists, the last on Ron Hainsey’s winner with 1:23 remaining, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Boston 4-3 on Saturday night to match the franchise record of nine straight home wins.
“I think everyone in this room wants to step up,” Marner said. “We talked about how big a role (Matthews) is on this team, but we can’t sit back and relax, we’ve got to make sure we put our foot on the pedal and work hard and do more just to fill that void. I’m just trying to help out more down low and trying to bring on, I think, a bigger role.”
Matthews was hurt Thursday night in a victory over the New York Islanders.
Hainsey’s one-timed William Nylander’s pass past goalie Tuuka Rask for his fourth goal of the season.
“Just trying to get it by the guy in front (of me) from the blue line,” Hainsey said. “Nice job by (Nylander) coming around the net and (Zach Hyman) down there. “A lot of traffic down there, both teams sending guys to the net so you’re just hoping to get it through.”
Toronto moved a point ahead of Boston for the second seed in the Atlantic Division.
“What happened was they were a lot better than us,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said about the second period. “We came out of it tied, but they were clearly the better team.”
Nazem Kadri scored twice, Mitch Marner had a goal and three assists, and Nylander had two assists. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves to improve to 10-1-0 against the Bruins.
Brad Marchand scored twice, and Jake DeBrusk also connected for Boston. Rask made 32 saves.
Marchand opened the scoring, taking a pass and beating Andersen glove-side at 6:11 of the first. Toronto responded just over a minute later when Marner took a Nylander’s feed and beat a sprawling Rask for his 16th at 7:15.
Kadri gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead on a power play, tapping in James van Riemsdyk’s pass at 10:30 for his 22nd of the season.
Boston tied it 2-2 on Marchand’s second of the period. Marchand beat Andersen from close range for his 23rd of the season.
DeBrusk gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 1:55 of the second, re-directing Ryan Spooner’s pass over Andersen for his 12th.
With Charlie McAvoy serving a tripping minor, Kadri one-timed Marner’s pass over Rask’s glove for his 23rd of the season with 55.9 seconds remaining in the second to tie it at 3.
UP NEXT
Bruins: At Buffalo on Sunday.
Maple Leafs: At Tampa Bay on Monday night.
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