BOSTON — Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle scored in the shootout and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Thursday night.
DeBrusk and Paval Zacha scored in regulation for the Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 9-0-1 record. Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves.
Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov stopped 38 shots.
Toronto forward William Nylander extended his season-opening, franchise-record point streak to 10 games. He was credited with an assist on the Maple Leafs goal that tied the game in the second period after Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins, who have not lost in regulation this season, opened the scoring at 18:51 of the first when Charlie Carlo centered a pass from the right circle and Zacha finished in the slot for his third goal in as many games. Boston defenseman Mason Lohrei, a 22-year-old making his NHL debut, was also credited with an assist.
Boston doubled its lead in the opening minutes of the second period when Marchand had the first chance and DeBrusk scored his first goal of the season.
PHOTOS: DeBrusk, Coyle score in the shootout, leading the Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs
“I’ve had slow starts in my career before, but it was a sense of relief,” DeBrusk said.
Boston head coach Jim Montgomery said DeBrusk’s performance could get the player back on track.
“He was humming all night long,” Montgomer said. “That was the JD we saw last year. Sometimes, all it takes is for that first one to go in and that monkey is off your back and you start being the player who you are.”
The momentum then shifted and Toronto evened the score at 2 heading into the third. Marner made a nice move to free himself before getting off a wrister that got Toronto on the board at 6:31 of the second. The equalizer came 63 seconds later as a turnover in the Boston zone led to Matthews sending a shot past Swayman, now 5-0 on the season.
“The way we bounced back from those second-period goals, it bodes well going forward,” Swayman said. “The two quick goals can skewer momentum, but to see us close out is important for us.”
The Bruins went to overtime for the third time in four games and made quick work of the Maple Leafs (5-3-2) in the shootout, as Swayman stopped both shots he faced.
“See the puck, stop the puck,” Swayman said when asked about his mindset during a shootout. “All of these guys are so good and in the NHL for a reason. I wanted to make sure I got good depth and squared the puck.”
Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren was ruled out for a return with a lower body injury that he sustained on a hit from Marchand late in the first period. After the game, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe is expected to miss significant time.
Boston played its first game without No. 1 defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was suspended four games by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson during Monday’s game. McAvoy was one of three regulars on the blue line that the Bruins didn’t have, making the performance of fill-ins like rookie Lohrei even more impressive.
“It’s good for your confidence when they keep calling your number to go out there,” Lohrei said.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.
Bruins: At Detroit on Saturday night.
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