BOSTON – The Boston Bruins took out the frustration on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Two days after losing their composure in a loss to Carolina, the Bruins had their best offensive game of the season in a 6-2 victory Thursday night that gave the Maple Leafs their first regulation loss.
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Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin had a goal and two assists each and the Stanley Cup champions scored two power-play goals, matching their total for their first six games.
“Obviously, we’ve been a little frustrated and it showed at the end of the Carolina game,” Lucic said. “What we’ve been able to do well as a team is we’ve always been able to turn that emotion into a positive, and that’s what we were able to do here tonight.”
The Bruins, who had 11 goals entering the game, rebounded from the 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. Rich Peverley’s goal with 9:01 left had cut Carolina’s lead to 2-1 before Boston lost its momentum by taking several ill-advised penalties.
Coach Claude Julien shook up his lines and the move paid off as the Bruins outshot the Maple Leafs, 43-28.
“It was a good thing because no one really had too much chemistry,” Seguin said. “Tonight everyone kind of just focused on (his own) game and what they have to do in taking accountability, and I think that’s why we were successful.”
The Bruins won for the second time in five games and had two power-play goals for just the second time in 41 regular-season games.
The Maple Leafs, playing their first road game of the season, had a predictable letdown from their last game, a 4-3 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.
“When they scored (their) first goal, the air went out of the balloon,” Toronto Coach Ron Wilson said. “We just didn’t have our legs.”
David Steckel gave Toronto (4-1-1) the lead 7:29 into the game before the Bruins (3-4) scored three times in less than eight minutes to take a 3-1 lead after the first period.
Nathan Horton and Chara scored on power plays and Chris Kelly connected with 2:11 left in the period. Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Seguin scored in the third.
Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski finished the scoring.
Phil Kessel, a former Bruin, entered with NHL-leading totals of seven goals and 12 points but was held scoreless for the first time in 16 regular-season games.
SENATORS 4, JETS 1: Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist in the second period and Ottawa won at home to end a three-game losing streak.
SABRES 3, PANTHERS 0: Thomas Vanek scored two goals and Ryan Miller made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season, leading Buffalo to a win at Sunrise, Fla.
LIGHTNING 4, ISLANDERS 1: Vincent Lecavalier had a goal and an assist to help Tampa Bay stop a five-game losing streak with a victory over visiting New York.
CAPITALS 5, FLYERS 2: Alex Ovechkin scored two goals and visiting Washington used a three-goal third period to beat Philadelphia.
PENGUINS 3, CANADIENS 1: James Neal scored his NHL-leading seventh goal of the season and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots, leading Pittsburgh to a win at home.
NOTES
BLUE JACKETS: Columbus called up goaltender Allen York on emergency recall from its AHL affiliate to back up Steve Mason after Mark Dekanich and Curtis Sanford both were injured.
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