TORONTO — Mitch Marner scored at 3:54 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
Alexander Kerfoot, Morgan Rielly and Dmytro Timashov scored in regulation for the Maple Leafs. Frederik Andersen stopped 42 shots.
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen also scored for the Bruins. Jaroslav Halak finished with 25 saves.
Marner’s winner came after he took a feed from Auston Matthews and ripped his fourth goal of the season past Halak’s blocker.
Down 2-1 despite a dominating second, the Bruins tied the score at 1:36 of the third just as a Leafs’ penalty was about to expire when Heinen beat Andersen with a high shot.
Toronto replied just 61 seconds later when Kerfoot backhanded a loose puck past Halak for his third of the season.
Andersen faced 33 shots through two periods, and Boston kept coming late in the third, with Pastrnak tying things with 4:26 left in regulation when he blasted a one-timer for his ninth of the season.
The Maple Leafs played their first game without captain and star center John Tavares, who broke a finger Wednesday and will miss at least two weeks. The Bruins, meanwhile, were minus veteran center David Krejci (upper-body injury) for a third straight game.
Toronto has lost to Boston in the first round of playoffs each of the last two years – with both series going to a Game 7 – but with Tavares, Zach Hyman (knee) and Travis Dermott (shoulder) all out injured, and some major roster restructuring in the offseason, just nine of the 18 skaters who dressed for the Maple Leafs in the deciding game back on April 23 were in Saturday’s lineup.
The Bruins, who went onto make the Stanley Cup finals before losing on home ice in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues, dressed 13 skaters from that 5-1 victory against Toronto.
The Maple Leafs opened the scoring at 5:55 of a spirited first period when Rielly’s point shot went in off Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo.
Timashov made it 2-0 on a good fourth-line shift from Toronto. The rookie forward got the puck from Frederik Gauthier and moved into the slot before roofing his first NHL goal.
The Bruins finally got on the board with 20.6 seconds left in the period when DeBrusk took advantage of some poor defending to beat Andersen from in close.
Boston fed off that goal in the second period and had Toronto on its heels for long stretches.
The Maple Leafs’ best chance of the second came after Sean Kuraly threw the puck in front of his own net, but Barrie was robbed by Halak with the glove.
CANADIENS 5, BLUES 2: Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki scored in the second period, and Montreal won at St. Louis.
Jordan Weal and Shea Weber also scored for the Canadiens, and Carey Price made 32 saves in his 325th win, passing Sean Burke for 27th on the NHL career list.
DEVILS 1, CANUCKS 0: Jack Hughes, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, scored his first career goal in his first NHL game against his older brother, Quinn, as New Jersey won at home.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 25 shots in his third career shutout, sending New Jersey to its second straight victory after starting the season with six straight losses.
AVALANCHE 6, LIGHTNING 2: Tyson Jost scored three goals, Pavel Francouz made 44 saves, and visiting Colorado remained the only NHL team without a regulation loss.
Colorado’s 7-0-1 start is the second-longest season opening point streak in franchise history, behind only the 9-0-2 start in 2000-01.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, PENGUINS 0: Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots against his former team, leading Vegas to a victory at Pittsburgh.
Fleury recorded his 445th win, tying Terry Sawchuck for seventh on the NHL career list, and got his 57th career shutout.
STARS 4, FLYERS 1: Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell and Corey Perry scored to help visiting Dallas snap a five-game losing streak.
ISLANDERS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2: Brock Nelson scored 33 seconds into overtime to lift New York to a victory at Columbus.
COYOTES 5, SENATORS 2: Conor Garland had a goal and an assist, Antti Raanta stopped 34 shots and Arizona won at home.
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