Matthews scores as Maple Leafs beat Bruins 3
BOSTON (AP) — Max Domi held the puck inside the Toronto defensive zone, waiting for Auston Matthews to make his move. Like a quarterback spotting an open receiver, Domi sent the puck sailing over the neutral zone and hit Matthews in stride.
In one motion, the NHL’s goal-scoring leader gloved the puck with his left hand and dropped it in front of his stick, then skated in on Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark and beat him to snap a third-period tie.
“Great pass to find Auston in the manner that he did,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said on Monday night after the Maple Leafs rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to beat Boston 3-2 and knot their first-round playoff series at one game apiece. “That’s big-time stuff the way those guys connected.”
Matthews had a goal and two assists and Domi also scored for Toronto, which snapped an eight-game losing streak against Boston over 534 days dating to November 2022. Ilya Samsonov stopped 27 shots and John Tavares also scored for the Maple Leafs, who haven’t beaten the Bruins in a playoff series since 1959.