By Brendan Mcgair, The Associated Press on April 6, 2023.
BOSTON (AP) – David Pastrnak scored his 57th goal of the season at 2:30 of overtime to give the history-chasing Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Pastrnak blasted a shot from inside the left circle as the Bruins notched their 61st victory – one off the NHL season record set by Detroit in 1995-96 and matched by Tampa Bay in 2018-19. Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves for Boston, winners of four straight, and Charlie Coyle also scored. Ilya Samsonov made 31 saves for Toronto, which led 1-0 heading into the third period on Sam Lafferty’s second-period goal. After outshooting Toronto, 11-7, in a scoreless first period, Boston saw the visitors break through with the first goal with 9:26 left in the second. A turnover near center ice resulted in Maple Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese firing a shot from just inside the blue line. Lafferty beat Swayman for his 12th goal of the season. Boston got the equalizer with 8:25 remaining in regulation. Brandon Carlo kept the possession alive in the Toronto zone before getting a pass under duress to Coyle, who beat Samsonov for his 14th of the campaign. NOTES: Bruins C David Krejci missed his second straight game with a lower-body ailment. “¦ Boston recalled F Oskar Steen from Providence on an emergency basis. The 25-year-old skated in his third NHL game of the season. “¦ Maple Leafs D Jake McCabe appeared in his 500th career NHL game Thursday. Toronto acquired the 29-year-old in February from Chicago. UP NEXT Maple Leafs: Host Montreal on Saturday night. Bruins: Host New Jersey on Saturday night. ___ More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports 13