Boston Bruins show resilience, Leafs continue to roll, takeaways from Original Six matchups

Wednesday was a good night for both the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

We only had two games to watch on Wednesday night in the NHL, but they were two compelling ones with the Boston Bruins taking on the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs battling the Montreal Canadiens in what was two mouthwatering Original Six matchups.

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It turned out to be a productive evening for two of the top teams in the NHL as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden, with Brad Marchand scoring the game-winner in Overtime for the B’s. Julien Gauthier‘s first NHL goal had got the Blueshirts on the board first, before Chris Wagner and Anders Bjork scored back-to-back to put Boston back on top. Kevin Rooney’s third goal of the year did ensure that the Rangers got at least a point for their efforts, but Marchand came up with the goods to win a fourth straight for his team who improved to 9-1-2 on the year.

Auston Matthews was unable to make it nine straight games with a goal but he did tally an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs kept rolling by beating rivals the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Centre Bell. Matthews made it 11 games with a point with a helper on Zach Hyman‘s goal in the third period on a night where the Leafs got contributions from up and down the lineup. It was a big, big win for Toronto who remain the best team in both the North Division and the NHL right now, and this victory could go a long way in deciding who takes the top seed in the all-Canadian Division.

It was a fun night in the National Hockey League with four Original Six franchises slugging it out against each other, and we have division realignment and the shortened schedule to thank for what unfolded on Wednesday. And, although just two games, there’s plenty to break down and we’re going to take a look at the main talking points from across the two showdowns…

Main Storylines from Wednesday’s Original Six feast as Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs continue to roll

Depth comes up clutch for B’s

While it was a usual suspect in Brad Marchand who came up with the game-winner in Overtime for the Boston Bruins, they had their depth to thank for beating the New York Rangers in their first meeting of the 2020-21 season at Madison Square Garden.

After all, the B’s have been carried by The Perfection Line for much of this year with Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak all off to elite starts, while their secondary scoring has once again been largely missing. However, when they needed it most, the Bruins got depth scoring in abundance on Wednesday night.

It started in the second period when, after Julien Gauthier had scored his first-ever career goal in the NHL to give the Rangers the lead, gritty forward Chris Wagner forced a turnover before racing down the ice and ripping the puck in off the post for a shorthanded goal to make it a tied game.

Then, at 9:00 in the third period, the Bruins got another big goal from winger Anders Bjork who got to the front of the net before slipping the puck under the pads of Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev for what was a beautiful goal. It was Bjork’s first goal of the season and it certainly got the monkey off his back, while proving to be a big goal in the game. There is no doubt that the Boston Bruins are a legitimate contender this year but, if they want to embark on a deep postseason run, they will need big contributions from up and down the lineup so it was encouraging to see both Chris Wagner and Anders Bjork come up with huge goals on Wednesday.

Rangers perhaps unlucky

While the final standings will ultimately tell the full story, this was always going to be another development year for the rebuilding New York Rangers and, despite losing on Wednesday night, they are showing tangible signs of progress. And, let’s not forget, the Boston Bruins are an absolute juggernaut so this was never going to be easy.

However, since placing troubled defenseman Tony DeAngelo in exile, this Rangers team is seemingly playing with more freedom given that there are no more distractions inside the locker room for this young group, and they actually played a good game of hockey against the Bruins.

They outshot the B’s 35-32 and could have easily won the game were it not for the heroics of Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask, who stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced, including pulling off this absolutely sublime glove save to rob Mika Zibanejad in what was no doubt the save of the game.

But, despite the loss, which dropped the Blueshirts to 4-5-3 on the year, there were plenty of positives to take from the game including the fact that Zibanejad looks to slowly be getting back to his best following a slow start to the 2020-21 season due to a bout of COVID-19 during the offseason. Zibanejad looked a lot more lively and he could have had at least a hat trick were it not for the brilliance of Rask.

The Rangers also got stellar goaltending from Alexandar Georgiev who stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced, rebounding from what had been a tough start to the year. Also, the Blueshirts got some depth scoring as Julien Gauthier recorded his first-ever career goal in the National Hockey League, while power forward Kevin Rooney scored his third goal of the year and the fact that they are getting contributions from up and down the lineup can be a source of encouragement for the coaching staff. So, while this was another tough loss, the New York Rangers showed some more maturity and if they play like that again then they could gain revenge on the Boston Bruins when these two teams meet again tonight.

Toronto leans on the collective

The big storyline heading into this mouthwatering matchup between two of the heavyweights in the North Division was whether or not Auston Matthews could extend his goal streak to nine straight games. Well, Matthews didn’t light the lamp but he did tally an assist to extend his points streak to 11 straight games.

However, while Matthews contributed and Captain John Tavares tallied two assists, it was Toronto’s supporting cast that really stepped up to the plate and helped to deliver the Maple Leafs their fourth consecutive win and a big statement over one of their main rivals in the ultra-competitive North Division.

Josh Anderson did continue his hot start for the Montreal Canadiens by lighting the lamp early in the first period, but defenseman Travis Dermott made it a tied game at 15:18 in the second period with a wrister that went top-shelf, before Justin Holl and then Ilya Mikheyev went back-to-back to put the Maple Leafs firmly in the driving seat.

And, after Tomas Tatar recorded his fourth goal of the year to make it just a one-goal game, Zach Hyman scored an empty-netter in the third period to wrap the game up and seal what was a huge win for his team. As good as the likes of Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews have been this season, and they’ve been elite, any true contender need contributions from up and down the lineup and the Toronto Maple Leafs certainly got that against what has been a juggernaut team in the Montreal Canadiens.

Josh Anderson is good at hockey

This is only going to be a short one but we felt it was only right to mention this Josh Anderson goal from Wednesday night. Montreal Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin wanted to make his roster bigger, tougher, stronger and harder to play against in 2020-21, and he achieved that in part by trading for power forward Josh Anderson from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It has been a pretty good start to life for Anderson in Montreal with the forward having 11 points (9 G, 2 A) so far this year, and he showcased why Bergevin was such a big fan with this stellar play during the first period. After retrieving a loose puck, Anderson sent a Maple Leafs player over the boards and into the Montreal bench before getting the puck back, speeding into the zone and then beating Frederik Andersen with a wrister. It was a deadly combination of power, speed and finishing ability and that’s exactly why the Montreal Canadiens signed the power forward to a seven-year, $38,500,000 contract.