LEAFS AT BRUINS TAKEAWAYS: ‘Best game in a long time’

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The Maple Leafs reversed the nightmare on Tuesday night.

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TD Garden in Boston has long been a house of horrors for the Leafs, both in the playoffs and regular season. You know the gory details.

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With their mentors on hand for the one-game trip, the Leafs played their best match since the Olympic break ended, beating the Bruins 4-2.

The Bruins needed the two points, considering their precarious spot in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, but the Leafs played with plenty of passion in a spoiler role.

It was Toronto’s third win in 15 games since National Hockey League play resumed after the Winter Olympics. The Leafs outshot the Bruins 35-20, one of the rare games Toronto has had a shot advantage in 2025-26.

“Hands down, our best game in a long time,” Leafs centre John Tavares, who contributed a season-high three assists, told media in Boston. “We stuck with the game all night. We kept fighting, kept competing. Put them under a lot of pressure. All around, a great overall team win.”

Max Domi and William Nylander helped stake the Leafs to a 3-1 lead. Toronto didn’t wilt after Charlie McAvoy got the Bruins to within a goal five minutes into the third.

Three takeaways:

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KNIES A KEEPER

You can’t imagine the Leafs actually trading Matthew Knies this summer, can you?

Not after the way that he scored his first short-handed goal in the NHL.

It’s not just that Knies — who later scored an empty-net goal in the final minute — scored in the second period. The manner in which he did it was pure power, and was a reminder of what the 23-year-old is capable of doing on a regular basis.

Knies has been playing through a lower-body injury during much of the season, but still has managed to set a career-high in points with 59, which he did with his second goal.

On the unassisted shorty, Knies turned on the jets, out-muscled Bruins defenceman Mason Lohrei for a breakaway and beat goalie Jeremy Swayman high on the blocker side.

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Knies should be doing that sort of thing for the Leafs for years to come. Really, he’s just starting to get going in his NHL career.

As of now, the Leafs don’t have many young assets. That’s no secret. There are going to be lots of holes to fill this summer. Subtracting Knies, whose name popped up around the trade deadline, from the mix would create another hole that the Leafs couldn’t possibly fill.

“Even though we’re all aware of how strong he is, it impresses you when he pulls it off,” Tavares said. “He’s a beast. Very unique player at his age to have that strength and the soft hands and the poise and the touch. He has a nice package as a player. We’re lucky to have him.”

A PROPER RESPONSE

Less than two weeks have passed since Radko Gudas of the Anaheim Ducks ended captain Auston Matthews’ season with a knee-on-knee hit, to which the Leafs did not respond.

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After the heavy, and deserved, criticism that followed, the Leafs have smartened up.

There have been spurts of physicality in the games since. When handed a chance to respond on Tuesday night to another nasty incident, the Leafs did.

Easton Cowan expressed remorse in the aftermath of the Gudas hit, as he was on the ice and did nothing.

Against the Bruins, Cowan had no fear in trying to engage the Bruins’ Nikita Zadorov in a fight after the much bigger defenceman crunched Tavares into the boards in the second period. Cowan dropped his gloves and got two minutes for roughing, while Zadorov was assessed a boarding major. No fight took place, but in the third, Dakota Joshua got into a scrap with Zadorov in an attempt to settle the score.

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“I really appreciated it,” Tavares said of Cowan. “He’s feeling pretty tall right now. Great for him to continue to grow and mature. The way he came in in defence of me, speaks volumes to his passion for the group, for the team.”

Said Cowan of going after Zadorov in the moment: “I think you just kind of black out … I’m trying to get in there and stick up for my teammates.”

For a change, Leafs coach Craig Berube wasn’t exasperated in his post-game media scrum.

“Guys are getting in there and protecting their teammates, which is good,” Berube said. “Have to give Easton a lot of credit. Young kid going after a big man. He has a lot of character. And Dak caring take of business, it’s really good to see team stuff like that.”

The Leafs looked bad when Matthews got hit. They looked much better following the hit on Tavares on Tuesday.

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STOLARZ SHINES

The Leafs won’t work their way up the standings with just 10 games remaining, but individuals can start hitting reset now, well ahead of 2026-27.

Among them is goalie Anthony Stolarz. He has not been great when healthy, but he was excellent against the Bruins, bringing to mind the way he played last season.

His sharp performance came three nights after he took a William Nylander shot on his throat in the warmup in Ottawa and could not play against the Senators.

Two saves, nearly identical, stood out in the second period. With the Leafs down 1-0 on a goal by Elias Lindholm, Stolarz stretched across the goal line to deny Morgan Geekie. And Stolarz again said no to a two-goal Bruins lead when he stopped David Pastrnak on a one-timer at the back door.

“I think since the break I’ve been playing exceptionally well,” Stolarz said, overstating it a bit. “I wanted to keep the rolling. Looking at the other end and (seeing) one of the better goalies in the league in Swayman, you know you have to be on your game.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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