Shorthanded Maple Leafs buckle down for decisive win in Boston

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If the Maple Leafs’ win against Florida on Sunday was a statement, let’s call the victory in Boston on Tuesday exactly what it was: A Bruins beatdown.

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The shorthanded Leafs ran the Bruins out of the TD Garden, leaving town with a 6-4 decision after losing starting goalie Petr Mrazek and defensemen Justin Holl and Ilya Lyubushkin to injuries through the course of the game.

In third place in the Atlantic Division before the game — but tied with the Bruins with 87 points — the Leafs put a two-point cushion between themselves and their division rivals.

Auston Matthews moved to within one goal of 50, scoring his 49th on a power play in the second period off a John Tavares rebound. In the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy, Matthews leads Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl by one goal.

Late Bruins goals by Curtis Lazar and Taylor Hall made the score a little more favorable for the Bruins.

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Mrazek suffered a groin injury early in the first period. Holl was bleeding after he took a shot off the head in the second period. Not long after, Lyubushkin’s night was over when he was punched by Hall after Lyubushkin crunched Hall into the side boards. Hall received a roughing minor.

In the morning, Matthews played it cool when talking about 50 goals came up during his media availability.

“It’s not really something I really think about,” Matthews said with a straight face. “Honestly, I just try to take it day by day.

“That kind of stuff has a way of working itself out and as long as I am just taking care of myself, making sure I’m playing the right way, both sides of the puck … It’s not really something I am too focused on. ”

Next in Matthews’ sights is Rick Vaive’s team record of 54 goals, set in 1981-82. Vaive scored 51 the following season and then got to 52 in 1983-84.

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The rest of the Leafs’ 50-goal club is small. Gary Leeman scored 51 in 1989-90, and Dave Andreychuk had 53 in 1993-94. Andreychuk scored 54 in the previous season, but 29 were with Buffalo before he was traded to Toronto.

Mrazek’s respectable rebound from clearing waivers last week hit a painful snag, and the Leafs must be thankful that Jack Campbell appears to be close to returning to the crease from a rib injury.

Mrazek, who battled groin injuries earlier this season, was gone before the game was eight minutes old. While it’s only speculation, expecting that a day or two of recovery will be all Mrazek needs to come back likely is unrealistic. In two starts after no other NHL team claimed him, Mrazek won both of them.

Mrazek stopped three of the four shots he faced before being replaced by Erik Kallgren at 7:44 of the first.

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In relief, Kallgren made 23 saves.

The Leafs’ 6-2 lead through 40 minutes came after they outscored the Bruins 3-1 in each of the first two periods.

Colin Blackwell, centering the fourth line as coach Sheldon Keefe tweaked the trio, scored his first as a Leaf at 5:09 of the first when he put a pass from Jason Spezza behind goalie Jeremy Swayman. Kyle Clifford played the other wing on the line and Wayne Simmonds was scratched.

The Bruins tied the game 50 seconds later when TJ Brodie accidentally re-directed a David Pastrnak shot past Mrazek on a Boston power play.

That didn’t rattle Toronto.

At 9:43, Morgan Rielly, who is taking more advantage of his offensive instincts, scored for the second time in as many games when he jumped into the play and finished off a fine rush by William Nylander.

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The Leafs increased their lead by two goals at 18:44. Alex Kerfoot used his speed to break away and made a smart move to his forehand to fool Swayman.

Toronto scored the first three goals of the second before Jake DeBrusk answered for the Bruins at 18:19 when a shot went in off his leg.

Mitch Marner went down to one knee to blast a pass from Matthews into the net at 8:28. Matthews got his goal at 16 minutes even, and 47 seconds later, David Kampf deflected a Rielly shot in.

Swayman was gone to start the third period in favor of Linus Ullmark, having given up six goals on 25 shots.

Bruins star Brad Marchand, whose talent is often equaled by his inability to get out of his own way, was assessed a 10-minute misconduct at the end of the second after he had too much to say to referee Francois St-Laurent.

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