Tomas Kaberle and Jason Blake scored for the Leafs in their first win of the season against the Bruins, and Jonas Gustavsson kept the Bruins off the board in front of his home crowd.
Maple Leafs 2, Bruins 0
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ont.
Dec. 19, 2009
Headliner: The pregame hype surrounded Jonas Gustavsson on Saturday night, and rightfully so. The 25-year-old netminder missed time this season due to heart surgery, but showed no signs of fatigue in posting his first career shutout at the expense of the Bruins. Gustavsson stopped all 25 shots he faced to improve to 7-5-5 on the season.
Grinder: Tomas Kaberle's third goal of the season will show up in the box score as the game-winner, but it was Jason Blake's seventh goal of the season that put the game away. Blake scored with 10:17 left in the third period to turn a 1-0 lead into a 2-0 lead, effectively ending the game against a nonexistent Boston offense.
Weak Link: After scoring four goals against the Blackhawks on Friday night, the Bruins went back to their old ways in the offensive zone. The Black and Gold couldn't find the back of the net in Toronto, and put together another brutal performance on the power play. The Bruins went 0-for-3 on the man advantage, failing to capitalize a single time with multiple chances to tie the game.
Key Moment: Trailing 1-0, it looked like the Bruins might stage another late comeback. But Jason Blake erased those hopes when he turned on the red light with a goal at 9:43 of the third period. Blake's goal put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-0, thanks to assists from Niklas Hagman and Francois Beauchemin. The Bruins were never able to recover from Blake's third-period tally, falling to their second loss in as many nights.
What's Next: The Bruins get a day off to rest on Sunday before facing the Senators in Ottawa on Monday night. The B's have just one other game aside from Ottawa remaining on the schedule before Christmas, with a home game against the Thrashers on Wednesday at the Garden.
