Bruins undone by special-teams errors in 4-2 home loss to Maple Leafs at TD Garden

A night of missed opportunities and costly lapses

The Boston Bruins’ latest meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs turned on discipline, special teams, and a shortage of five-on-five offense. Toronto scored a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal and added an empty-netter late to close out a 4-2 win Tuesday, March 24, at TD Garden.

Boston generated 20 shots on goal to Toronto’s 35, a gap that reflected long stretches spent defending and chasing the puck rather than sustaining pressure. The result tightened the margins for a Bruins team trying to bank points in the season’s final stretch while Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak.

How the game unfolded

Boston opened the scoring early, taking a 1-0 lead at 5:04 of the first period on a goal by Elias Lindholm, set up by Morgan Geekie and Henri Jokiharju. The Bruins carried that advantage into intermission, but the game swung in the second period when Toronto’s Matthew Knies scored shorthanded at 7:27, tying the game 1-1 on an unassisted finish.

Toronto then moved ahead on a power-play goal with 1:52 left in the second period, as Max Domi scored at 18:08 on assists from John Tavares and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Maple Leafs added separation early in the third when William Nylander scored at 3:00, assisted by Tavares and Jake McCabe, pushing the lead to 3-1.

Boston responded with its own power-play goal at 5:08 of the third. Charlie McAvoy scored, with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha recording the assists, cutting the deficit to 3-2 and giving the Bruins a path back into the game.

That comeback attempt ended in the final minute. With the Bruins net empty, Knies scored again at 19:38 to seal the 4-2 final, with Nylander and Tavares earning assists.

Special teams and puck management defined the margin

The Bruins’ most damaging sequence came while they had the man advantage. Allowing a shorthanded goal erased Boston’s early lead and shifted momentum to a Toronto team that grew more assertive as the game progressed. Toronto’s power-play conversion late in the second period also proved decisive, creating the first multi-goal cushion of the night.

• Toronto received three points from John Tavares (three assists) and two goals from Matthew Knies.
• Boston’s scoring came from Lindholm at even strength and McAvoy on the power play.
• The shot total (35-20) underscored Toronto’s edge in sustained zone time and chance volume.

Where it leaves both teams

The 4-2 loss gave Boston a 2-1 record in the season series against Toronto. For the Bruins, the night served as a clear example of how thin the line becomes when a team loses the special-teams battle and cannot generate consistent five-on-five pressure.

Final score: Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 2 (March 24, TD Garden).