With their captain Auston Matthews being sidelined as reported earlier in the day, the Leafs had no business playing as well as they did in this game.

This game featured Max Domi getting reps with the top line, and a powerplay that returned to the 4 forward, 1 defenseman look that we’re so used to seeing.

The first period was your common tight hockey game: some chances on both ends and a relatively sound defensive period for both teams. After the first 20 minutes, they remained scoreless with 7 shots on for each club.

The second period is where things kicked into another gear for the Maple Leafs. 8:29 into the second, Bruins defender Nikita Zadorov took an interference minor. The Leafs circle the puck around, eventually finding Morgan Rielly up top who fires it through traffic, beating Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman for an uncommon Leafs powerplay goal. Marner and Knies are credited with the assists.

Less than a minute later, David Pastrnak takes a high sticking penalty, resulting in another Leafs powerplay. This one is worked around, and ends up with Nylander coming down along the boards, who looks like he’s going to skate back behind the net and throw it back up to the point. Instead, a shot from the goal line trickles in past Swayman to give Toronto their second powerplay goal of the night.

With a couple penalties against Toronto, they close out the period down a man headed into the final frame.

After surviving the Boston powerplay to start the period, the Leafs went right back to work, with strong chances and good defensive work to keep the puck out of their net. With 6:20 left to go in the game, Boston found themselves yet again, down a man. Toronto took advantage once more, with a Matthew Knies powerplay marker to extend the lead to 3-0. That’s three (!!!) goals on the powerplay in a single game. Boston pulled their goaltender to try and get back in the game, but not long after did Steven Lorentz throw it into the empty netter to seal the deal.

Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season, proving once again that he is the real deal. Toronto is back at it for a back-to-back against Detroit and Montreal, respectively.