For as bad as the Bruins looked last Saturday on Long Island (and, boy, did they look bad), you just had a feeling that a Monday showdown with the Maple Leafs would bring the best out of Jim Montgomery’s squad.

That’s just sort of how it’s gone for the Bruins, especially for these post-break Bruins, and a short-and-sweet morning press conference from Montgomery told you everything you needed to know when it came to the B’s business-like approach.

And sure enough, once the Bruins killed off an early first-period penalty, it was off to the races, with a 3-0 lead and a 4-1 final over the Atlantic rival Leafs.



Morgan Geekie kicked things off for the Bruins with his fourth goal in the last three games, while Pavel Zacha and Jake DeBrusk helped push Boston’s lead to three through 40 minutes of action at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

And while the Leafs would get on the board behind a John Tavares snipe through Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins made sure to put this game away with a second strike from Zacha and simply took the fight out of the Leafs with multiple shifts where the Black and Gold wore the Leafs down with strong possession.

With the victory, the Bruins improved to 3-0-0 against the Maple Leafs on the year, while Swayman made 32 saves for his 20th victory of the season.

Oh, and noted Maple Leaf killer David Pastrnak finished this game with three primary assists, and he is now officially one of 27 NHLers in league history to average 1.30 points per game against the Leafs (minimum 27 games).

Swayman plays coy with talk of a potential extension

Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman is not going to tip his hand when it comes to a potential long-term extension with the Bruins.

Even with word trickling out that Swayman and the B’s are indeed talking extension, as reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Monday. In fact, when asked about that report following Monday’s victory, Swayman smiled and said that while he likes Elliotte, he was going to let his agent handle that.
For what it’s worth, the word on the street regarding Swayman from the jump was that his next contract would check in at least $6.5 million per year. Speaking with a source on Monday, they indicated that it’s “looking closer to $7 million per.” That’s an awful lot of money on the surface, but it’s also worth noting that there’s an element of the Bruins ‘setting the market’ with the 25-year-old netminder here.

While Connor Hellebuyck has already signed his new contract, the younger goalies such as the Stars’ Jake Oettinger, New York’s Igor Shesterkin, and even Nashville’s Juuse Saros have yet to sign their new, big-money extensions. (That comes in ‘25.) Perhaps the Bruins feel it’s in their best interest to bang out a long-term agreement now opposed to going with another bridge deal and having to risk having to pay even more in 2026 or 2027 when goaltending salaries could have exploded.

Everything else

- One of the funnier things you got from this game was Twitter/X going bananas thinking Linus Ullmark was getting the full Cammalleri treatment and being traded mid-game because he was not on the bench. What everybody failed to realize is that the Toronto bench is an awfully tight squeeze for any team’s backup goalie, but especially one who’s about 6-foot-5 like Ullmark. The Bruins themselves made it known that Ullmark was indeed in the building and in uniform, but just chillin’ down the tunnel and out of sight, but that didn’t stop the speculation.

For what it’s worth, Ullmark rumors were popping off a bit on Monday, with Pierre LeBrun noting that the Devils could be interested in Ullmark.

Now, personally, any move involving Ullmark feels like an offseason trade to me. This has been a strength of the Bruins for the entire season, and it’s hard to imagine a trade that provides them a similar strength down the stretch. It’s also worth noting that B’s coach Jim Montgomery has already publicly committed himself to going with the goalie rotation in the playoffs.

- I’m getting close to believing that defenseman Parker Wotherspoon has earned a full-time spot in this lineup. Another solid night for him, with three hits. He’s also played at least 19 minutes of time on ice in six of the last seven games.

- Man, did Jake DeBrusk need that goal or what? DeBrusk, who wants to sign an extension with the Bruins, is legitimately worried about his Boston future. And when DeBrusk worries, his game tends to trend downwards.

Up next: It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Bruins, as they’ll host Connor McDavid and the Oilers at TD Garden on Tuesday night. The Bruins downed the Oilers in a 6-5 overtime final when these teams linked up last month.

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