David Pastrnak on Boston Bruins’ 6-4 loss to Auston Matthews’ Toronto Maple Leafs – Source: Imagn

The Boston Bruins fell 6-4 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night in a high-scoring affair at Scotiabank Arena. Auston Matthews made his return after missing six games with an upper-body injury and made an immediate impact, scoring a goal and adding two assists.

Bruins forward David Pastrnak did not mince his words when reviewing his team’s performance, criticizing the defense for too many “easy goals” allowed.

“Just too easy. Too many easy goals we gave up and (they) give us six goals to this. I know two of them was empty. Overall I think- too easy, the goals they scored – I think we didn’t do much to prevent (them),” Pastrnak said.

The Maple Leafs jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the first two periods on goals from Jake McCabe and rookie Matthew Knies. The Bruins battled back with goals from Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic to tie it 2-2 in the second.

Toronto regained the lead early in the third with Knies’ second of the night, but Pastrnak levelled the score 3-3 within 34 seconds. Then, Knies completed the hat trick at 5:28, one-timing a feed from Matthews.

At 17:55, Mitch Marner scored an empty-netter goal to give his team a 5-3 lead. The Boston Bruins cut the deficit to 5-4 with Pastrnak’s second goal, but an empty-netter from Matthews sealed the Maple Leafs’ victory.

“We got four, but chasing the whole game. So, not sure if that’s good. We talked about – keep(ing) the puck out of the net. And unfortunately, we had a tough time breaking the puck out. They had a good forecheck. And we didn’t.

Pastrnak identified defensive breakdowns and an inability to break the puck out of the defensive zone as major issues on the night.

Joseph Woll has 27 saves while Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots for the Boston Bruins.

HC Joe Sacco on Boston Bruins 6-4 loss to Maple Leafs

Bruins head coach Joe Sacco was critical of his team’s performance on their 6-4 loss to Maple Leafs. Sacco emphasized that the Bruins did not play hard enough, especially in the areas below the faceoff dots, and allowed Toronto to control play in Boston’s defensive zone.

“It’s difficult in this League to play catch-up hockey but it’s 2-2 going into the third and we have two mistakes that they capitalize on, two breakdowns they capitalize on. One we get beat and the other we lose our slot coverage.” Sacco said.

Sacco also credited the Maple Leafs for playing hard and capitalizing Boston’s mistakes. The Boston Bruins will next face the New York Islanders on Sunday.