NHL

• Thomas strong between the pipes as Bruins clip Maple Leafs

  
  

  Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Tim Thomas made 28 saves and withstood a late Toronto surge as the Boston Bruins edged the Maple Leafs, 3-2, at Air Canada Centre.

  Phil Kessel, Michael Ryder and Matt Hunwick had the goals for the Bruins, who had a five-game winning streak snapped against the New York Rangers on Saturday.

  Boston was still able to register a point in that setback, though, losing in the shootout and sit atop the Northeast Division with 26 points.

  Marc Savard and Milan Lucic added two assists each for Boston, which is 6-2-3 as the visiting club this year.

  "You've got to give them credit -- we took it to them in the first period and they (Toronto) came back like they always do," Savard said. "They always fight but we got the two points." Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski had the markers for Toronto, which has struggled of late with losses in three of its last four and six of eight overall.

  Vesa Toskala has been a big part of that struggle and allowed three goals on 22 shots in the loss.

  The Maple Leafs opened a three-game homestand Monday and are just 3-3-3 as the host this season.

  Boston jumped in front at the 9:40 mark of the first. Savard used the right boards to bounce a bass to Kessel breaking into the zone and the winger cranked a low shot past Toskala for a 1-0 lead.

  Then, 3:38 later, Lucic sent a pass from the right boards to Hunwick in the slot for a one-timer that was knocked down, but Hunwick followed his own shot and poked in the rebound.

  "We didn't have our legs to start and we got down by two goals again," Leafs defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo said. "They (Boston) take away the lanes from us. You have to try and shoot wide and get rebounds for a scoring chance." The Leafs got one back with 2:09 remaining in the period. Ian White picked up a loose puck behind the net and shoveled it out to Blake at the right of the net, where he was able to sneak it past Thomas on the short side.

  Ryder's willful individual effort made it a two-goal game with 5:49 left in the second period. He brought the puck up the right side and drifted with the disc across the circle using a Toronto defender as a screen and snapped off a quick shot that beat Toskala on the short side.

  The Maple Leafs turned up the tempo in the third and got one back at the 8:53 mark.

  Niklas Hagman charged into the zone and slipped the puck by a defender and back to himself before getting a shot on net and Grabovski was there to chip in the rebound.

  Thomas, though, stood tall the rest of the way and made several stops on a pair of Leafs power plays over the final 5 1/2 minutes with Toronto also pulling its goaltender for a 5-on-3 over the last 27 seconds.

  "Thomas has been great for us all year. He helped us on those power plays and kept us in the game," Savard added.

  Game Notes The Bruins now lead the season series 2-1 through three of six meetings this year, with Monday's tilt marking the first meeting in Toronto...Boston has won four of the last five encounters and has taken five of its previous six games at Air Canada Centre...White has reached the scoresheet in six straight, notching two goals and four helpers during the run...The Leafs' Matt Stajan had a six-game scoring stretch halted...Thomas is now 6-1-1 over his last eight starts with two shutouts...Kessel's goal was his team-leading eighth of the season.

  11/17 23:26:41 ET