Kadri scores again as Toronto Maple Leafs finally beat Boston Bruins

TORONTO – Nazem Kadri’s hot hand and a timely goal by tough guy Frazer McLaren helped Toronto beat Boston 3-2 on Saturday night, ending the Bruins’ eight-game win streak over the Maple Leafs.

Rallying from 3-0 early in the third, the Bruins threw everything they had at Toronto in the final minutes. The two teams go at it again Monday in Boston.

The Leafs (17-12-3) did a lot with a little offence in a game that saw both teams misfire. They had four shots in the first period, five in the second and four in the third but managed to score a goal in each.

Mikhail Grabovski also scored for Toronto before 19,236 at the Air Canada Centre.

Kadri, who came into the game 10th in league scoring with 33 points (13 goals and 20 assists), has three goals and six assists in his last four games.

Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference, with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker, replied for the Bruins.

Boston outshot Toronto 33-13.

The Bruins (20-7-3) had won their last eight games against the Leafs, dating back to the 2010-11 season. Toronto’s last victory over Boston was March 31, 2011 — a 4-3 shootout decision.

But the Boston offence has been spotty of late. The Bruins wrapped up their four-game road trip with a 1-3-0 record and just five goals scored while going 0-for-9 on the power play.

Toronto, which came into the game having won just one of its last seven, looked sloppy for much of the evening. But the Leafs somehow emerged with two points.

Kadri opened the scoring at 4:58 with his 14th of the season, beating Anton Khudobin on a low shot after a nifty pass from Clarke MacArthur went under Seidenberg’s stick and found the red-hot Leaf. John-Michael Liles triggered the play with a quick pass up the wing.

Two seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Toronto’s Colton Orr and Shawn Thornton squared off with the Leafs bruiser winning a lengthy tilt. Orr pushed Toronto’s league-leading number of fighting majors to 33.

The goal marked the first time Toronto had led Boston since Oct. 20, 2011 when Dave Steckel scored the opening goal in a 6-2 loss.

Khudobin then had to be sharp to stop Matt Frattin from a Grabovski feed.

Toronto was lucky to escape after a Mark Fraser giveaway led to havoc in the Leafs defensive end later in the period. Fraser did it again minutes later and the Leafs were lucky to escape.

James Reimer stopped Nathan Horton on the doorstep as the period ended with Boston outshooting the Leafs 10-4.

Grabovski made it 2-0 at Toronto’s first shot of the second period at 2:52 after flying past Milan Lucic. The Belarusian eluded defenceman Mark Bartkowski and then had a little luck as the puck bounced back to him off another Bruin before he fired a wrist shot home for his eighth of the season. It was his second goal in as many games after a 10-game drought.

Reimer stopped a Patrice Bergeron shot to further frustrate the Bruins. At the other end, Nikolai Kulemin rang one off the crossbar.

The six-foot-five MacLaren scored his third of the season at 1:34 of the third period, jamming the puck in off Khudobin on the edge of the crease. Claude Julien then put Tuukka Rask in goal.

Boston got on the board at 2:30 when Seidenberg’s shot from the point trickled through a screened Reimer. The Bruins came on hard after that, hitting the post twice.

Ference cut the lead to 3-2 at 18:44 with Rask on the bench for an extra attacker.

The Bruins were playing without injured defencemen Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid.

Toronto’s Liles left the game in the second period after a sliding Daniel Paille hit him at the boards. He suffered what was termed a lower-body injury and did not return.

Linesman Mark Shewchyk also had a tough night, crashing in the corner boards after his skate tangled with that of Dion Phaneuf.

NOTES — The Leafs honoured former captain Mats Sundin before the game. Sundin, a member of the 2012 Hockey Hall of Fame induction class who was slated to be feted during one of the games eliminated by the lockout, dropped the ceremonial puck. Fans showed the big Swede lots of love every time he was shown on the video screen… Toronto forward Leo Komarov (upper-body injury) has been placed on injured reserve … Toronto winger Joffrey Lupul served the last part of his two-game suspension for a hit to the head of Tampa defenceman Victor Hedman.