Matthews blunder costs game, dead PP, and more: 3 reasons why Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in OT to Boston Bruins

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a tough OT matchup against the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Saturday at the TD Garden.

The game went down to the wire with the Maple Leafs tying the game late. However, a costly turnover in OT allowed the Bruins to escape with the two points. Matthew Knies, Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, David Pastrnak, Justin Brazeau, Mark Kastelic, and Brad Marchand got the goals for Boston.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the three reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped Saturday night’s tilt against the Boston Bruins.

3 reasons why Toronto Maple Leafs lost in OT against Boston Bruins

#3. The Leafs' power play went silent

In a concerning trend for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the power play fell silent on the night. The Leafs went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, mustering three shots. That sort of offensive output on the power play wasn’t nearly enough to beat Boston.

On the whole, the Leafs’ power play could not generate scoring chances, especially with the Bruins negating Auston Matthews’ chances to deliver his patented one-timer. In the end, the Leafs’ power play is a tale of missed opportunities.

#2. A lack of depth scoring

The Leafs’ top line got the job done with Knies scoring a goal, Matthews getting a goal and an assist and Mitch Marner notching three assists. However, the rest of the lineup failed to deliver. While Morgan Rielly also got on the board, William Nylander, Max Domi and John Tavares were non-factors in the game.

Beyond the top six, the bottom six did not generate any offense of note. While the bottom six played a key role in keeping the game close, they did not support the offense in any meaningful way.

#1. Auston Matthews blew it in overtime

Auston Matthews rescued the Leafs with a goal at 18:43 of the third period to send the game to OT. Then, in OT, Matthews threw the puck blindly to no man’s land, giving a free gift to David Pastrnak. Pastrnak walked in and took the shot with the rebound coming to Marchand for the winner.

On the replay, Matthews can be seen standing in disbelief at his blunder while the Bruins attempted to score. Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz made the initial save. But by the time Matthews tried to get back into the play, it was too late.

The Leafs walked away with a point out of the OT disaster and will have a day to recover before facing the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.