Bruins lead going into third

TORONTO -- ‘‘Goal’’ has been a four-letter word of late in the Boston hockey lexicon. However, the Bruins actually managed a 1-0 lead in the first period tonight against the Maple Leafs and they forged it on a power play — another true rarity the last two weeks for the Black and Gold.
Glen Murray was credited with the go-ahead strike, but the veteran winger merely provided a tip of a Matt Lashoff wrister that the rookie defenseman slung in from above the left circle. Fellow rookie Milan Lucic added an assist.
With but 1:12 gone in the second period, the Bruins boosted their lead to a nearly unheard-of 2-0 when rookie David Krejci, filling in for the injured Marc Savard (back), lifted a backhander up high after gathering in a doorstep rebound of a Marco Sturm shot.
Midway through the second, the Bruins’ fortunes had reached unbelievable proportions. Again on a power play, they boosted their lead to 3-0 (this is not a typographical error) when Sturm was left alone at the right post to pop home Krejci’s cross-slot feed past the goalie.
With 40 minutes gone, and another day of the end-of-season playoff race about to tick off the calendar, the Bruins had command of a 3-1 lead.