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Bruins beat Maple Leafs for fourth straight time

Dec 8, 2006 - 2:55 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Thanks to Wayne Primeau and Shean Donovan, the Boston Bruins continued their recent resurgence.

Primeau scored the winning goal and added an assist and Donovan set up a pair of tallies as the Bruins used a third-period rally to record their fifth win in six games, a 3-1 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The victory also was Boston's fourth straight against Toronto. The Bruins topped their Northeast Division rival in overtime on November 16 before registering back-to-back wins later in the month.

"We're finding ways to win instead of finding ways to lose," Primeau said. "I think it's the feeling in the room that even if we go down by a goal, we're still able to come back and get the win."

Primeau netted the decisive tally with 5:53 left in the third. Mark Mowers' shot was stopped by goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin, but the rebound was kicked to Primeau, who fired it in to snap a 1-1 tie.

The Bruins had deadlocked the game at 10:13 of the period, when defenseman Brad Stuart cut toward the net, received a backhand pass from Brad Boyes and snapped the puck past Aubin.

"We're winning games. What more can I ask?," said Stuart, who scored two goals in Boston's 6-5 victory over Montreal on Monday. "A game like that, we probably would have given up on after the second period (in the past). Things like that weren't going our way. Now, we're finding ways to say, 'How are we going to come back and how are we going to win these games?' That's made a difference."

Patrice Bergeron added insurance late in the session and Tim Thomas finished with 23 saves.

"I don't think we played any different in the third than we did in the first," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "I'm not going to make excuses. We have to find a way to compete harder at the end of the day. Not just two or three guys. Every guy in that locker room has to finish more checks, compete harder, control your rebounds better."

Jeff O'Neill scored the lone goal for Toronto, which is 0-5-1 in its last six and has just two wins in its last 11. The Maple Leafs have scored just eight goals during their winless stretch.

"We're going to have to figure this out," said Toronto defenseman Hal Gill, who signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent after playing the past eight seasons in Boston. "It has to be tomorrow and we're going to have to be ready for it. They're a good team, and we gave them a couple of chances and they took advantage of it. Frustration is a good word. Numbing is good, too. It's definitely upsetting."

Aubin recorded 23 saves in his first start since November 16. "We were exactly we were wanted to be, 1-0, on the road and didn't take it," Maurice said. "We didn't take it, and that's the problem. It was reaffirming that we have quite a bit of work to do."