Marner works his magic for Leafs in win over Bruins

On a night when Patrick Marleau celebrated his 1,600th NHL game, Mitch Marner did what he does best — make goals.

"He has great vision out there," said the 39-year-old Marleau. "The way he skates and handles the puck, he can manoeuvre around guys and draw guys to him. He did that quite a bit tonight."

"He's found a nice groove here," he added. "He's only going to keep getting better I think. And that's pretty scary."

Asked about Marner, Leafs coach Mike Babcock said all great players manage to play at their own pace.

"What's amazing is most of us have no time and space whatsoever. Or we're just banging it here, banging it there and chasing it. And then the really good guys seem to have all the time in the world … They're gliding all over the rink and it seems effortless."

Watch Marner shine in Leafs' win:

Travis Dermott, who scored the first goal of the game off a Marner assist, marvelled at his teammate.

"With the puck, without the puck, he's definitely a slippery guy," said Dermott. "And if you get open, he's going to find you and get the puck to you right on the tape and pretty flat. He's a guy you want to be out there with."

Each team scored twice in a frenetic second period that saw Boston outshoot Toronto 18-9. With the Leafs leading 3-2 going into the third, Boston's Danton Heinen hit the goalpost but the Bruins could not breach the Leaf defence.

Zach Hyman added an empty-net goal with 1:35 remaining to seal Toronto's fifth straight home win. Frederik Andersen made 38 saves in collecting his 13th win of the season.

Igor Ozhiganov and Josh Leivo also scored for Toronto (17-8-0). Ozhiganov celebrated his first career NHL goal and Dermott his second.

Watch as Marner's magic leads to Ozhiganov's 1st-career goal:

David Pastrnak, who had a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Toronto on Nov. 10, scored twice for Boston (13-7-4).

The Bruins lost Kevan Miller late in the first period after the defenceman took a puck to the throat area off a John Tavares shot. The close-range shot seemed to hit Miller's stick and ride up to the neck area.

Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said Miller went to hospital and was to remain overnight for observation with some swelling in the throat area.

"Right now he's out of any danger, from what we've heard," Cassidy said.

"Looks like X-rays are negative, [he] got it in the throat," he added. "They're going to keep him overnight for observation, make sure his breathing stays normal. Hopefully he's able to fly back [Tuesday], that's the plan."

Both teams were playing their fourth game in six nights.

The win move third-place Toronto four points ahead of fourth-place Boston in the Atlantic Division.

The Bruins, who won 3-2 in Montreal on Saturday night, arrived having won two straight and three of their last four. Toronto was coming off a 6-0 win over visiting Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Marleau is the 11th NHLer to reach the 1,600 regular-season game milestone. Marleau has missed just 31 games over 21 seasons since making his NHL debut on Oct. 1, 1997.

"Great great human being," Babcock said prior to the game.

"Hard worker, great pro, great person," he added. "So important for this team it's not even funny and I'm not even talking about what he does on the ice. He's fantastic."

Marleau got a standing ovation from the Scotiabank Arena crowd after a video tribute in the first period.

"That was amazing. It was unexpected, but it was greatly appreciated," he said.

It was the 672nd meeting between the two Original Six teams in a rivalry that dates back to 1924.

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