The Bruins quench the Maple Leafs

Swayman stands tall as Boston burns on

A ghost on the shelf

The Toronto Maple Leafs came to qualification night carrying an old ghost. In each of the last two Gauntlets they had gone dark on this first night, beaten by the Columbus Blue Jackets and then the Detroit Red Wings. One more loss meant a third straight year snuffed before the tournament really began. Across the shelf stood the Boston Bruins, who carried their flame all the way to last season's final before the Seattle Kraken beat them.

This was a virtual match. Each team played its own game, and the one that scored more went through.

Six in San Jose

The San Jose Sharks outshot Boston 38 to 26, and the Bruins never trailed. Fraser Minten opened with a wrist shot at 12:55 of the 1st. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy answered Jacob Trouba's slap shot at 18:43. Power-play goals from Ivar Stenberg and Macklin Celebrini kept the Sharks close, but Matthew Poitras tipped one in, Pavel Zacha struck at 19:57 of the 2nd, and Minten tipped home his second at 11:47 of the 3rd. That was Boston's fifth goal. Will Borgen hit the empty net, and Jeremy Swayman finished with 35 saves.

The comeback stalls

In Salt Lake City the Utah Mammoth went up 3 to 0. Auston Matthews scored on a power-play backhand at 5:16 of the 2nd, and Jack Roslovic snapped one in at 16:29. John Tavares scored on the power play at 7:12 of the 3rd, with goalie Anthony Stolarz on the assist. At 11:01 Gavin McKenna scored while Toronto's goalie was off for the extra skater as a penalty on Utah was being signalled. That was Toronto's last goal. Four could not catch six, and the Leafs' candle went cold. Eighteen flames still burn.