Bruins Belt Maple Leafs

Winning in Toronto has been tough for the Boston Bruins in the '90s.

The Bruins finally ended a six-game winless streak in the Canadian city dating back to Jan. 22, 1992 with a 4-1 victory over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

"It was a close game," said Boston coach Pat Burns. "They played us tight, but our special teams made a big difference and today it was the deciding factor."

Boston scored twice on six power plays and held Toronto scoreless on its four advantages.

"It was an even game, really," said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn, who saw his club fall to 10-10-2 since the all-star break. "But they were patient and waited for us to make mistakes."

Jason Allison scored on a breakaway with 6:31 remaining to break a 1-1 tie. Dmitri Khristich, who assisted on the goal for his 500th NHL point, scored a power-play goal 1:42 later and Anson Carter clinched it with an empty-netter in the final 10 seconds.

Rob DiMaio also scored for Boston and Byron Dafoe made 25 saves for his 24th win of the season as the Bruins ended an 0-3-3 streak in Toronto.

"(Dafoe's) been unbelievable for us the whole season," Carter said. "It's coming down to the playoff stretch and we can't afford to lose two points."

Igor Korolev scored for the Maple Leafs, who are 3-for-46 on the power play in their last 13 games.

It was a quiet game until Boston's Landon ilson was awarded a penalty shot 7:41 into the second period when defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev hauled him down on a breakaway. But Wilson, a former first-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 1993, didn't even hit the net on the penalty shot as he snapped a wrist shot off the glass.

The last time a Maple Leafs goalie stopped a penalty shot at home was Jan. 5, 1991, when Peter Ing denied Wayne Gretzky of Los Angeles.

The Bruins finally broke the scoreless game six minutes later with DiMaio's power-play blast from the top of the circle. The Maple Leafs tied it midway through the third just after Tie Domi stepped out of the penalty box. Domi chipped a pass while falling to Korolev, who shot it past an out-of-position Dafoe.

"I thought when it was 1-1 we were starting to come back," said Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin. "We battled well, but we gave up a few weak goals. They were the better team tonight, for sure."

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