LANCE HORNBY

BOSTON – Calling this weekend a sweep would imply the Maple Leafs used a broom on the Bruins.

But it required heavy labour in one of the most demanding 48 hours the Leafs will likely encounter this year. On the heels of a late tie and overtime home win Friday, Toronto came into TD Garden and chipped away at another two points, emerging 4-1 victors on Saturday night.

There was tremendous psychological value in beating the division rival Bruins – for the sixth straight time going back to last season.

“When I first got here it wasn’t going our way necessarily against these guys,” said winger James van Riemsdyk, harkening back to the ill-fated 2013 playoff series. “Since I’ve been in the league, it’s always been a tough team to play against. But it’s a good measuring stick game because they’re always right there in the mix for everything. Now we’ve been able to string a few together.”

Doing it without injured star Auston Matthews was a bonus, making it three straight in his absence and four for the team overall. Clinging to a one-goal lead with back-up Curtis McElhinney holding the fort, the Leafs killed a two-man advantage for 1:07 in the third, led by Leo Komarov, defencemen Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev and their goalie. Tyler Bozak was also penalized and yet as McElhinney’s save total rose to more than 30, Morgan Rielly made it 3-1 with a screen shot on Tuukka Rask, his 16th point in 19 games.

“Scoring first was good, we were able to just be patient,” coach Mike Babcock said. “The Bozak line (he, van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner) scored again, a real positive for us and James has kind of caught fire which is good. The 5-on-3 was huge to say the least and (McElhinney) did a good job as well. A good week for us, four wins.”

It was Marner’s first goal since scoring in the opener against the Jets in Winnipeg.

RASK TRADE RE-VISITED

Make no mistake that the Rask deal in 2006 will stand as one of the worst goalie giveaways in Leaf history.

But more than a decade later, Toronto is getting some measure of its one-time first round draft choice, who won a Cup in Boston while the hole in goal persisted here. The Leafs have now bettered Rask in four straight games since last season.

In Frederik Andersen, who was given Saturday off, the Leafs have at least procured a steady goalie for the first time in years, one who is winning divisional games against long-time nemeses such as Boston and Buffalo.

GAME ON

The Leafs increased their NHL lead in first period goals to 28 when Marner took advantage of van Riemsdyk’s hustle on a puck to pounce on a giveaway up the middle. It was his first goal since opening night, but a couple of assists on Friday had already made this a big swing series for the second year forward.

“Overall, we’re just playing better as a team, that’s the most important thing I’ve noticed,” said Marner.

Van Riemsdyk then got behind Zdeno Chara to re-direct Nazem Kadri’s shot for a 2-0 lead. He and Rielly moved higher in team power-play points with seven each, but it took just a minute for Frank Vatrano to score a similar goal. Rielly is now on a career high four-game assist and points streak.

“A lot of luck and just giving it to teammates — they’re playing well, they’re doing the rest,” insisted Rielly.

The Bruins took exception to Matt Martin making contact with Anders Bjork’s head as the bigger Leaf tried to lay a heavy hit in the second period. Bjork was rattled by Martin was shaken up, too and upon returning to the ice, took Matt Beleskey’s challenge in a brief fight.

WINTER OF 73

When the time came for Boston defenceman Charlie McAvoy to pick a number late last season, the rookie gave it some thought.

“There were 58, 76 and ones like those,” he said of the limited selection. “So I thought of defencemen such as Kris Letang and P.K. Subban, who have those numbers. You think of those numbers, you think of those guys, So I thought of 73. I didn’t think anyone had it, so maybe I’d do my own thing with it. I had it in the playoffs and it went well for me.”

So well that the Long Beach, N.Y., native and first rounder in 2016 is often mentioned in the Calder Trophy conversation. He was high in pre-season polls with higher picks such as Nico Hischier of the Devils before other candidates had hot starts. But newcomers on defence are also cut some slack as it’s a tougher gig when breaking in. He’s getting more than 24 minutes of ice a night, usually with Chara as his partner.

“It’s something I don’t think about,” said McAvoy who bears resemblance to actor Mike Myers. “My immediate goal is to help this team get to the playoffs. That’s where I started last year and that was an unbelievable experience. Since then, it has been ‘wow, I want to get back there. Anything else after that would be up top.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Toronto now enjoys a four-day rest, it’s longest until the Christmas break. Matthews will have had more than a week off to be ready for the home game Thursday against New Jersey, though Babcock won’t issue an update … Rielly and many Leafs called the 5-on-3 kill a textbook effort, aided by a weary Komarov diving and flailing at pucks. “I thought Leo was outstanding,” said Rielly. “The last 10 minutes of the game was a complete comedy show, he was just out there working so hard and doing such a good job defensively. … Winger Josh Leivo was back on the second power play unit Saturday after Babcock railed against the group staying out too long after a Chara penalty had ended in the third period Friday. Leivo wound up in the box for hooking, the call that led to David Pastrnak’s go-ahead goal … Babcock continues to use Hainsey and Zaitsev almost exclusively as his penalty kill pairing. “He’s smart and he’s good and he’s talented,” Babcock said of the 37-year-old Hainsey. “Him and Zaitsev are another level from other guys on the PK, so we try to use them as much as we can. We think our penalty kill has been better than we’ve been statistically of late, but we have to do a better job.”

LHornby@postmedia.com