Tuukka Rask finished with 34 saves and has lost only once in regulation over his last eight starts. An overall great effort for the Bruins in a 5-2 win, their second straight win over the Leafs.
Things got a little scary there for the Bruins when the Leafs pulled within one goal, but just as they have done a lot recently, the Bruins didn't crumble under pressure and pulled away for the win.
We're headed down for postgame reaction. Thanks for joining us here at our Bruins Live Blog and happy holidays!
Third period, 00:11.4, Bruins 5-2: Mark Recchi just scored again, this time on an empty net as Vesa Toskala was pulled. Patrice Bergeron unselfishly dished it off to Recchi, passing up on the goal.
Third period, 2:47, Bruins 4-2: "The Wrecking Ball" Mark Recchi may have just wrecked the Leafs' comeback as he beat Vesa Toskala with a power-play goal. Blake Wheeler and David Krejci had the helpers.
Third period, 4:01, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins are headed onto their fourth power play as Jason Blake is in the sin-bin for high-sticking Zdeno Chara. Chara tried to look for blood and more minutes on the power play, but no such luck.
Third period, 7:40, Bruins 3-2: Not exactly the final period the Bruins had hoped for, as Toronto has been buzzing. The timeout seemed to calm the storm a bit.
Ran into old friend and former Bruin Marty Lapointe, who is scouting for the Blackhawks. Said he misses Boston. Marty is now a full-time resident of Chicago.
Third period, 15:31, Bruins 3-2: The Leafs are suddenly back in this game as Nikolai Kulemin has pulled his team to within one goal and the Bruins just called a timeout to regroup.
Milan Lucic's favorite person, Mike Komisarek, and Tomas Kaberle had the assists.
Third period, 19:42, Bruins 3-1: Underway in the third period and we have a goal again in the first minute. Mikhail Grabovski just broke Tuukka Rask's shutout. Niklas Hagman and Jason Blake had the helpers.
End of second period, Bruins 3-0: The Bruins killed off the Leafs' last power play and scored on their own 35 seconds into the second frame on a Derek Morris power-play goal. David Krejci added another later in the period and the Bruins are in command right now.
That Krejci goal could prove to be huge. The Leafs appear to be down now, but even if they can mount a comeback, it will be tough to erase a three-goal lead. Tuukka Rask once again looks great and brings a shutout into the third period for the second straight game.
Second period, 4:16, Bruins 3-0: Blake Wheeler is off to the sin-bin for goaltender interference and the Leafs are on their second power play. They're 0-for-1.
Second period, 8:50, Bruins 3-0: And there you go! Just as we were saying. Tuukka Rask just made a huge pad save, the puck bounced out off a Toronto player and right to a streaking David Krejci, who took it down the ice for his fourth goal of the season. That could be the nail right there.
Second period, 9:46, Bruins 2-0: In their last two wins, the Bruins really seemed to keep pushing at this point of the game, trying to put the nail in the coffin. Let's see if they can do it again.
Second period, 12:20, Bruins 2-0: Talking to some scouts during the first intermission and all of them agreed that Phil Kessel looks like the Phil Kessel that has been on fire since coming back from rotator cuff surgery in November.
Have to agree with them, but my problem is, why does he do it only sometimes and not every game? He seems to show up only when he feels like it and that will wear thin after a while in the Toronto dressing room, just as it did here in Boston
Second period, 15:49, Bruins 2-0: Mark Stuart and Jamal Mayers just did the tango and will "go to the box for five minutes, feel shame and then go free."
Stuart and Mayers had tussled a few minutes earlier, received roughing penalties and then came right out of the box and finished the job.
Second period, 19:25, Bruins 2-0: Just as they did in the first period, the Bruins found themselves with a power play in the first minute of play — but this time, they converted. Derek Morris ripped one in from the point only seconds after Leafs defenseman Ian White took a holding penalty.
Zdeno Chara and Michael Ryder had the helpers. The Bruins are 1-for-3 now on the power play.
End of first period, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins recover from a rusty first few minutes and come away with a 1-0 lead on a Mark Stuart goal.
I'm sure they would've liked more chances on that four-minute power play but they picked their game up after that and matched the Leafs' much improved intensity. This looks like it will be a harder game for the Bruins than Saturday was, but if they are into the game now as they appear to be, they should be OK.
Vesa Toskala has played much better as of late but he is the type of goalie that has trouble dealing with traffic in front. So the Bruins need to go to the dirty areas more just as the Leafs are doing in front of Tuukka Rask.
First period, 2:42, Bruins 1-0: The secondary assist on the Mark Stuart goal has been changed and Daniel Paille is now being credited for the helper.
First period, 6:50, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins killed off the Toronto power play and the Leafs are 0-for-1. The Bruins are 0-for-2.
First period, 9:43, Bruins 1-0: Patrice Bergeron is off for high-sticking and the Leafs are on their first power play.
First period, 11:59, Bruins 1-0: Mark Stuart rifles one by Vesa Toskala for a 1-0 Bruins lead. Johnny Boychuk gets his first NHL assist and his second point in two games, while Marco Sturm had the secondary assist.
The crowd is getting on Phil Kessel again with the "K-e-ss-e-l" chants.
First period, 12:02: Apparently Claude Julien is riding the hot horse starting Tuukka Rask and it will be interesting to see if he goes back to Tim Thomas in Saturday's tilt on Long Island when the Bruins play the Islanders.
First period, 14:20: This looks like a much sharper Toronto squad tonight as it killed off the double-minor to Jason Blake. The Bruins appear a bit rusty after four days off.
First period, 16:00: Matt Hunwick is back in the lineup tonight — but at forward instead of his normal spot on defense. Hunwick is filling in on the fourth line for the flu-ridden Byron Bitz, a last-minute scratch. Hunwick is playing with Shawn Thornton and Steve Begin.
First period, 19:44: We are under way here in Boston and Jason Blake is already in the sin bin with a double-minor for high-sticking and the Bruins start the game with a four-minute power play.
5:38 p.m.: Greetings from TD Garden as we get ready for KesselMania II! Phil Kessel has put his first return to Boston behind him, as he and his Maple Leafs were throttled by the Bruins 7-2.
Kessel had, in his words, his "worst" game. Kessel posted a minus-3 rating and had two shots and two giveaways, one of which led to a Zdeno Chara goal in the second period.
But Kessel and the Leafs rebounded quickly and have won two games since Saturday, pulling to within five points of a playoff spot. In fact Toronto, with the exception of Saturday's game in Boston, has been one of the hottest teams in hockey over the past 10 games, going 7-2-1.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have been playing better as well but are coming off a four-day layoff. As they pointed out throughout the week, a layoff can be both good and bad. The Bruins also know they're going to get a better performance from a team with revenge on its mind.
"When you get beat the way they got beat last time they were here, you've got revenge on your mind and [they are] obviously a little bit more ready for the challenge," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "We know that, and we haven't played in a few days, so it's going to be a challenge for us to be sharp right off the bat and face that challenge."
Defenseman Dennis Wideman is a game-time decision on Thursday after missing all three practices this week and only skating after the last two. Also, there's no word yet on whether it's Tim Thomas or Tuukka Rask between the pipes.
See you at faceoff!
