WILMINGTON, Mass. — Kesselmania VII has come to town.
This year's first meeting between Toronto and Boston doesn't have quite the same hype as last season's first six meetings between the Bruins and their former teammate, but the B's certainly know that stopping star forward Phil Kessel is still their first priority Thursday night.
Kessel is off a stellar start this season as he leads the Leafs with seven goals and nine points through eight games so far this season. Then again, he led the Leafs with 30 goals and 55 points last season and didn't manage to light the lamp once against the Bruins.
"He's having a pretty good start," said Bruins center David Krejci. "But I know last year he was struggling against us a little bit, so hopefully we're going to make it hard on him and make him want to quit or have himself a bad game."
Kessel had a few bad games against the Bruins last year. He finished with just one assist and was a minus-5 in the six meetings between the Northeast Division rivals.
"He was probably trying too hard at the beginning," said Bruins forward Blake Wheeler. "I think the first few games he was pressing a bit. I think he wanted to do a little too much against us. I think the last few games he played better against us, got some more scoring chances. So for him, it's probably just about playing his game, not worrying about any added emotion."
Wheeler and Kessel have been close since their days playing together at the University of Minnesota. They've stayed in touch even as their NHL career paths have diverged, but they try to avoid the shop talk when they get together.
"We don't really talk about hockey, but I've been in touch and we'll probably go for dinner tonight," said Wheeler after Wednesday's practice. "It will be good to see him."
The Bruins hope it will be as good as it was seeing him last year, when Boston went 4-1-1 against the Leafs and continuously frustrated the skilled forward.
"I bet it's eating him up inside a bit that he wasn't able to get anything going against us last year," said Bruins forward Milan Lucic. "I know deep down he's going to want to do whatever he can to score against us and get a win. And as a team we have to do whatever we can to stop him. We know he's got a great shot, great speed and great skill."
Kessel is far from the only connection between the two clubs. The Bruins drafted rookie Tyler Seguin with the second overall pick this June, the first of three selections obtained for Kessel last September. Boston also acquired goalie Tuukka Rask in one of league's the all-time heists, a 2006 draft-day deal for Andrew Raycroft.
Toronto has also benefited from Boston's largesse on the personnel front, albeit less directly. The Leafs have one of the top enforcers in the game in Colton Orr, who was originally Bruins property before he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Rangers in 2005. Toronto also acquired forward Kris Versteeg from Chicago this summer. Versteeg had two 20-goal seasons and won a Cup with the Blackhawks after the Bruins traded him to Chicago for Brandon Bochenski in 2007.
All those connections have helped rekindle the rivalry between the Original Six foes.
"There's starting to be, with us having Tuukka and Tyler and them having Phil," said Lucic. "It's definitely more of a rivalry, more heat going into every game."
And with no goals in his first six games against his old club, the heat is on Kessel more than anyone.
