Maple Leafs at Bruins
THE STORY: Frustrated by a slow start to their Stanley Cup defense, the Boston Bruins let out some anger on Tuesday. Five different game misconduct penalties were handed out to the Bruins in a loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, including one to coach Claude Julien on the bench late in the third. Boston played nearly the entire third period shorthanded and ended up with 72 total penalty minutes. Perhaps that show of emotion was what the team needed to spark it out of an offensive funk. The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to suffer a regulation loss and have gotten stellar play from former Bruin Phil Kessel. The Maple Leafs also had the benefit of beginning the season at a leisurely pace, with five straight at home and no back-to-backs. They will begin their first road trip of the season when they visit TD Garden on Thursday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN (Toronto), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (4-0-1): Toronto is averaging 3.2 goals thanks in large part to Kessel, who paces the NHL with 12 points and seven goals. Kessel, who spent the first three seasons of his career with Boston, recorded a goal and two assists on Wednesday to help the Maple Leafs battle back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period and beat Winnipeg in a shootout.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (2-4-0): Boston is averaging just 1.7 goals and recorded its second power-play tally on Tuesday when Rich Peverley scored, snapping an 0-for-22 drought with the man advantage. But the big story was the penalties, as Nathan Horton was involved in two large brawls and Zdeno Chara was handed 17 minutes worth of penalties for a fight in the second.
OVERTIME:
1. Boston C David Krejci missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury on Tuesday and is listed as day-to-day.
2. Toronto took four of the six meetings last season, including the final three.
3. Kessel has six points in 12 games against his former team.
PREDICTION: Bruins 3, Maple Leafs 1. Boston will be fired up after Tuesday’s fiasco and Toronto will be playing on back-to-back nights for the first time.