Bruins beat Leafs 3-1 in hard hitting game

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 9: Patrice Bergeron #37 and Loui Eriksson #21 of the Boston Bruins celebrate a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the TD Garden on November 9, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Bruins and Maple Leafs met for the first time this season and it was a hard hitting tough game. The Bruins dominated the first period but the Maple Leafs took over the second period. Then in the third period the Bruins put the Maple Leafs away 3-1.

Quick game summary
In the first period, Bruins Adam McQuaid dropped the gloves with Maple Leafs tough guy Frazer McLaren. McLaren got the better of McQuaid at the beginning of the fight but McQuaid came back strong in the later part of the fight. I would call this fight a draw. Later in the period, McQuaid turned to go behind his net and then was hit in the back of his leg with the puck and then he went down and couldn't get back up without help. The CBC crew said it may have been a hip injury as the puck he took to his leg didn't appear to be a hard shot puck. McQuaid did not return to the game. Later, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara scored his 3rd goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 1-0 Bruins.

In the second period, 45 seconds into the period, Maple Leafs David Clarkson challenged Bruins Jarome Iginla to fight and they went at it in another spirited fight with Iginla getting an edge, but after that fight the Maple Leafs got the momentum. Later, Maple Leafs Joffrey Lupul scored, tying the game 1-1.

In the third period, 1:06 into the period, Bruins Patrice Bergeron scored his 4th goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 2-1 Bruins. With 22 seconds left in the game, Leafs had goalie James Reimer pulled, Bruins Patrice Bergeron scored his 5th goal of the season, an empty-net goal, making it 3-1 Bruins.

Game notes
Tuukka Rask played in net for the Bruins and made 33 saves on 34 shots. Rask is now 9-4-1 with a 1.63 GAA and a .944 save percentage this season.

Both teams had 34 shots on net. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 36-32. The Maple Leafs led the game in hits 43-37 and blocked shots 17-15. The Bruins went 2-for-3 on the power-play while the Maple Leafs went 0-for-3.

Jarome Iginla led the Bruins with 6 shots. Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins with 5 hits.

Player notes
Matt Bartkowski and Jordan Caron were scratched again.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 10-5-1 with 21 points and in 4th place in the Atlantic Division. The next game for the Bruins is on Monday when they host the 1st place Tampa Bay Lightning at 1pm ET.