Thu Nov 6 11:12:26 2008

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Surging Bruins welcome Leafs to Beantown

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(Sports Network) - The streaking Boston Bruins continue a three-game homestand tonight, as they host the Northeast Division rival Toronto Maple Leafs for a second time this season at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Bruins have won four of their last five games and scored five goals for a second time over that span in Saturday's 5-1 victory over Dallas to begin this residency.

Marco Strum scored twice, while Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel and Mark Stuart tallied a goal each. Blake Wheeler added two assists for the Bruins, who are 2-1-1 at home this year.

Coming off a loss on Thursday to Calgary in which he allowed three goals after posting back-to-back shutouts previously, Tim Thomas allowed one goal on 36 shots. He leads the NHL with a .944 save percentage and is second with a 1.83 goals against average.

Boston came out on the losing end when it hosted Toronto on October 23rd, even though Thomas managed to make 33 saves. Bergeron and Wheeler scored in that loss.

The win was Toronto's fourth in its last six games versus Boston and third in four games in Beantown.

Niklas Hagman scored and had an assist in that Toronto October win, and also tallied a goal and a helper in Tuesday's 5-4 overtime setback to Carolina. Mikhail Grabovski had two goals and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped three of their last five games.

Toronto lost both ends of a home-and-home with the Hurricanes, who picked up a 6-4 home win on Sunday over the Leafs. Vesa Toskala was in net for Tuesday's loss, allowing five goals on 24 shots.

Toskala, who made 26 saves in beating Boston earlier this year, has allowed 12 goals over his last three outings, though he is 2-0-1 in that span. He has just a 3.00 GAA and .887 save percentage in 11 starts this year.

Toronto is 3-2-1 on the road this season.

Toskala is 5-4-0 with a 2.97 GAA and a tie in 10 career starts versus Boston, while Thomas is 9-4-2 with a 2.96 GAA in 16 versus Toronto.