Bruins and Maple Leafs ready for "Kessel-Mania II"

The Boston media had hyped up Phil Kessel's return to The Hub of Hockey on Saturday night like a pay-per-view event and even dubbed it "Kessel-Mania". It turns out the game wasn't exactly an epic matchup, as it looked more like Tyson-McNeely than "The Rumble in the Jungle". The Bruins completely shutting down #81 en route to an easy 7-2 victory. The Bruins have been off since Saturday night's 7-2 romp. Meanwhile, the Leafs didn't have much time to dwell on the loss as they traveled back to Toronto for 2 games (Thrashers and Islanders). The B's and Leafs will square off Thursday in a re-match of Saturday night's laugher.

Notes:

- Since the Bruins just played the Maple Leafs a few days ago (and because the Leafs played tonight and I don't feel like waiting until that game is over), I am not going to do the usual full preview.

- The Leafs held an outdoor practice on Tuesday.

- Dennis Wideman is questionable for Thursday night's game with an upper body injury.

- Milan Lucic was in New York to promote the Winter Classic.

- I'm think this game will be more competitive than Saturday's game, but you can't rule out the possibility of a game like this:

- The game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on NESN and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub. The Public Skate open thread starts a half hour puck drop.

- Shameless Self-Promotion Alert: If you haven't done so already, vote for Stanley Cup of Chowder in round 2 of The NHL Arena's Bruins Blog-Off.

- For more on the "Truculent Leafs", check out Pension Plan Puppets

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Leafs Fan YouTube Video