The Bruins rookie camp participants got their trip to Kitchener off to a good start with a 6-5 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies. Jamie Arniel (2 goals) and Zach Hamill (4 points) led the way for the Bruins rookies as Jamie Arniel potted the game winner in overtime.
Adam Courchaine got the start in goal for the B's, while James Reimer was the starter between the pipes for the Leafs.
The Bruins got on the board just under 3 minutes into the game, when Jason Wilson put home a rebound for the early lead. Max Sauve and Ryan Button picked up helpers on the play.
Jamie Arniel made it 2-0 B's with 9:28 remaining in the first period off a feed from Zach Hamill. BU alum Jason Lawrence picked up an assist on the goal as well.
Moments later, all hell broke loose. Scott Fletcher was the first Bruin to drop the gloves this preseason when he squared off with Danvers, MA native Alex Barry off the face-off following the Arniel goal. John Bishop of BostonBruins.com scored the fight in Fletcher's favor. Seconds later, Jordan Knackstedt and Stefano Giliati knuckled up. Knackstedt landed more punches, got Giliati got the takedown. Apparently, the two teams still had some venom left. On the ensuing face-off, Peter Stevens and Jamie Devane dropped the gloves, with devane getting the better of Stevens in a solid bout.
The Leafs cut the Bruins lead in half at 2-1 about midday through the opening period on a goal from Christian Hanson (son of Dave Hanson of "Slap Shot" fame). Nazem Kadri and Viktor Stalberg got on the scoresheet with the assists.
The Bruins left the ice at the end of the first period with a 2-1 lead and a 13-12 edge in shots on goals.
Hanson got his second goal of the game to tie up the game for the Leafs off a scramble in front of the Boston net. John Kurtz and Carl Gunnarsson provided the assists on the Toronto goal.
The Leafs found the back of the net again for a 3-2 lead with 7:37 left in the middle stanza when Tyler Bozak fired a shot from the top of the left circle for the power play marker.
After 2 periods of play, the B's trailed 3-2 but held a 26-21 advantage in shots on goal.
Levi Nelson pulled the Bruins back to even when he lit the lamp just 10 seconds in the third off assists from Jordan Knackstedt and Zach Hamill.
Nazem Kadri put the leafs back on top at 4-3 with 14:46 left in regulation when his backhander beat Courchaine for an unassisted goal.
Less than 40 seconds later, Tyler Randell found the back of the net to tie things up for the B's. Chris DeSousa and Alain Goulet added the helpers on the Bruins' goal.
Christian Hanson's shot from the right circle on the power play gave the Leafs the lead and Hanson a hat trick with 7:23 to go in regulation. The assists were scored to Jesse Blacker and Tyler Bozak.
Rob Kwiet's shot beat Reimer on the glove side with 1:56 left in the period to tie the game at 5-5. Zach Hamill picked up his third assist of the game, while Ryan Button also added a helper on the play.
With nothing settled after 60 minutes of hockey, the two teams headed for overtime.
The B's got the game-winner from Jamie Arniel with 1:06 left in OT off a pretty give and go with Zach Hamill.
Adam Courchaine turned aside 34 shots in the win, while James Reimer stopped 30 pucks for the Leafs.
The Bruins's youngsters will take on the Ottawa Senators' rookies on Wednesday afternoon (2:00 p.m.; Kitchener Memorial Auditorium; Kitchener, Ontario).
Note: Accounts of this game from Bish's Live Blog, BostonBruins.com, and MapleLeafs.com were used to compile this report.