Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel, Surging Leafs Take on Boston Bruins Thursday

The Toronto Maple Leafs will make their first visit to the TD Garden on Thursday to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, who are just 2-4 on the season.

Maple Leafs winger Phil Kessel leads the NHL in goals with six, and has nine points total. In a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, Kessel had a goal and two assists.

Kessel returns to the team who traded him before the 2009-10 season when he and the Bruins could not work out a long term contract.

The Leafs are hoping Kessel can become a 40-goal scorer this season, and he's well on his way to that mark.

One of the players the Bruins received from the Leafs (via the 2nd pick in 2010 Draft), Tyler Seguin, leads the Bruins with five points on one goal and four assists.

Seguin has been playing with the first line the past few games with center David Krejci hurt and unable to play. Seguin will likely continue to see ice time with the top line when Krejci comes back.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien has been trying to find the right line combinations in the early part of the season with his offense struggling to find the back of the net.

Nathan Horton could find himself on the second or possibly third line on Thursday, and Milan Lucic may also find himself off the top line if things don't go Boston's way early.

The Leafs are currently 4-0-1 with nine points atop the Northeast division, and have played very well in the first few weeks of the season.

They are a very difficult to play against because they are a young, scrappy team that is talented and hungry to prove itself in the league.

Boston has to match their energy from the start or the Bruins will find themselves with an early and possibly unrecoverable deficit.

If the Bruins don't win Thursday against Toronto, they will be 2-5 heading into a tough game against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at the Garden.