Former Leaf absolutely pummels Bruins forward in 3rd period scrap

I'm sorry, but I simply couldn't contain myself. After a summer that felt a lot longer than usual, to have NHL pre-season hockey begin, I'm like a kid on Christmas morning, walking down the stairs to see all the beautifully wrapped gifts under the tree.

The Leafs' pre-season got started on a so-so note, falling 3-2 to the Ottawa Senators, with most of the Leafs' roster bound for the AHL/CHL, aside from a few key pieces, such as William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Matthew Knies and a few select others. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Sens had dressed quite a few NHLers, including their potent top line of Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk. The two teams are back at it tonight in Toronto, with the puck expected to drop shortly after 7:00pm ET.

Meanwhile, just a little ways down the road in Boston, an Atlantic Division rival Boston Bruins team skated away with a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers. Neither team were playing a lot of actual NHL bodies, so we definitely can't put much stock into that one, but there was a pretty good tilt between a pair of NHL hopefuls in Ben Harpur (NYR) and A.J. Greer (BOS) that occurred late in the 3rd period.

This one was a battle of the heavyweights, with Greer standing in at 6'3 and approximately 210 lbs. Meanwhile, Harpur stands in at 6'6 and right around 230 lbs. The two goliaths stood toe-to-toe, trading some heavy shots before Harpur took over and landed several bombs, sending Greer crashing to the ice. Have a look:

We've now seen a few pretty good scraps in the pre-season. Obviously, we know that it's all about players trying to put coaches on notice that they're willing to do whatever it takes to make the team. I know that, growing up, I always loved catching a good old fashioned hockey fight live during a game, so I trust that the fans feel like they got their money's worth last night in Boston.