Kessel-Mania I turned into a Marc Savard smack-down.

Savard scored three goals, Marco Sturm, Zdeno Chara, Mark Recchi and Johnny Boychuk added single tallies and Tuuka Rask made 31 saves as the Bruins returned to winning hockey with a 7-2 drubbing of Phil Kessel and the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday.

The event dubbed “Kessel-Mania I” by those puck madmen who dub such things, was a decided mismatch as the Bruins scored three times while Kessel was on the ice in the opening 22 minutes of the game.  

"We wanted to win this game, obviously playing against a couple guys,” said Savard, who was quick to praise Claude Julien’s pre-game speech to his team.

“It was one of the best I’ve ever heard,” Savard said. “It really fired us up early… I can’t really pinpoint some of it, but it was a really inspirational one.”

Savard had one of two quick goals by the Bruins in the first period, with follow up tallies in the second and third period. He now has seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in seven games since returning from a broken foot on Nov. 23 and four goals since signing a seven-year, $28.05 million contract extension on Wednesday.

There certainly could have been a better time for a homecoming by Kessel, the Bruins leading goal scorer last season, who after failing to agree on contract terms, was traded to Toronto in September.

After a 5-1 drubbing in Montreal Friday, the Bruins already had a chip on their shoulder before taking to ice against Kessel and the Leafs.

“We got embarrassed the other night, so we kind of took it back here,” Savard said.

Even with Friday’s setback in Montreal, the Bruins have still won seven of their last nine games (7-1-1). 

Here’s what to tuck away while waiting for Kessel-Mania II on Thursday.

KESSEL NETS A TRIPLE-MINUS TRICK

Kessel was booed from the moment his name was announced in the starting lineup, again when he first briefly touched the puck in the opening seconds and yet again when he took off on his first rush 3:30 into the game.

After that Bruins fans were pretty much to busy cheering to boo him.

With Kessel on the ice, Patrice Bergeron initially tipped a point- shot by Derek Morris, before Sturm deflected the puck a second time past Toronto starter Joey McDonald for a 1-0 Bruins lead 5:28 into the game.

After Shawn Thornton and Colton Orr squared off in a super brawl clash of the titans, Savard swiped in a shot from the slot and Boston had a 2-0 advantage with Kessel once again an on-ice witness to the goal.

Kessel’s hat-trick of disgrace, was completed two minutes into the second period as he turned the puck over at Toronto blue line as the Leafs were breaking up ice. Chara gathered the puck and ripped a 50-foot slap that deflected of the leg of Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle and by McDonald.

“I didn’t play well, I don’t know what to say,” said Kessel, while admitting the return to Boston was just not another game. “There is pressure. That was probably the worst game I played in quite a while. I don’t know, I got to be better.”

For his part, Savard scored his second goal, taking a feed from Michael Ryder after a turnover by Toronto defenseman Francois Beauchemin during a Bruins power play with 5:15 to play in the second.

Savard completed the hat trick with an even stretch goal in the third.  Winger Byron Bitz assisted on two of the three goals, with Blake Wheeler assisting on the third.

“I thought my wingers played well tonight,” said Savard, who had skated alongside Kessel last season. “Wheeler was all over the puck and Bitz was getting to the net for opportunities.”

DEFENSIVE CHANGES

Who could blame Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk for losing track of what day it was before speaking with reporters after the game. It had been a whirlwind 24 hours for the 25-year-old blueliner.

After the second game of a conditioning assignment with the Providence Bruins, Boychuk was suddenly told he was heading back up to Boston.

“ I was getting on the bus, [the game in Montreal] was still in the second period and I got called up, I thought things were probably not going too well,” said Boychuk, who had a pretty good sense of what was occurring in the Bruins lackluster 5-1 loss to the Canadiens. 

Boychuk moved into the Bruins starting lineup in place of Matt Hunwick Saturday, making his first appearance since October 17. Hunwick had struggled in the Bruins loss in Montreal. His second-period turnover behind the Boston net led to directly to a goal by Mike Cammalleri.

Paired with Mark Stuart, Bouchuk logged of 17:48 ice time Saturday, which included time on the power play. He also scored his first NHL, blasting in a slap shot 12:26 into the third period.

“I just tried to shoot it hard and hit the net,” said Boychuk.

His teammates got a kick out of the goal.

“Johnny is one of those guys, he just enjoys every minute of being here,” said Chara. “When he scored, you could see the whole team was jumping and happy for him.”

NO RUST FOR RASK

Seeing his first action in over a week, Rask returned to the form he showcased during six starts (4-1-1) while Tim Thomas recovered from a hand injury.

The layoff didn’t appear to faze the mild-mannered Rask.

“Mentally it’s tough because you just try to remember the good things you’ve done and try to keep it up and make those first saves and then kind of get the groove back and that’s all you can do,” said Rask.

He was at his best helping to shutdown two Toronto power plays, and while making a breakaway save against Mikhail Grabovski in the opening period.

Rask also picked up an assist on Recchi’s goal, his second of the season.

“It wasn’t a great assist, but sometimes all you got to do is just stuff the puck in their end, but that happens very rarely,” said Rask.