Boston heads into the All-Star break by returning to their winning ways

The Bruins and the Maple Leafs faced off in an original six tilt tonight and it certainly lived up to original six standards.

The Bruins had Aaron Ward back in the lineup tonight, in the first of what will hopefully be many Bruins player returns. The Bruins had the same players dress up front but there were some different line combinations tonight with Vladimir Sobotka joining the first line.

The Bruins and Leafs felt each other out for the first half of the first period until the Bruins had a sudden lapse on the defensive end. With about six minutes to go in the period the Leafs got on the board when Jason Blake fired one past Tim Thomas for the early Toronto lead.

Just a little over a minute later the Bruins got on the board when Blake Wheeler tipped in a Ward shot from the point. The Bruins skated off the ice tied with the Maple Leafs after 20 minutes.

With Wheeler in the box for a high stick, Toronto took quick advantage and regained the lead. Kubina Stempniak was trying to camp out in front but was knocked down. However it wasn't in time and Stempniak was able to put a rebound attempt past Thomas.

With the lead, the Maple Leafs took over the play and were able to pad a two goal lead. The Bruins had yet another defensive breakdown in the period and this time Thomas wasn't able to make the stop. Brad May finished off a nice Toronto rush and the Leafs hit the locker room with a 3-1 lead.

The Bruins found themselves in a place in which they have not come back from this season, and that was down after 40 minutes. The Bruins, however, got a nice opportunity to turn things around as in the opening minute they found themselves on the Power Play.

At the tail end of the Power Play, Dennis Wideman threw a shot on goal just to try and create a flurry but ended up finding twine and the Bruins had cut the Toronto lead to one.

The Bruins were frantically trying to tie the game when the captain took it into his own hands. Chara pounded one into the back of the goal and the Bruins evened it up. With just under six minutes to go, we had a brand new hockey game on our hands.

The Bruins and Maple Leafs finished regulation tied at three and for the second straight game Boston was headed for overtime. And after five minutes of scoreless overtime the Bruins found themselves headed to their second straight shootout where they hoped to fair a little bit better this time around.

The Maple Leafs scored on two of their three opportunities and with Boston netting one of their first two it was up to Martin St. Pierre to continue the shootout. St. Pierre beat Toskala and with a Tim Thomas stop and a Michael Ryder goal, the Bruins left Toronto victorious.

It's All-Star time and everyone in the Eastern Conference is envious of Boston's positioning. The Bruins have climbed the first half of the mountain that is the NHL season and right now are far ahead of the other hikers on the trail.