Pat Maroon dumps Timothy Liljegren onto the Bruins bench.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traveled to Boston to face off against the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup playoffs series, and both teams have come out and tried to send a physical message early on in this contest.

Unfortunately through the first period things have worked out much better for the Bruins in that regard, with Bruins forward Pat Maroon owning the most spectacular hit of the first 20 minutes of play. Maroon absolutely leveled Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren along the boards, dumping him into the Bruins bench in the process.

As you might have expected, that brought a roar from both the Bruins crowd and Bruins announcer Jack Edwards who might have been heard elling all the way back in Toronto.

Ryan Reaves tried to set a similar tone early on but actually ended up creating a scoring opportunity for the Bruins instead, one that would lead to the only goal of the period. Reaves came in to lay a hit, but ended up hindering Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson in the process creating a 2 on 1 for the Bruins.

Still plenty of hockey to be played in both this game and this series.