Mara lays down the law on Tucker

TORONTO -- Paul Mara is still in pursuit of his first goal as a Bruin. When it comes, chances are it won't be as memorable as his first true dustup while wearing the Black and Gold.

With 2:12 remaining in the first period of last night's 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs, the 6-foot-4-inch Mara dropped his gloves and jumped to the defense of teammate Marc Savard, taking on Leafs rabble-rouser Darcy Tucker. The catalyst, though, was actually Tucker's nasty hit on Zdeno Chara a few moments earlier, which sent the towering blue liner toppling awkwardly to the ice behind the Boston goal line.

"He ran Z, one of our best players," said Mara. "And then he went after Savvy. We can't have that happening."

Mara netted 17 minutes in penalties for the skirmish, along with a few late smacks to the head by Tucker before they tumbled to the ice.

"That was definitely a borderline hit on Z," said Mara, sizing up Tucker's slam on the 6-9 Chara. "And I know Z is experienced enough not put himself in situations to get hit like that."

Brad Boyes, without a goal since Nov. 6, knocked home the third goal after being set up alone in front by Patrice Bergeron with 4:06 left in regulation. Three Leafs were behind the goal line when Boyes was left with the easy forehand putaway against ex-teammate Andrew Raycroft, who must have thought he was playing behind the 2005-06 Boston blue line corps.

"All I remember is, jumping up and down, thinking, 'Thank God, it went in,' " said Boyes. "Good thing I didn't think. I just shot."

Chara, who played only 21 minutes in Friday's stinker, was back to his normal diet, logging 30:13 in ice time and delivering two hits . . . Jason York, back in the lineup after having a knee surgically scoped, paired with Mark Stuart and played 13:27. Stuart logged only 6:55, a team low . . . Savard had a rough night at the faceoff dot, winning only 4 of 16 draws . . . No workout for the Bruins today. They'll skate in Wilmington tomorrow before flying back here later in the afternoon for Tuesday's rematch.

In the late stages of Friday's loss, Lewis broke up his lines a little, removing the struggling Boyes from the Marco Sturm-Bergeron line, and moving Petr Tenkrat up to the vacant spot on right wing. When the puck was dropped last night, however, Lewis had gone back to his customary trios. Boyes's goal in the third was assisted by Bergeron and Sturm . . . Tim Thomas, pulled in the second period of Friday's debacle, was back in net for the Bruins, opposing Raycroft. Paul Maurice, the former Hurricanes coach who replaced Pat Quinn as Leafs bench boss over the summer, said he had no hesitation coming back with Raycroft for the second time in two nights -- even though Raycroft wrenched a knee earlier this month at TD Banknorth Garden. "We held him out of the New Jersey game," said Maurice, noting he sat Raycroft Nov. 18. "We wanted to make sure he was 100 percent. He didn't see a lot of shots in the second and third periods [Friday night in Washington], and that's a good thing."

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.