Pat Maroon Levels Leafs Defender Into Bench

Pat Maroon is already giving the Bruins more toughness.

Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle were The Hockey News picks for the mid-season Selke Trophy.

The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten their series started. As expected, the first period of this matchup was immensely chippy. The Maple Leafs posted 25 hits in the first, while the Bruins had 23. However, the Bruins had the biggest hit of the period.

Trade deadline acquisition Pat Maroon was brought in to provide the Bruins more grit and toughness, and he gave them just that in the first period of Game 1. Maroon leveled Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren into the Bruins bench, much to the excitement of the TD Garden fans.

Bruins forward Jakub Lauko clearly loved Maroon's hit and gave Liljegren a nice chirping in response to it.

This was a big way for Maroon to get his Bruins playoffs debut started. For good measure, he also added an assist on Johnny Beecher's game-opening goal.