Monday night's 8-3 Boston Bruins' handling of the Montreal Canadiens in Halifax was highlighted by a series of fisticuffs (four to be exact).

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Montreal Canadiens' Steve Begin (L) and Boston Bruins' Shawn Thornton fight during the third period of their NHL pre-season hockey game at the Metro Centre in Halifax, September 22, 2008.

Photograph by : Reuters

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B's tough guy Shawn Thornton clearly had revenge on his mind when he went out and scored a decisive win over Habs' irritant Steve Begin.

"He broke (Marc Savard's) back, so he was going to have to answer the bell eventually," Thornton told the Boston Herald regarding Begin, whose cross-check late last season fractured a bone in centre Marc Savard's back. "That had a lot to do with it. And the fact that I thought (Jeremy Reich) got jumped by that other guy (Canadiens' Ryan Flinn, in a one-sided bout seconds earlier). Reicher slipped and the guy was still throwing 'em.

"I was trying to level the playing field, I suppose."

The Bruins were considered a soft team for the previous last few years, but elevated the toughness quotient by adding Thornton prior to last season and rookie Milan Lucic.

"I think we started to create an identity for ourselves last year, that we were a hard team to play against and we work hard every night no matter what the outcome is," Thornton said. "We've got to keep building on that throughout this exhibition season, keep the momentum going, keep the fans on board.

"Obviously we're not going to fly under the radar anymore. But it's not like we're the defending champs, either. We're a hard-working team, we expect a lot of ourselves and people outside are starting to expect more from us. I like it that way. I don't think anyone in here is afraid of that kind of pressure."