BOSTON -- "Han-nu. Han-nu. Han-nu."

The subtle chant from the 15,917 fans in attendance last night at The Garden was for Boston Bruins rookie goaltender Hannu Toivonen, who was in net due to Andrew Raycroft's strained left hamstring.

That chant may grow louder and be heard more often after Toivonen's performance last night. He made 36 saves to lead the Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, helping Boston get back on track after five losses in six games.

While Raycroft is out for the next five to seven days, Toivonen will see most of the action in net.

There's been a lot of interest in Toivonen, the Bruins' first-round pick (29th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, and while Providence Bruins fans have seen over the last two years how talented the 21-year-old Finn is, he introduced himself to the Boston crowd last night in a big way.

Boston entered last night's game winless in the Northeast Division (0-5-1). A victory was much-needed crucial and Toivonen was largely responsible for it.

"He was solid and he made some big saves for us," said coach Mike Sullivan. "It is the timely saves you need to help you win, and it's difficult to win in this league if you don't have that. And Hannu was there to make that save time and time again."

Sullivan called the victory a hard-fought battle and said Toivonen continues to live up to expectations.

He posted a 29-18-3 record for the P-Bruins last season and came into camp this year ready to make the jump to the NHL.

"He has developed into a top-notch goalie," said Bruins' Pat Leahy, who played with Toivonen in Providence the last two seasons. "You saw what he was capable of tonight. He made some huge stops and really kept us in that game. Obviously, we have a great No. 1 goalie here in Andrew Raycroft, but whenever you can throw out a No. 2 like Hannu, he's really like a 1-A back there."

Offensively, Bruins defenseman Jiri Slegr gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 14:51 of the first period. His wrister from the high slot deflected off a skate and past Toronto goalie Mikael Tellqvist for a power-play goal.

During a scoreless second period, Toivonen was outstanding. He made 20 saves and really seemed comfortable as he notched his second NHL victory. His first came against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 8 in a 7-6 win. Because of Raycroft's injury, Toivonen will get a few games to really showcase his abilities.

"The first thing is to help the team win," he said. "That's the biggest thing. It's too bad Andrew has that injury, but if someone goes down with an injury someone else has to step up. It's called a team effort."

Sergei Samsonov scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 1:12 of the third period. Toivonen, who has nine professional shutouts, came extremely close to notching his first in the NHL. But the Maple Leafs' power-play unit had other thoughts. Eric Lindros scored Toronto's only goal at 17:23 of the third but that would be as close as the visitors would get.

Even with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker with 59.7 remaining in regulation, the Bruins kept the Maple Leafs at bay and Toivonen did the rest.

"If your goaltender is not one of your top players, it's very difficult to win in this league," said Sullivan. "He was certainly one of our top players tonight."