Battlin' Bruins come to life in win; Early fight undercard to big brawl at end.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Bud Barth

BOSTON - It wasn't exactly the kind of Christmas spirit you read about in those heartwarming holiday stories, but it was just the kind that the Bruins needed.

The previously sluggish B's had it all last night - special-teams play, offense, defense and a passion that bubbled over into a late-game rumble - as they turned the tables on the red-hot Atlanta Thrashers with a 4-1 victory before another sellout crowd at the Garden.

Shawn Thornton got Boston's blood pumping with some fisticuffs just 2 seconds into the game, then established a career high with his sixth and seventh goals of the season for the Bruins, who had lost four of their previous five (1-3-1).

Patrice Bergeron scored a short-handed goal and assisted on Michael Ryder's power-play goal. Bergeron now is 2-4-6 in his last four games.

Things boiled over with 4:06 left to play and the game already decided. B's strongman Milan Lucic was skating into the Atlanta zone when he was knocked down by Freddy Meyer's high cross-check just inside the blue line.

Lucic started to go after Meyer, but teammate Andrew Ference beat him there and grabbed the Thrashers' defenseman. Players quickly paired off all over the ice and all heck broke loose.

Several seconds after the infraction that started it all, Lucic dropped Meyer with a sucker punch and was immediately escorted off the ice by a linseman, while other players tangled. Nathan Horton and Atlanta's Evander Kane were the featured undercard bout, and Horton beat him mercilessly.

Marc Savard and Bryan Little also squared off and finally came to blows, with Savard getting the worst of it. He said he thought about the concussion he just got over, but felt obligated to throw down his gloves.

"Everybody was going around me, and I'm like, `God, I've got to go,' you know?" Savard said. "I don't usually go too often. I've got two fights against Todd Marchant in my career and that's it. ... I just thought it was time to do something."

Ference made no apologies for triggering the melee. He said he was trailing Lucic down the ice and got a good look at Meyer's hit.

"I saw it really clearly - it wasn't a clean hit at all," said Ference, who got two minutes for roughing, five for fighting and a game misconduct. "You've got tough guys like Savvy out there, you never know what could happen."

The officials whistled 98 minutes in penalties for the melee - 57 on Boston, 41 on Atlanta. Lucic received a match penalty, which carries an automatic...