Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins Series Preview
By Josh Tessler
Tomorrow night, the Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts.
The Bruins finished the season with a record 50-20-12 under head coach, Bruce Cassidy. He took over at the tail end of last season for Claude Julien and helped bring the Bruins into the playoffs last season. Unfortunately for Bruins’ fans, their hopes for a long Stanley Cup run didn’t become a reality. Division rival, the Ottawa Senators made sure that the Bruins playoff run died in the first round.
Bruins & Maple Leafs Playoff History
On paper, this year’s Bruins team is much stronger than the one from last year. The Bruins are no joke and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Plus, they have a history of beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
The last time that these two divisional foes met in the playoffs, it didn’t end well for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Leaf Nation. The Bruins had a stellar comeback in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. In the third period of game 7, Nazem Kadri and Phil Kessel both scored to give the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead.
As we all know, a three goal lead is the worst lead in hockey and the Maple Leafs proved that. Former Maple Leafs net-minder, James Reimer let up three goals in the tail end of the third. Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron turned Maple Leafs fans’ emotions upside down. At the end of the period, the Bruins had tied the game and forced an overtime. In overtime, Bergeron, a native of Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec shattered the Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup run by scoring a game winning goal for the Bruins.
Maple Leafs Have Improved Since 2013
All-in-all, the Toronto Maple Leafs team is much stronger than it was back in May of 2013. The Maple Leafs went through a much needed rebuild and added young talent including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Frederik Andersen. The Maple Leafs should put up a much better fight in this upcoming series.