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Toronto Maple Leafs: Get to Know Your 1st Round Opponent

By James Tanner

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 07: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs reacts to the crowd after the Leafs scored against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on October 7, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 07: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs reacts to the crowd after the Leafs scored against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on October 7, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are almost certainly going to be opening the Playoffs in Boston, against the Bruins.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s a case of deja vu.

If you’re reading this article, you probably don’t need me to remind you that the Leafs blew a third period lead in game seven last season in the first round of the playoffs.

Or that they opened on the road as well.

Leafs vs Boston

The Bruins are second in the NHL with 101 points.  Their record owes a lot to a 19 game point streak.

Taking nothing away from them, but any such streakin the NHL’s full parity salary cap world is at least half luck.  The best team of all-time could go an entire season and not even come close to that.

It’s not that the Bruins aren’t a good team, it’s that in the NHL, any one goal game is essentially a coin-flip and the Bruins streak featured 14 such games.

Don’t forget that, during this time, the Leafs played 20 games at a 119 point pace and didn’t gain any points in the standings.  The Bruins are a good team, but their streak padded their totals and makes them seam better than they are.

They have more points than the Toronto Maple Leafs because they won two games in a shoot-out and have three extra loser points.

The two teams have the exact same amount of wins in regulation/OT.

The Bruins are a slightly better possession team (about one percentage point) and the Leafs have scored an extra 50 5v5 goals.  Both teams generally get stellar goaltending, and while the Bruins are better defensively, the Leafs are significantly better offensively. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

As far as special teams go, the Bruins are ranked ahead of the Leafs in power-play, although this is misleading.  The Leafs pp went dormant for a long time, and their PP shooting percentage isn’t very good, but they are near the top of the league in PP possession, shots, and scoring chances.

Both teams are even on the PK at 81%.

All in all, the stats of both teams are fairly even.  The Toronto Maple Leafs, if healthy, have a better roster and a better goalie, however, so even without home-ice, I think they’ll easily dispose of the older, slower Bruins.

Next. What Happens if the Leafs Lose in Round One?. dark

And if not, what can you do? The Playoff seeding is garbage and it’s really dumb that two of the NHL’s best teams have to play each other in round one.  The Bruins will likely finish second overall, and their reward will be to play an under-achieving team with the best roster in the league.

The Leafs have Auston Matthews and even though he barely scored last year in the first round, the Leafs still almost won.  This year, he’ll score and they will win.

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