The Boston Bruins will return to action with a matchup against a familiar division foe, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tonight’s contest will be interesting because the B’s recently suffered their first regular season loss on home ice since April 2022. Therefore, it is an opportunity for a bounce-back performance. Furthermore, the Maple Leafs are one of the few teams to pin down the Bruins for a regulation loss this season and remain the team’s closest competition for the division title. Despite being the best team in the NHL, tonight’s two points are still just as valuable.
Tonight’s Bruins Game Notes
The Seattle Kraken came to TD Garden on Thursday night and shut out the league’s best offense, a few days after they potted a season-high seven goals against the Anaheim Ducks. Although the differences between the B’s last two opponents couldn’t be more night and day, the Bruins have to take everyone seriously and stay thirsty for goals and wins.
It was pretty evident against the Kraken that the team’s scoring depth could be challenged by the elite clubs or on nights when David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Taylor Hall are not terrorizing goalies. Moreover, the Maple Leafs are far from a complete team; however, they get regular contributions outside of the top players, and their goalies work cohesively to string together wins.
https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1614253499033821185?s=20&t=NsgbMN0oshmri9m7r4R6sQ
The Bruins employ the best goalie in the game right now as Linus Ullmark is 22-2-1 with a league-leading goals-against average and save percentage. The recent loss wasn’t on him, but the team didn’t step up like usual, shifting the pressure onto his shoulders. Furthermore, if the Maple Leafs shut the B’s down again, like the Nov. 5, 2022 game, Ullmark will have to be sharp and potentially steal a game, something he hasn’t often been called upon to do in 2022-23.
Coming into the game, the Bruins are the league’s best home team, 19-1-3, while the Maple Leafs are the 12th-best road team with an 11-7-3 record. Still, both teams are coming off losses on Thursday, with Boston getting shutout 3-0 against Seattle and Toronto dropping a 4-1 contest to the Detroit Red Wings. Furthermore, in the past ten games, the B’s are 7-1-2, and the Maple Leafs are 6-3-1.
Bruins & Maple Leafs Players to Watch
After a shutout loss, all eyes will be on the Bruins’ leadership players like Pastrnak, Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron. Sure, the team has lost eight other times; however, they haven’t had a performance quite like the one against the Kraken, so it will be up to the leaders to rally the team tonight.
Recently, Bergeron has tallied only three points in the last five games, with Hall and veteran Nick Foglingo contributing just two. David Krejci had a monster game against Anaheim with three points; however, he was a minus-two against the Kraken, with linemate Pavel Zacha relatively unnoticeable with just two assists on the west coast trip.
In tonight’s game, Pastrnak must be on a mission to rack up the goals, and Marchand needs to ruffle some feathers. As the leaders of the offense, they can’t allow the Maple Leafs to think the Kraken found a formula to shut them down. Historically, Pasta loves to play these northern rivals with 15 goals and 26 points in 21 contests. Meanwhile, Marchand is a point-per-game player against his Original Six counterpart, with 18 goals and 46 points in 46 games.
🎥 Brad Marchand ahead of tonight's #NHLBruins tilt vs. Toronto: "This is another opportunity, regardless of where we are in the standings, for us to show that we’re a good team, that we know how to bounce back...it’s an exciting opportunity for our group." pic.twitter.com/wFWpOae0Sw
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 14, 2023
Conversely, the Maple Leafs employ the league’s reigning goal-scoring champion and MVP, Auston Matthews. However, he’s not tearing it up like last season, allowing Mitch Marner to take up his mantle as the team’s go-to player to generate offense. In case you missed it, Marner recently had a 23-game point streak, the longest thus far in 2022-23. Together the duo ranks 14th and 20th in league scoring, and some nights they are not the ones driving the offense since the team employs three 20-goal scorers. Furthermore, Marner loves playing the Bruins, with 28 points in 17 games, while Matthews has just 16 points in 13 games.
Bruins & Maple Leafs’ Historical Notes
The Bruins and Maple Leafs will meet for the 682nd time, the second most time the B’s have met an opponent, behind the Montreal Canadiens (754). In almost a century of contests, Boston holds a 301-269-98-13 advantage in wins and losses; however, they trail on the scoresheet 2028-2013.
The Maple Leafs have not had much success in Boston arenas, with a losing record in the Boston Garden, and are currently 23-29-0-7 at TD Garden. Moreover, coming into Saturday night, the Bruins have lost four straight to the Maple Leafs dating back to October 2019.
Who’s Next for the Boston Bruins
After a marquee matchup with the Maple Leafs, the Bruins will have Sunday off before an afternoon contest on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, against the Philadelphia Flyers.