And we meet again.
Atlantic Division rivals, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, will meet in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This match-up didn't seem possible two weeks ago, however, after the Bruins dropped three of their final four games of the regular season to the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, and Ottawa Senators, they went from winning the division to finishing in second place.
Boston won all four regular-season meetings, but as anyone knows at this time of year, throw the records and regular-season stats out the window. It's going to be interesting to see how this series ends up shaking out and here are two reasons the Bruins will win the series and one reason they won't.
Win: Bruins special teams bounce-back in the playoffs
The Bruins power play struggled down the stretch of the regular season and it was really scary how bad the first power play unit struggled. Pavel Zacha scored a power play goal against the Senators, but their man advantage was pretty non-existent over the last month.
Zone entries, overpassing, you name it, they struggled. Justin Brazeau found the back of the net on the second unit, but an injury on April 2 against the Nashville Predators has had him out of the lineup. As for the Bruins' penalty kill, it's going to be severely tested by a potent Maple Leafs' team, and staying out of the box is going to be key as limiting Auston Matthews and Co. power play chances is going to be key, no matter how much they have struggled and how good the Bruins' penalty kill has been.