Wow, have we grown accustomed to seeing the Boston Bruins get the best of the Toronto Maple Leafs often this season, or what? The Bruins are now 5-0-0 against their division rival, and even with higher stakes involved, it seems as though the Leafs now have it in their minds that they aren’t winning this series if Boston’s 5-1 win on Saturday is an indicator.
While the Bruins must not get too comfortable despite their dominance this season, there are plenty of reasons to believe they will keep their momentum going in this series. So, if you’re an optimistic fan, feel free to expect your team to win and to win big in the foreseeable future.
But if you believe the Bruins could be due for a loss against the Leafs or even a string of bad games, let’s discuss why it’s okay to think your team will keep its momentum heading into Game 2 and beyond.
Boston still has the Leafs number
On Saturday, I outlined three reasons the Bruins would beat the Maple Leafs, and I also discussed how well they played Toronto. Last night’s Game 1 win was almost the same thing we had grown accustomed to seeing, and it indicates that just because we’re in “playoff hockey” mode from now until perhaps June, the Bruins faced the “same old Maple Leafs.”
We already know how well Boston outplayed Toronto during the regular season, but when you add last night’s numbers, the Bruins are now 5-0-0 against the Leafs, and they’re also outscoring them 20 to 8. That’s an average of 4.00 goals per game for the Bruins and just 1.60 for Toronto.
Toronto outshot Boston by a 1.56 to 1 margin, and it didn’t matter. At this point, it wouldn’t matter if the Leafs logged a Corsi For percentage of 70-plus and the Bruins were at 30-minus. If Boston keeps playing the Leafs in the same manner, and there is no reason to think otherwise, this series will be over fast.