Toronto’s issues have continued into the playoffs
Toronto’s defense and goaltending, although they seemed to get better when Ilya Samsonov returned, has been this team’s weakness overall, and it showed up once again against Boston. The Bruins only logged 23 shots on net against Samsonov, yet they scored on him four times, leaving the much-maligned goaltender with 19 saves and a save percentage of 0.826.
The Maple Leafs didn’t match the Bruins in physicality, but they also weren’t pushovers. However, it was nowhere near enough to make Boston think twice when the Bruins entered the Leafs zone, and it resulted in a blowout win for Boston.
Boston spent all of 2023-24 routinely beating the Leafs, and if the latter doesn’t resolve its issues in the defensive zone, this could make for an easy series win for the Bruins. Yes, Jim Montgomery and company need to make sure Toronto doesn’t adjust in Game 2, but at this point, you’d think a playoff team like the Leafs would have solved their issues by now.
They haven’t, and if the old phrase “keep doing what you’re doing” fits any narrative, it more than fits the Bruins. If they play their next few games the same way they did on Saturday and adjust to the Leafs as needed, there will be a lot of happy hockey fans in New England and throughout the Bruins fan base.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and ESPN.com)