Whenever the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs meet in the postseason, things usually turn out bad for the Maple Leafs. Last season was the latest chapter in the heated rivalry. After Boston built a 3-1 series lead, Toronto rallied to win Games 5 and 6 to force a Game 7 at the TD Garden.
Thanks to a David Pastrnak goal in overtime, the Bruins avoided blowing a 3-1 series lead for the second season in a row to send the Black and Gold to the second round of the playoffs. This season, the two teams are heading in opposite directions with Toronto on pace to win the Atlantic Division while the Bruins are heading south and likely to miss the postseason.
On Tuesday night the two rivals will meet for the fourth and final time this season in Boston and the Maple Leafs have a chance to push the Bruins further south in the standings and add to their misery in 2024-25.
Maple Leafs can inflict more pain on Bruins in 2024-25
The Bruins are currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and they need to jump at latest two teams to even get in a playoff position. Very unlikely to happen and it sounds like they are going to be some sort of sellers at the trade deadline after GM Don Sweeney spoke with the media on Sunday.
Injuries to Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy compound matters with Lindholm done for the season and there being no timetable for a return for McAvoy. Missing your top two defensemen is less than ideal at this time in the season.
There is no doubt that years of frustration for Maple Leafs’ fans and players can be unleashed at the TD Garden on Tuesday night. They are in a position to bury the Bruins and push them further from the postseason. Given how the rosters are right now, anything less than a Toronto win would be stunning, yet concerning for the Maple Leafs.
There is a severe talent gap between the two teams, which has been evident this season based on the first three results. Boston won the first game in overtime thanks to an Auston Matthews turnover. In the two meetings in Toronto, the Maple Leafs won decisively despite Boston’s late rally back in January.
This isn’t going to be a best-of-seven playoff series win for Toronto, but it would be the next best thing, pushing their heated rivals further from the playoffs and beginning an off-season with a lot of questions earlier than Boston would like in mid-April.