The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a position with three weeks to go before the end of the regular season, and they are too far behind to move up in the Atlantic Division. And unless the Tampa Bay Lightning make a late charge, they will finish in third place and start the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the road. It will be either the Florida Panthers or the Boston Bruins. That all depends on which club loses the race for the top spot.
Boston has a two-point lead on the Panthers after a 4-3 comeback victory in Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday, but Florida has a game in hand on the Bruins.
To Maple Leafs fans, both matchups bring about PTSD symptoms. The Panthers ran roughshod over Toronto in the second round last season on their way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins bested their core group in two hard-fought seven-game series in 2018 and 2019 and have won seven straight regular-season games over the Leafs.
In either matchup, Toronto has to be considered a significant underdo. Even though the Leafs have played well after the All-Star break and bolstered their blueline with the addition of veterans Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson, having the NHL’s leading goal scorer in Auston Matthews and All-Stars Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly gives Toronto a puncher’s chance. They will have to overcome significant hurdles in both potential first-round matchups.
The Panthers physically dominated the Leafs and eliminated them in five games last May. Toronto may be more prepared to push back on the feisty Floridians this time around. However, Paul Maurice’s crew is more consistent defensively, has better goaltending, and can shut down Toronto’s core group.
The Bruins are still very talented despite the retirement of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. They still have a vast wealth of playoff experience. However, Boston’s GM, Don Sweeney, could not add a center at the trade deadline, which conceivably would give Toronto an advantage up the middle.
Boston is not the same powerhouse President’s Trophy-winning squad that finished second in the NHL in goals last season. However, they still possess the Bruins’ well-established defensive DNA. Their goaltending is better with Jeremy Swayman than Toronto’s goaltending. In addition, the Bruins have a decided psychological advantage that seems to throw the Leafs off their game when it counts.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs had the luxury of choosing their opponent, they might decide that the Boston hurdle may be more easily cleared, but except for playing the Panthers twice in their final 11 games, they are limited to being interested spectators.
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