It can be hard to think of what to write about the Toronto Maple Leafs as their season is over, essentially. All they are fighting for is a good chance in the draft lottery. Their opponent for tonight, the Boston Bruins, are fighting to stay in a playoff position. The Bruins have 86 point and the Detroit Red Wings are sitting one spot out of the playoffs with 85 points. This is a golden opportunity for the Maple Leafs to make their division rivals suffer just a little bit.
The Bruins are giving their fans some panic as they dig their nails in to keep the Red Wings from bumping them out of the division playoff picture, into a spot where they must fight for a wild card.
Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs
7:00PM - Air Canada Centre
TV: CBC / Radio: TSN1050
SBN: Stanley Cup of Chowdah
The Toronto Marlies are playing an afternoon game at the ACC before the Leafs/Bruins take the ice. Our own Species1967 will be there covering the game for us live.
Comparing the two teams:
| Toronto | Boston | |
| Record | 27-35-11 | 39-28-8 |
| Division Rank | 8th Atlantic | 3rd Atlantic |
| Conference | 16th East | 7th East |
| League | 30th overall | 14th overall |
| Goals +/- | 180/214 = -34 | 219/206 = +13 |
| Top Scorer | Leo Komarov 19G | Brad Marchand 34G |
| Top Points | Nazem Kadri 41pts | Patrice Bergeron 62pts |
| Top Goalie | Jonathan Bernier .905sv% | Tuuka Rask .917sv% |
| Historical vs | 269-294-98 | 294-269-98 |
Potential Lineups:
Maple Leafs: (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Milan Michalek - Nazem Kadri - Michael Grabner
Zach Hyman - William Nylander - P.A. Parenteau
Connor Brown - Tyler Bozak - Brad Boyes
Colin Greening - Brooks Laich - Ben Smith
Martin Marincin - Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner - Connor Carrick
Rinat Valiev - Frank Corrado
Jonathan Bernier
Garret Sparks
Bruins: (via @AmalieBenjamin)
Marchand-Bergeron-Stempniak
Beleskey-Krejci-Pastrnak
Eriksson-Spooner-Vatrano
Ferraro-Acciari-Hayes
Chara-K. Miller
Morrow-Seidenberg
Krug-McQuaid
Rask
Gustavsson
The Toronto Maple Leafs are kicking off their youth movement and the results have been positive so far. The Leafs have a 6-3-1 record in their past 10 games and numerous players have made their NHL debuts and scored their first NHL goals.
The Bruins are a team trying to duct tape and twine together a contender, still hanging onto the glory of a five-year-old Cup win. Even with elite players such as their Bergeron/Marchand pairing, the Bruins are declining to middling team status, though with some smart GMing they could extend their chances and life for a few more years.
Old meets new. There are few players left from that fateful game three years ago that gave the Bruins a run to the finals. The ghosts of "It was 4-1" have been exorcised and exist only in the minds of narrative lacking writers and broadcasters.
This is a forward-looking Maple Leafs team. The future lies ahead and the past is gone and forgotten. We look to the new season, but that doesn't mean we can't kick some sand in the eyes of those looking at playoff glory on our way by.
