Bruins to play Leafs in first spherical of 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Bruins to play Leafs in first round of 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs initially appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins spent a lot of the 2023-24 NHL season atop the Atlantic Division standings, however they in the end completed because the second-place crew.
The Bruins misplaced 3-1 to the Ottawa Senators of their common season finale Tuesday evening at TD Backyard, giving them 109 factors (47-20-15) in 82 video games. The Florida Panthers leapfrogged the Bruins for first place with 110 factors on account of their 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday evening.
Ending second within the division won’t be the worst end result for the Bruins as a result of as an alternative of taking part in the battle-tested Tampa Bay Lightning within the first spherical of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they are going to face off towards the rival Maple Leafs. The Panthers will play the Lightning in Spherical 1.
The Bruins have a seven-game win streak versus the Leafs courting again to final season. Boston swept the season collection 4-0-0, together with a pair of 4-1 victories — one in Toronto and one in Boston — again in early March.
Maple Leafs will sq. off towards the Bruins in Spherical 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A crew Toronto hasn’t crushed within the postseason since 1959 pic.twitter.com/KQLlcXhHvo
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 17, 2024
The Bruins even have crushed the Leafs in every of their three playoff conferences this century. Boston emerged victorious over Toronto within the first spherical in 2013, 2018 and 2019. The 2013 collection is especially memorable due to the Bruins’ historic third-period comeback and additional time heroics in Sport 7.
Despite the fact that the Leafs are, at the very least on paper, a extra favorable matchup for the Bruins, Toronto nonetheless presents loads of challenges.
The Leafs are an elite offensive crew, led by the league’s main aim scorer in Auston Matthews. The American-born heart scored 69 targets this season, and he has tallied 29 factors (18 targets, 11 assists) in 33 profession video games towards the Bruins, together with the playoffs.
The Bruins entered the 2023-24 marketing campaign not anticipated to be a high contender within the East after shedding a number of high quality gamers final summer time, together with Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov and Connor Clifton.
However the Bruins exceeded expectations due to David Pastrnak’s MVP-caliber performance, Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha stepping up in a top-six center role, and the goaltending being excellent once more, amongst different components.
The Bruins have received solely two playoff collection since reaching the 2019 Stanley Cup Last, so there’s loads of strain on the Authentic Six membership to show their newest common season success into constructive postseason outcomes.
