Round 1 Preview: B’s vs. Leafs

Boston vs Toronto is probably the best matchup in the first round this year. These two teams are both Cup contenders and they have some history. They’re division rivals who did this dance last year. We got 7 great games last spring out of these two teams, so there’s no reason to think we wouldn’t get that again.

Toronto is better than they were last year. It’s pretty much the same team with the additions of John Tavares and Jake Muzzin. Regardless of what Islander fans think, JT brings more offense to this team and Muzz brings a much bigger/better presence on their blue line. There are two more players who the Leafs can expect more from this playoffs that were here last year: Auston Matthews and Freddy Andersen. Matthews is a superstar player in the NHL. He’s Toronto’s best player. He had 2 points vs the Bruins in 7 playoff games last year. Two! That’s not gonna cut it this year. He needs to play the game we’re all expecting him to play. The good news for Matthews is that he set the bar pretty low for himself this year and he has Tavares to back him up. A decent series for Matthews should be at least 3 goals so there’s no reason to think he can’t do that this time around. Freddy Andersen had a .917 sv% this year and a career .912 in the playoffs. That’s painfully average. The Leafs do not have a strong enough D group to get by with these numbers. Andersen has to be better and stop more pucks this year if Toronto wants to advance.

Boston is a powerhouse of a team. They would be the eastern conference favorites if it wasn’t for Tampa Bay. Boston has the offense, including arguably the best line in hockey with Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Marchand. They finished with the 3rd best power-play in the regular season (Toronto finished 8th). They’re goaltending is solid with Rask and Halak. Would I choose Halak over Rask? Hell no. Would I be okay with giving Rask a short-leash and turning to Halak if things get ugly? Absolutely. Who remembers 2010 playoffs? Halak was a STUD. The Bruins have a pretty decent safety-net back there. He had 22 wins and a .922 sv% this season. Rask had 27 wins and a .912. Just like Andersen, that’s not great. He does need to be better in the post-season. The Bruins have a much better back end than Toronto with guys like Chara, McAvoy, and Krug (who doesn’t play baseball). They’re more mobile and make less mistakes than Toronto’s D. Chara is getting old, sure, but he’s still no slouch. And if things get messy around the crease, he’s there to ragdoll a few guys wearing blue.

What does my heart tell me about this series? That the Leafs of Maple will pull it out and stop Boston sports from continuing their dark reign over this world. What does my brain tell me? Boston in 7.

Written by: Andrew Silvers

Twitter: @asilvers55 and @whatthepuckpc

Instagram: @asilvers55 and @wtp_podcast