Community Picks: Toronto 0% vs Boston 0%

The Boston Bruins remember what happened last time they met Toronto in the NHL playoffs. After taking a 3-1 lead in the series but failing to close out the Maple Leafs in Games 5 and 6 of their first-round series in 2013, Boston fell behind 4-1 in the third period of the decisive seventh game before sending it into overtime with two goals in the last 82 seconds of regulation. The Bruins won in OT en route to their second Stanley Cup Finals appearance in three years. Continue to Article

April 11, 2018 5:22:pm EST

Some like Charlie McAvoy and Sean Kuraly have already dipped their toes into the NHL playoffs last season, and others like Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Ryan Donato and Matt Grzelcyk will get their chance this spring in a first round showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs. "This is winning. Continue to Article

April 11, 2018 1:23:am EST

A year ago the Toronto Maple Leafs took a big step in their rebuild by returning to the playoffs for just the second time in the salary cap era (and the first time in a full 82-game season in the salary cap era) and held their own against the Presidents’ Trophy winning Capitals. The Maple Leafs haven’t played in the NHL’s second round since the 2003-04 season (and while we’re on the subject, a Mike Babcock coached team has played in the second-round just once in the past seven years — and that was six years ago) so there has to be some pressure to be more than just a team that is good enough to get into the playoffs. Standing in their way this time: The Boston Bruins, a team that has been demolishing the rest of the NHL for most of the past five months and a familiar playoff foe for the Maple Leafs. Continue to Article

April 10, 2018 3:49:pm EST

One of the failings of the loss to the Florida Panthers in the regular-season finale was the inability of the Bruins to avoid a tough first-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, so now, the B's have their work cut out for them. The Leafs took three out of four games from the Bruins in the regular season and have given the B's issues defensively the past couple of seasons with the speed, skill and game-breaking ability that Toronto has up front. To wit, in the past two seasons, Zdeno Chara is a minus-2 against the Leafs and Torey Krug is a minus-7 against Toronto since guys named Matthews, Marner and Nylander were added to the Leafs mix. Continue to Article

April 10, 2018 11:48:am EST

The Bruins didn't hold practice on Monday as they rested after back-to-back games last weekend to close out the regular season, but they did get another player back into the fold for a playoff return. Riley Nash (upper body) returned to the ice to skate with the Bruins training staff on Monday morning, and appears to be on the road to a recovery after taking a Torey Krug blast to the side to the head that ended up taking 40-plus stitches to close up. Continue to Article

April 10, 2018 2:35:am EST