Original Six series et for the first round!
Just the facts
When: Tonight, 8:00 PM
Where: TD Garden – Boston, Mass.
How to follow: NESN, TBS, truTV, MAX SN, CBC, TVAS, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Opposing SB Nation site: PPP Leafs
Know your enemy
*End of season stats
- 46-26-10, 102PTS
- Auston Matthews: 69G-38A-107PTS; William Nylander: 40G-58A-98PTS; Mitch Marner: 26G-59A-85PTS
- Ilya Samsonov: 23-7-8, 3.13 GAA, .890 save percentage
Game notes
- It’s finally here! Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoff’s first round starts tonight as the Boston Bruins are set for a series against the Toronto Maple Leafs! There’s so much history between these two clubs and sure to be one of the most talked about series.
- If history repeats itself, we could be seeing a long series. The B’s won their last three series against them all in seven games.
- The two haven’t seen each other since the 2018-19 playoffs when the Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in seven games in the first round to eventually go on to the Stanley Cup Final.
- The series will have three of the top 10 point leaders in the NHL and two of its top goal scorers — Matthews, Pastrnak and Nylander. Matthews ended the seasons as the top in both categories and hit a career high in goals and points. But then there’s Pastrnak on the Bruins’ side who hit career highs in points and assists. His passing game has grown, besides being the elite goal-scorer he’s been.
- Both teams ended their seasons in similar fashion. Toronto dropped the last four of the regular season — three against either playoff teams or one fighting for a spot. The Bruins lost three of their last four, again either against a playoff team or one looking to make the postseason.
- During the season, the Bruins took all four games against the Leafs — two 4-1 wins and two victories decided by overtime or a shootout.
- The Bruins haven’t had the strongest power play to end the season. Despite dropping the final game of the season, the power play was able to generate some good chances and a goal. But head-to-head, both teams had comparable results on the man-advantage.
- On the PK though, the B’s look like they will have the edge.
- Don Sweeney said this week there is a plan in place for goaltending, but wouldn’t disclose what that entailed just yet. All he was able to say was “Performance and results will dictate some of this, but we know what the plan is going in, and so do they… and we’re comfortable with it.”
- Jim Montgomery also didn’t give any insight on his plan for Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark after yesterday’s practice.
- Based on Friday’s practice, James van Riemsdyk was the odd forward out. Lines look similar to what we saw at the end of the season. On defense, Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon were the extra pairing while Kevin Shattenkirk and Andrew Peeke were the third pairing.
- See ya tonight!