Is Boston still in Toronto’s head, or will the Leafs slay a past demon for a second straight year?
Credit: Mar 4, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander and Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy battle for position during the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY SportsIt’s 2013. It’s 2018. It’s 2019. It’s 2024. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the underdog against the rugged, experienced Boston Bruins . We’re watching the same movie over and over.
The personality shift did come at a cost, however. After playing lockdown defense in the previous few seasons, these Leafs are a leakier unit with a suspect penalty kill. So the question is: are these tougher, sloppier Leafs better built to win in the playoffs? Or will they flame out running into a Bruins team that can match their grit and get into their heads?
Most prognosticators expected GM Don Sweeney to go out and find a scoring-line center at some point this season, but the Bruins rolled with Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle all year instead. To their credit, both guys delivered career years while playing one line higher in the lineup than they probably should have.
Treliving has, in theory, built a group better prepared to stand its ground against the rough and tumble Bruins between the aforementioned Benoit, Lyubushkin and Edmundson, plus Jake McCabe, while even Morgan Rielly and Mark Giordano have proven willing to engage physically when called upon. Toronto also has a ton of depth, boasting nine NHL-caliber options from Keefe to choose from. Keep in mind that Keefe rolled with seven blueliners and 11 forwards more than once during the 2022-23 playoffs.
The Leafs simply don’t know what they have in goal, game to game, period to period, minute to minute. Last postseason, Ilya Samsonov was brilliant on the road and shaky at home before getting hurt and giving way to prospect Joseph Woll during Round 2. Thrown into a difficult situation with his team trailing in the series to the Panthers, Woll flashed all the characteristics of a future star No. 1: big, poised, athletic, giving no sense that the moment was too big for him.
But that principle also applied last spring against the Lightning, who had eliminated them the previous year. Toronto slew their minotaur, defeated Tampa in six games and ended their playoff series win drought at 19 years. Now that the likes of Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Rielly have that series win under their belt, does the mental toughness disadvantage no longer apply?
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