Bruins vs. Leafs PREVIEW: Another test in Toronto

01/04/2025 07:00 AM

The Bruins limp into the hockey media capital to hopefully get back on track

Just the Facts

• The Time: 7pm ET
• The Place: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
• Place to Watch: NESN, ESPN+, SportsNet, CBC
• Place to Listen: 98.5 The Sports hub
• An Opposing Viewpoint:Pension Plan Puppets

Know Your Enemy

• The Toronto Maple Leafs are 1st in the Atlantic Division, with a record of 24-13-2, good for 50 points in the standings.
• The leading goalscorer on the Toronto Maple Leafs is William Nylander, who has 23 in 39 games.
• The leader in points for the Leafs is Mitch Marner, who has 51 in 39 games.
• In spite of all their talent, the Leafs still haven't quite figured out how to be a major threat on the power play; being only 18th in the league on the man-advantage.
• Auston Matthews has been having an extremely unusual year; where he appears to have been injured...somehow, and has been using all of the resources available to him to fix it. As of right now he's currently listed as being on IR, though he could be set to play tonight if he's cleared.
• One player they won't have is Anthony Stolarz, who is also on the mend. Instead, they'll be rolling Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby. Woll has a .917 SV% in 18 starts.

Game Preview

If there's any consolation to playing the Leafs, it's that they are so preoccupied with trying to insist their issues are not their issues that their issues generally stay the same no matter how they try to address them. This year is no different, though unlike previous years they've actually been able to swing their deck-chair rearrangement into being first in division. A lot of the usual things about them are still very true; they lean heavy on Marner, Nylander, and Tavares, and their depth has...some pieces, but is still deeply mediocre. This might be a really, really good team, but they're still very mortal, no matter what's changed.

Of course, Boston would have to actually capitalize on the chances they create in order to take advantage of that, which is currently the big issue plaguing the team.

In spite of largelycontrolling their last two games, the Bruins have seemingly been incapable of getting their shot attempts to turn into goals. Players with physicality as a selling point seem incapable of going to the net, the guys who have all the finish are trying to find the perfect shots in players with less talent than them (and are therefor not finishing themselves), and its made for an enormously frustrating viewing experience. That's all gotta stop tonight if they want a chance to beat Toronto; who may experience sudden onset violent collapse when exposed to the Boston Bruins...but it happens mostly in April. Boston's currently 1-1 against this team, and the last game they played was not a result worth repeating. They're going to need to actually use all that size and strength to attack the net and keep attacking it on second and third chance opportunities.

The Bruins are once again facing a pretty firmly entrenched playoff team, so we once again get a chance to see if they can actually compete against the best of the Eastern Conference. Who knows? If everything stays as it is...we could be looking down the barrel of playing this team again come April.

God wouldn't that be a nightmare.

Anyway, we'll see you there!