In 2018, Bruins vs. Maple Leafs Is Becoming a Nice Little Rivalry Right Before Our Very Own Eyes

Bruins-Canadiens will always hold a special place in our hearts but over the last few seasons, you have to admit that Boston (15-10-4) against Toronto (20-9-1) has become a sexier matchup in the here and now minus the decades of bad blood and fun history since the Maple Leafs have mostly sucked forever. They already met three times in 2018-19 with the B's taking the latest chapter 6-3 this evening at TD Garden to go up 2-1 in the season series with one more in Toronto on January 12. Boston snapped a season-worst three-game losing streak with a resounding victory, perhaps their best outing of the campaign given that the Leafs scored the final two goals in extended garbage time.

This tilt had a little bit of everything: pretty goals, great saves, physical play and multiple fights. What else do you want in a regular season contest? Toronto came in with the second best record in the NHL but for the second time in a row (5-1 on Nov. 10), Boston absolutely slammed them on their home ice. The six goals scored tied for the second-most by the B's this season (Oct. 8 vs. Ottawa), topped only by their 8-2 beating of Detroit on Oct. 13. Boston took control tonight by scoring the first four goals. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson made it 1-0 at 11:20 of the first period when he snuck a rebound by Frederik Andersen (22 saves, 6 goals allowed). David Pastrnak and Matt Grzelcyk assisted on JFK's third goal of the season.

Boston's second period had to be one of its best frames of the year: David Backes sniped a power-play goal at 8:54 (his 3rd goal of the season was assisted by Brad Marchand and Torey Krug) and Torey Krug bagged his first goal of the season with a long-range shot, assisted by Marchand and David Krejci (which moved him into 10th place on the team's all-time scoring list) at 17:45. In between that, Nazem Kadri for some reason started a fight with Brandon Carlo who dwarfs him. You knew that it was the Black and Gold's night when Danton Heinen pushed the lead to 4-0 with a beautiful goal-scorer's move at 1:47 of the third period. Ryan Donato and John Moore assisted on only his third goal of the season.

Toronto's defense is still their biggest issue which is why they play so many high-scoring affairs. They finally got on the board thanks to a goal by Travis Dermott at 4:03 of the third, Auston Matthews (5-game point-streak) and Jake Gardiner had the helpers on the pure shot that beat Jaroslav Halak (31 saves, 9th win of the season) cleanly. In old school Leafs fashion, they gave that goal right back 34 seconds later as Krejci scored on a 3-on-1 (his 4th goal of the season) with Pasta and Marchand. Things got silly as Andersen gave up a weak one to Donato shortly after that (6:13) that caused him to get pulled in favor of the immortal Garret Sparks. Donato's third goal of the seaosn was assisted by Heinen and Krug.

Matthews tapped in a goal at 9:30 (his 16th of the season, in 16 games!) that cut it to 6-2. That's when things went a little bonkers as good old Zach Hyman (that is a tough name to live with) hit McAvoy late with a cheap shot. Charlie had just returned on Thursday at Tampa Bay (23-7-1) after missing 20 games with a concussion so you can understand why Grzelcyk dropped the gloves with Hyman. McAvoy went to the Bruins' dressing room but thankfully was cleared to return by the end of the game. A few moments later, Chris Wagner (playing in his 200th NHL game) caught Morgan Rielly with a clean open ice hit (don't do that!) so he fought UMass-Lowell alum Ron Hainsey for shits and giggles. Andreas Johnsson (who earlier in the night refused to fight Sean Kuraly) rounded out the scoring with a completely meaningless power play goal at 12:22, his seventh goal of the season was assisted by Patrick Marleau and Gardiner.

The B's have little time to rest at home as they fly out to Ottawa (13-14-3) for tomorrow's meeting with the Senators (5, NESN). Tuukka Rask will get the start as the Bruins try to start a new win streak. Keep in mind, they are 4-0-1 thus far in the second game of back-to-backs and 3-1-1 in Game 3s when they play three times in four days. The Senators are in full rebuild mode and even though they placed Matt Duchene (groin) and Bobby Ryan (concussion) on injured reserve earlier today, they still managed to beat scuffling Pittsburgh (12-10-6) 2-1 in overtime. More numbers to mull over for tomorrow: Boston is 5-7-4 on the road while Ottawa is surprisingly very good at home (10-5-2). With Arizona (13-12-2) coming to the Garden on Tuesday (7, NESN) the B's have the opportunity to grab some points against non-playoff contenders over the next few days.

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Down 4-3 Going Into the 3rd Period, the B's Rally For a Thrilling 7-4 Game 7 Win vs. the Leafs

Survive and advance, that's all that matters in the NHL playoffs. In a first-round series that featured more twists and turns than a road in San Francisco, the Bruins outlasted the Maple Leafs 7-4 in Game 7 tonight at TD Garden. Toronto scored first (the team scoring 1st had been 5-1) and actually led 4-3 going into the third period (teams leading after 2 had been 3-0 in the series) but they couldn't hang on as Boston followed up probably its worst frame of the season with undoubtedly the best, outscoring the stunned Leafs 4-0 to advance to the second round vs. top-seeded Tampa Bay. Game 1 is Saturday afternoon at 3 pm on NBC from Tampa Bay.

This was the only Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs this year and it certainly lived up to the sizable hype. The first period was bonkers as it featured five goals and non-stop highlight reel plays. Patrick Marleau gave Toronto a 1-0 lead just 2:05 into regulation as he tipped in a Jake Gardiner shot for a power play goal. William Nylander had the second assist on Marleau's third goal of the series. Countless times in this airtight series, the Leafs had scored right after the B's had lit the lamp. This time, Boston turned the tables on them as Jake DeBrusk scored a power play goal at 4:47. He tipped in a shot/pass by David Pastrnak for his fourth goal of the series with David Krejci notching the second assist.

An ugly turnover by Torey Krug in his own end led to another goal by Marleau at 6:12 of the first. Mitch Marner extended his point-streak to six games with the lone assist on the tally. Rookie Danton Heinen subbed in for veteran Tommy Wingels in Game 7 and Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy's instinctual move paid off immediately as Heinen tied things at two at 9:10 of the first. Krejci and Rick Nash had the assists on Heinen's first career playoff goal. Patrice Bergeron gave Boston its first lead of the night at 19:23 of the first after Kevan Miller smartly shot the puck intentionally wide of the net for Bergy to tap it in. His first goal of the series was also assisted by David Backes.

Both Tuukka Rask (20 saves) and Frederik Andersen (29 saves) got off to rough starts in this do-or-die tilt but only Boston's goaltender was able to recover in time. It also helped that Boston's defense wasn't the complete sieve that Toronto's was for much of the series (particularly at the Garden). The Leafs tied it at three as Travis Dermott's shot through traffic found its way into the net for his first career NHL playoff goal at 2:07 of the second period. The ghost of Roman Polak (who was a stiff to begin with) and Nylander had the assists on another goal that Rask really didn't have much of a chance to stop. Things really weren't going Boston's way as they squandered a power play opportunity and even worse, Kasperi Kapanen skated in on a breakaway (after Brad Marchand fell down) before beating Rask for a shorthanded goal (his 1st of the series) and 4-3 advantage at 6:05.

With their season on the line and on the verge of blowing a 3-1 lead in the series, the B's showed their mettle and winning mentality with a third period for the history books. Torey Krug tied it at four with a blast from the point, his second goal of the series was assisted by Miller and Bergeron. Boston never looked back from there as DeBrusk put his team ahead for good with an unforgettable speed rush up the right side. He got his shot off before Jake Gardiner crushed him but I'm sure he didn't care one bit as the Bruins were up 5-4 at 5:25 of the third period. Krejci recorded his third assist on what has to be the biggest goal of DeBrusk's young life. Pasta had started off the series so brilliantly so it was poetic that he also ended it (basically) with another sick goal. Boston's top line had been held scoreless for Games 5 and 6 but they all came to play in Game 7. Pasta's fifth goal of the series, from Bergeron and Marchand came at 11:39 as it gave the Bruins a 6-4 lead. Marchand's empty-netter with 50.9 seconds left in the contest allowed Bruins fans around New England, the United States and the world to finally exhale. On the other side, the Leafs continued to be some of the biggest big game losers in the NHL-year after year and decade after decade (their last Stanley Cup came in 1967).

As crazy as it sounds, I'm actually more confident for the Bruins heading into this meeting with the Lightning since they simply match up better with their other Atlantic Division rival (Boston went 3-1 vs TB in the regular season) that reached the playoffs in 2017-18. Game 2 is on Monday (7, NBCSN) with Games 3 and 4 coming back to Boston on Wednesday (7, NBCSN) and Friday (7, NBCSN). This was Boston's first playoff series win since 2014 and you'll remember that in that campaign, they fell in seven games to Montreal in the second round despite having won the meaningless Presidents Trophy. Pittsburgh vs. Washington is the other Eastern Conference series with Las Vegas-San Jose and Winnipeg-Nashville in the Western Conference. At least on paper, all of those series have the potential to be classics.

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