Bruins in control of series, but can’t let Leafs hang around originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
It may be hard to remember, but the Toronto Maple Leafs once controlled the first round of the Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
After losing 5-1 in game 1the leaves recovered very well in game 2. Their power play finally showed, their playmakers got on the scoreboard — including a third-period game-winner from Auston Matthews — and goaltender Ilya Samsonov played very well. The Leafs returned home for the next two games.
But all that momentum disintegrated in Toronto, where the Bruins won a couple of tough victories to take a 3-1 series lead and push the Leafs to the brink of elimination. The Bruins’ special teams dominance and elite goaltending have been the main differences thus far. Toronto’s key players, especially Mitch Marner, were unable to produce attacks consistently.
The series quickly swung in the Bruins’ favor, but if history is any indication, the series could easily swing back in the other direction in a small amount of time.
The fourth win is always the hardest in a best-of-7 series, and the Bruins know that better than any other team.
NHL teams have overcome 3-1 series deficits 32 times in playoff history, including seven instances in the last 10 years alone. The Bruins have lost in three of those 32 series:
In 2013, the Bruins had a 3-1 lead after beating the Leafs in overtime of Game 4 on the road. Boston needed a historic comeback in Game 7 to win the series.
This series against the Leafs played out almost exactly as last season’s first-round matchup against the Florida Panthers did.
The Bruins won Game 1, lost the next game at home, and then notched two road wins to take a 3–1 series lead in Game 5 at TD Garden. But the Panthers won the next three games, led by better goaltending, vast improvements on special teams and their best players — especially Matthew Tkachuk — taking control of the series. Two of Florida’s three straight wins have come in overtime, including a Game 7 triumph in Boston.
“I think what we can learn is the urgency it takes to close out a series,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. told reporters on Sunday. “It’s very difficult to end a team’s season and we know that. I think everyone who was a part of this last year is better off.”
The Leafs are in a bad spot right now. The stars were yelling at each other on the bench in the third period of Game 4. Their power play (1 of 14) and penalties (7 of 13) were atrocious. Marner is having the worst playoff series of his career and is being publicly criticized by the media It is former players.
This looks to be another trademark Toronto playoff meltdown. It seems almost inconceivable that the Leafs could beat the Bruins three times in a row, including twice in Boston when they lost 10 of 12 meetings between these rivals since the beginning of last year. But people said the exact same thing last season, when the Panthers, who barely made the 2023 playoffs, were in a 3-1 hole against a Bruins team that set records for most wins and points in a regular season. .
The chances of this Leafs team replicating the comeback of last year’s Panthers are very slim. After all, these are the Leafs, a franchise that is seemingly cursed in the playoffs. Few sports teams have experienced more postseason frustration than Toronto since the franchise’s last Stanley Cup title in 1967. Although the Panthers made the 2023 playoffs, they won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2022 and won the division this season. They are a very good team.
But we’re also dealing with the Bruins, a franchise that rarely makes things easy for itself. They have played five Game 7s since the start of the 2018 playoffs, the most of any team during that span. The B’s have led in five of the last six playoff series they have lost. Boston has also won just 15 of the last 29 home playoff games (two wins in the last six postseasons at TD Garden). The Bruins have also won just one of their last five games.
The Leafs’ stars could heat up. Marner couldn’t play worse and William Nylander is back after missing the first three games due to injury. The Leafs ranked second in goals scored during the regular season for a reason. Toronto’s power play, which had the seventh-best success rate in the regular season, could find its groove again with some changes. The Leafs’ 25 road wins this season, including Game 2 in Boston, are third-most in the Eastern Conference.
The Bruins must show that they are a different team than last season and that they have learned lessons from previous playoff failures. When you have a team on the ropes, you have to go in for the kill. Giving a team just a little boost of life can quickly turn a series around.
Given what’s at stake, what happened last season and how well the Bruins are playing now, there’s no excuse not to end the series in Game 5.
“You always feel good when you lead the series, playing at home in front of our fans,” Montgomery said Sunday. “But we’re just living in the moment. For us, all we’re thinking about is Game 5 on Tuesday night.”
