Bruins vs. Leafs first-round playoff preview, odds and prediction

Bruins vs. Leafs first-round playoff preview, odds and prediction originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

A new chapter in one of the NHL’s best rivalries will be written in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Boston Bruins square off against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This will be the fourth time these Original Six franchises have met in the first round in the last 11 years. The Bruins emerged victorious over the Leafs with Game 7 victories in 2013, 2018 and 2019. All three of those clinching games were played at TD Garden, and if there’s another Game 7 this year, it’ll also be in Boston because the B’s once again have home ice advantage in this No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchup.

This series has all the makings of a classic. These teams score a lot of goals and they don’t like each other one bit. This was evident in their fourth and final meeting of the regular season when the Bruins and Leafs combined for 91 hits and 50 penalty minutes, including three fights. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe called it “by far” the most physical game his team had played at that point in the year.

Both teams enter this series with a lot of pressure and expectations. The Bruins once again had a strong regular season, but can they turn that success into playoff results? They have won only two playoff series since losing in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. They’ve lost in the first round back-to-back years.

The Leafs always face a ton of pressure just playing in the hockey-crazed Toronto market. It’s also a huge series for the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner-William Nylander core. This trio has just one playoff series win together and hasn’t beaten the Bruins in two meetings.

Which team will emerge victorious? Here’s a full playoff preview for Bruins vs. Leafs (Note: The Leafs still have one more regular season game, so all stats will be updated once that matchup concludes).

Series schedule

The schedule has not been officially announced at this time. We will update this section when it becomes available.

Game 1 at Boston: TBA

Game 2 at Boston: TBA

Game 3 at Toronto: TBA

Game 4 at Toronto: TBA

Game 5* at Boston: TBA

Game 6* at Toronto: TBA

Game 7* at Boston: TBA

*If necessary 

Regular season head-to-head

Nov. 2 at Boston: Bruins 3-2 in a shootout

Dec. 2 at Toronto: Bruins 4-3 in OT

March 4 at Toronto: Bruins 4-1

March 7 at Boston: Bruins 4-1

Tale of the Tape

Here’s how the Bruins and Leafs compare in several important stats (NHL rank in parentheses).

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