Bruins

3 Bruins who should welcome a first-round showdown with the Maple Leafs

There are currently eight players on Boston’s roster who remain from the Bruins' 2019 first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

By Conor Ryan

April 18, 2024

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Email

For all of the talk of the Maple Leafs being a familiar postseason foe for the Bruins, plenty has changed since the last time Boston battled its Original Six rival in the playoffs. 

There are currently eight players on Boston’s roster who remain from that 2019 first-round series, headlined by the usual suspects like Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Charlie McAvoy. 

A new series presents a new set of hurdles, regardless of the success achieved during past playoff triumphs or regular-season bouts. Still, the Bruins do have several key cogs on their roster who should welcome the scenario of seven possible games against Toronto’s lackluster defense.

Here are three Bruins who could dole out plenty of damage in the first round.

David Pastrnak

This one was going to be a given regardless of Boston’s first-round foe, given Pastrnak’s crucial role as the Bruins’ most dynamic offensive conduit. 

Even without David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron feeding him passes (and opponents crafting their defensive gameplan around taking away his blistering one-timer), Pastrnak still managed to stuff the stat sheet in 2023-24. 

Along with lighting the lamp 47 times, Pastrnak set a new career-high with 63 assists this season. 

But the 27-year-old winger seems to always elevate his game against a malleable Toronto defense. In 28 regular-season meetings with Toronto, Pastrnak has tallied a whopping 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) to go along with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) over two seven-game playoff series against the Leafs. 

The Bruins’ best avenue toward punching its ticket to the second round lies in Pastrnak and Boston’s offense landing enough punches against Toronto’s top deficiency: a defensive structure prone to coughing up Grade-A looks, and a goalie corps that doesn’t inspire much confidence between Ilya Samsonov (.899 save percentage) and Joseph Woll (.865 save percentage against Boston in his career). 

Boston will have to win the special-teams battle if it wants to push past Toronto, with Pastrnak in particular needing to revive a power play that has been sputtering for an extended stretch (17.9%). 

Jake DeBrusk 

The Bruins can’t just rely on familiar faces like Pastrnak and Marchand to do all of the heavy lifting on offense in this series. 

Thankfully, the Maple Leafs are just the type of team that Jake DeBrusk seems to feast against — with another heater from the streaky scorer potentially putting Boston over the top in this series.

Boston’s top-six grouping of DeBrusk, Marchand, and Charlie Coyle could be in line for some daunting matchups over the next two weeks — with Jim Montgomery likely throwing that two-way trio on the ice against the likes of Auston Matthews or John Tavares. 

The Bruins will welcome a scenario where the Coyle line simply slows down some of Toronto’s top forwards in the D zone. But DeBrusk’s wheels and scoring touch does give that line the ability to counter and land punches down the other end of the ice.

In 14 career playoff games against Toronto, DeBrusk has scored nine points (six goals, three assists), headlined by his clutch two-goal performance in Boston’s Game 7 win over the Leafs during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

This season hasn’t gone according to plan for DeBrusk, especially with free agency sitting on the horizon this summer. But the playoffs offer a clean slate for the forward, who should be able to elevate his stock with some strong play against Toronto. 

Jeremy Swayman

At first glance, it seems all but a lock that Linus Ullmark will get the nod for Game 1 against Toronto on Saturday night.

After all, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner went 6-3-0 with a .935 save percentage over his final nine outings during the regular season, while Jeremy Swayman posted a .903 save percentage in the second half over 17 total games. 

But there is a valid case to be made for Swayman leapfrogging Ullmark on the depth chart for Game 1, given his sterling track record against the Maple Leafs.

Toronto has the firepower in place to make even the most stout goalies tremble in net, especially with Matthews (69 goals) leading the way. But Swayman seems to be at his best when matched up against Boston’s Original Six foe. 

Over Boston’s current seven-game win streak against Toronto that dates back to last season, Swayman is 4-0-0 with a stellar .961 save percentage.

Even if Ullmark gets the nod for Game 1, it seems all but a given that Swayman will get his chance to further bolster those numbers against the Leafs in this series.