Resurgent Bruins shut down Maple Leafs in potential playoff preview

BOSTON --It is still a bit early to be thinking about matchups in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The calendar has turned to February, the NHL Trade Deadline hasn't yet wreaked roster upheaval and there's still about 30 games for each team left to play.
Nonetheless, there's a good chance that the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs will see each other when the playoffs begin in April, with the three contenders in the Atlantic Division already nearly locked into place.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the division with 73 points in 51 games, followed by the Bruins (70 points in 50 games) and Maple Leafs (65 points in 54 games). The next closest? The Florida Panthers with 50 points in 50 games.
Though it's possible that the resurgent Bruins could pass the Lightning for first place, they could just as likely see the Maple Leafs again when the puck drops in the Eastern Conference First Round. And if so, the Bruins hope they made a serious statement with a dominating 4-1 victory.
Of course, the Maple Leafs had been a thorn in the Bruins' side; Toronto was 5-0-1 in its past six games, including two wins (one in overtime) so far this season.
But at TD Garden on Saturday, the Bruins handily dispatched the Maple Leafs, whose only goal actually came off the stick of Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

It was another strong overall performance with the Bruins -- 19-2-4 in their past 25 games -- scarcely missed the absence of leading scorer Brad Marchand, who is still serving a five-game suspension for elbowing New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson.
Boston's elevated play also wasn't lost on the Maple Leafs, who were coming off a four-game winning streak.
"I think we should take that as a challenge," Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen said. "I think there's a long way to go and right now we're focused on what's ahead, on Monday. I don't think there's any reason to look that far ahead yet. We've still got to keep playing, and we'll take that when the time comes."
These two teams still could look different by the time the playoffs arrive. On Saturday, though, the Maple Leafs were outplayed by the Bruins by a wide margin, with Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron's performance in shutting down Auston Matthews particularly notable, as was the performance of goaltender Tuukka Rask, now 18-0-2 in his past 20 games.
That is a tough combination to beat.
"I liked it, because I thought Matthews was generally quiet, and I'm not being disrespectful, but he wasn't the offensive force he has been in the past against us," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You've got to give credit to the players on the ice."
The defensive pairing of Zdeno Chara] and McAvoy, and Bergeron's line shut down Matthews and Co.

"They're a good line," Bergeron said. "They're good on transition; they're moving their feet well. They want to make plays, but I thought we did some good things. We, for the most part, tried to keep them to the outside. They're going to have some looks, going to have some chances, but … I thought our line was moving our feet well and we were on the puck for the most part."
The Bruins talked about the importance of defeatingToronto before the game. And the Maple Leafs, too, acknowledged that this was not a typical matchup, especially against a quality division opponent with points being so precious.
"It's huge," McAvoy said. "We assessed that in here. You don't want to harp on the negative and the bad, but we knew we lost to those guys when we played them earlier in the year and now this race is really close and these games are important. To go and beat them tonight was our goal and to come through on it we feel really good in here about it."
There is still more to come from these rivals in the regular season, with another Saturday night matchup in three weeks, this one at Air Canada Centre on Feb. 24 (7 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, NHL.TV). But the likelihood is that game won't be the last from the Bruins and the Maple Leafs this season.
"That's a ways away, but that's the way it looks right now," Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said before the game Saturday. "So every game between now and then is important. I think when you get a chance to match up against a team like this it's important that we come out, put our best foot forward and put forth a good team effort that we can be proud of."

They didn't quite get what they were looking for. As coach Mike Babcock said after the game, "If you don't have everyone on deck and you're not ready to go, you're not going to win very often. I thought we've done a good job of that of late and I didn't think we got that tonight."
They have time to correct that. They have time to get stronger. So do the Bruins.
There are 32 games left for the Bruins and 28 for the Maple Leafs, with two months until the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Much could change. Lineups could shift. There may be player additions or subtractions. But this was a glimpse of what could be.
For the Bruins, that glimpse was promising. For the Maple Leafs, there is more work to be done.