The Bruins didn’t want to hype up Saturday night’s game too much beforehand, but afterwards, they could acknowledge what anyone watching could see or feel.
“I think the game meant more to us than I imagined before the game,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “…I’m glad it did.”
The game was a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it was the Bruins’ biggest win of the year for a variety of reasons.
For starters, it was a great bounce-back from the Bruins’ first home regulation loss of the season on Thursday. They still have not lost two games in a row this season, which is a point of pride.
“We’re proud of not having lost two in a row,” Montgomery said. “There was a purpose to what we were doing, and not only because it was the second-place team in Toronto that we were playing, but we don’t want to lose two in a row. You get into a playoff and lose two in a row, you’re in a little bit of a hole.”
Secondly, it was a win over one of the few teams that had beaten them in regulation this season. The Leafs had taken the first meeting in the season series with a 2-1 win in Toronto back on Nov. 5 -- a game that got overshadowed because it took place a day after the Bruins’ controversial signing of Mitchell Miller.
Most importantly, it was a win over the team that arguably represents the Bruins’ biggest challenge in the Eastern Conference. That may sound odd if you know the Leafs’ postseason history -- they haven’t won a single playoff series since 2004, the longest active drought in the NHL -- but there’s reason to believe this Leafs team could be different.
First off, they actually play defense. They’ve evolved from a team whose defense was consistently a weakness to one that can count it as a strength. They’ve added sturdy veterans like Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie (who was out injured Saturday) in recent years, and they’ve seen rapid growth from youngsters Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin over the last year-plus.
“They’ve definitely gotten better over the last number of years,” Marchand said prior to Saturday’s game. “They’ve brought some D in that are much more defensively responsible, that are harder to play against, a little more physical, a little bigger. So they’re definitely improving. They’re a legit contender this year.”
The Leafs are also getting good goaltending from the duo of Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, a tandem that was widely mocked when Toronto added them this offseason. They have save percentages of .917 and .914, respectively, though, and have given the Leafs top-10 goaltending for the year. While Murray gave up four goals Saturday, he also made a couple highlight-reel saves, including an early one with the glove on Marchand.
And then there’s still the high-end offensive talent with the likes of Auston Matthews (scored a sick goal Saturday), Mitch Marner (two assists) and John Tavares (set up Toronto’s first goal of the night).
Marchand believes it’s only a matter of time before the Leafs finally break through to win a playoff series and go on a deeper run.
“Every year you go through adversity like they have and you learn a lot from it,” he said. “I think they’ve done that. Their stars are another year older and stronger and better, so they’re a very dangerous team. … It’s a matter of time for them where they’re gonna make a really good push and they’re gonna go deep. They’re just too talented.”
Marchand and the Bruins want to make sure that breakthrough isn’t on their watch. While there are still three months left in the regular season, things are certainly trending towards these two avoiding each other in the first round, but potentially meeting in the second. After Saturday night, the Bruins are now 11 points ahead of Toronto as they continue to run away with first place. The Leafs, meanwhile, might as well already be locked into a first-round showdown with the Lightning, who are in third place and 11 points ahead of fourth-place Buffalo.
Saturday helped set the tone for what that potential playoff series could look like. And while it was far from a must-win for the Bruins, it was an important one. The Leafs had beaten the B’s in four straight meetings going in, with Boston’s last win over them coming -- somewhat unbelievably -- in Nov. 2019.
You don’t want the Leafs starting to believe that they might actually have the Bruins’ number after years of playoff torture. The B’s put an end to that with an impressive win that saw them bounce back from Thursday’s loss to Seattle, twice come back from a goal down, get contributions up and down the lineup, outscore Toronto 4-2 at 5-on-5 play, and break through for the game-winning goal with 1:16 left in regulation when Matt Grzelcyk blasted a slap shot past Murray.
The Bruins have had plenty of more dominant wins this season, but for all the reasons above, Saturday was their most important.
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