Tuesday night formalized what’s been presumed for weeks. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost at home to Carolina and the Bruins won big in Columbus, meaning Boston will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 playoff series between the Original Six rivals that was itself locked in on Monday. The Stanley Cup playoffs begin April 10, though at least one report says the Bruins’ series will begin the following night on Saturday.
It will be the 16th playoff series between Boston and Toronto, and the third first-round meeting between the two in the past seven years. You’ve likely not forgotten the prior two, given both went seven games and ended legendarily for the home team.