The two highly-competitive games between these Original Six rivals earlier this season paint a picture of razor-thin margins between the two clubs.
After a 2-1 win for the Leafs back in November, there was a difference of 0.1 in expected goals (2.67-2.57 in the Leafs’ favour), one high-danger scoring chance (15-14 in the Bruins’ favour), and two shot attempts (52-50 in the Bruins’ favour) at five on five during Boston’s 4-3 win in January.
A big late push from Boston and a couple of costly turnovers from Conor Timmins and John Tavares in dangerous areas of the ice made the difference last time out, and Matt Murray was arguably outplayed by Linus Ullmark.