Bruins vs. Leafs matchups

The playoffs are a whole new season, and it’s usually true.

But we’re finding it awfully hard to let go of the old season, the one in which the Bruins lost four of their last five games and fell one win shy of the top seed in the Eastern Conference. And as the Bruins slugged their way through a back-loaded schedule trying to get to the top of the hill, the Toronto Maple Leafs seemed content to cruise along in the third spot in the Atlantic Division, getting their players mentally and physically ready for the postseason.

While the Leafs are trying their best to position themselves as the scrappy underdog in this series, don’t be fooled into thinking they’ve got nothing to lose. It was the Bruins that started the slow detonation of the Toronto organization five years ago with their historic Game 7 comeback in the Garden. The Leafs bottomed out, got some high draft picks in Auston Matthews (first, 2016), Mitch Marner (fourth, 2015) and William Nylander (eighth, 2014) and started to climb.

Do you really think Toronto wants to see the Bruins, who started their youth movement shortly after the Leafs, essentially pass them on the upswing by winning this series? Whatever happens, this should be the start of an excellent Atlantic Division rivalry for years to come with all the youth on both sides.

Here’s a look at the matchups: