Leafs have to learn how to beat the Bruins
There are two things the Maple Leafs aren’t very good at: the shootout and beating Boston. They’ll have to figure out one, or the other — or both — in the latter part of the season if they’re to hold on to their playoff spot. The Bruins are first up, with backto-back games Saturday at the Air Canada Centre and Monday at the TD Garden. It’s been nearly a two calendar years — since March 30, 2011 — since the Maple Leafs beat the Bruins. That’s eight losses in a row. “A lot of it has to do with Boston in general — they’re a good team,” said Joffrey Lupul, who’ll miss the Saturday game due to suspension. “But there is a little bit of it that is some sort of mental block we have about losing to Boston. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve beat them once or twice. For a team in your division, that’s not good enough.” All the Leafs could take away from their two games against Boston this year is moral victories. “This year we’ve played them better,” said Lupul. “Last year we were blown out, and even embarrassed by them some games. We’re going in the right direction, but it’s something we have to overcome. If you make the playoffs and you get paired against Boston in the first round, you don’t want to go into it not having beaten them in two years.” The Leafs spent a great deal of time praising style of play and commitment of the Bruins. The Leafs aspire to play the same way. “They’re the closest team to playing 60 minutes a night every game,” said Clarke MacArthur. “They’re going to cycle, they’re going to get their grind plays. “They’ve got a sound structure, great goaltending and the big bodies to go with it.” Said Lupul: “They’re definitely a team that we respect a lot, but a team that we’ve got to be challenging a little bit if we want to take that next level and step into that level of teams, into the Bostons and Pittsburghs of the world instead of the Winnipegs and Islanders.” The Leafs are on a 1-3-3 skid. Two of those losses came via shootouts, historically a weak point for the team. The Leafs are 29-43 all time in the shootout, a winning percentage of .402. “I’ve been on teams where we’ve won every one. It’s like, you win the first one, you never lose one the rest of the year,” said MacArthur, 0 for 11 lifetime in the shootout. “We need to improve on it. It’s about going in on that one-on-one and winning it. I sure haven’t figured it out.”
Former Leaf captain Mats Sundin will drop the puck Saturday night, giving fans a chance to celebrate his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sundin was supposed to have been honoured at a game in November during the Hall of Fame weekend, but the game was wiped out by the lockout. Sundin is the Maple Leafs all-time leader in goals (420), points (987), game-winning goals (79), and power-play goals (124).