Beasts of the East: Boston Faces Off Against Toronto Tonight in Pre-All Star Game Showdown
“They’ve been the most consistent team in the NHL by far, and that’s because they believe in what they are doing, and they go out and do it every game. Our job is to try and keep pace and apply pressure on them."
-- Sheldon Keefe (Toronto Maple Leafs' head coach)
It's a battle of two of the NHL's best teams tonight when the league-leading Boston Bruins (38-7-5) hit the road and take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (31-12-8) at Scotiabank Arena.
Here's a look at the pregame odds, just a few hours before the puck drops:
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On Wednesday night, Michael Bunting and Brad Marchand will square off when the Maple Leafs host the runaway leaders in the Atlantic Division and team with the NHL’s best record in the overall standings.
Toronto’s odds of catching Boston are clearly a longshot, with an 11-point gap. But the mighty Bruins, with just seven regulation losses for the entire season, will arrive having lost three consecutive games, two of those coming in regulation time. So, this is a rare moment with the Bruins appear to be vulnerable.
“They’re on an incredible pace and they’ll be hard to catch ... but that’s what we’re going to try and do,” said Leafs forward William Nylander to the Toronto Star. Nylander was named the NHL’s second star of the week after racking up four goals and three assists in four games.
The Maple Leafs held an optional skills practice Monday and will dig in for a hard practice Tuesday before their last game ahead of the NHL All-Star Game break. Their next game after that won’t be until more than a week away, on Feb. 10 against the dismal Blue Jackets in Columbus.
Marchand, who praised Bunting’s play last season when the Leaf was a finalist for the "rookie of the year" trophy, returned ahead of schedule from off-season hip surgery and has helped pace the Bruins’ line with Patrice Bergeron and, most games, David Pastrnak — although Taylor Hall has also made appearances there of late.
However Boston lines up Wednesday, they’ll be rolling with 38 wins while riding a league-best record and could be on course for one of the best five seasons in NHL history.
“There’s lots of excitement,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said about facing Boston, and trying to enter the all-star break on a high note. “It’s a great challenge … We’re a group that has been good through 40 games, but we’re expecting a tough game for sure.
“They’ve been the most consistent team in the NHL by far, and that’s because they believe in what they are doing, and they go out and do it every game. Our job is to try and keep pace and apply pressure on them (in the standings), but we’re also in a similar situation, with Tampa and Buffalo in pursuit of us.”
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Note: Much of the content from this article is taken from today's report in the Toronto Star.
