State Your Case: Maple Leafs or Bruins more improved this season

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins renew their bitter rivalry with their first assembly of the 2024-25 common season at TD Backyard on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, NESN, SNP, SNO, CBC).

Every group continues to be trying to discover its kind within the early going.

The Maple Leafs (4-4-0) have misplaced two straight and three of 4. In these three losses — to the New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues — Toronto has been outscored 15-4. New coach Craig Berube, who changed Sheldon Keefe within the offseason, was demonstrably sad throughout a 5-1 loss to the Blues, his former group, on Thursday. Middle Auston Matthews has three objectives in eight video games after scoring an NHL career-high 69 final season.

The Bruins (3-4-1) have gone 0-2-1 of their previous three video games, together with a 4-0 loss Tuesday on the Nashville Predators, who had been with out a victory to that time. They then misplaced 5-2 to the Dallas Stars at residence on Thursday. Apart from forwards David Pastrnak (5 objectives) and Cole Koepke (three), no different participant on the roster has greater than two objectives. Captain Brad Marchand has but to attain a objective in eight video games.

To say the sport is large for both sides is an understatement.

However these two groups carry out the perfect in one another, particularly since they began assembly semi-regularly within the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2018. They’ve squared off within the first spherical thrice prior to now seven postseasons and Boston has emerged with a seven-game collection victory every time.

Final season, Pastrnak scored in time beyond regulation of Sport 7 to ship Toronto residence early but once more. However the Bruins misplaced to the Florida Panthers, the eventual Stanley Cup champion, within the second spherical.

Every group spent the offseason attempting to plug holes in its recreation, bringing in new gamers. Every has struggled to search out consistency early on this marketing campaign.

So it’s laborious to know which group has improved probably the most and which new additions might have the largest affect on this bitter rivalry and the season as an entire. However that’s the argument employees writers Amalie Benjamin and Mike Zeisberger sort out in the newest installment of State Your Case.

Benjamin: I nonetheless suppose it’s Boston. Sure, sure, I do know I’m based mostly right here. However I even have some religion in what the Bruins are constructing, the enhancements they’ve made particularly on the defensive aspect of the puck and the probabilities for a group that packs a heck of plenty of punch on the blue line. I’ll say that I didn’t count on Boston to be tied for twenty fourth within the NHL in objectives towards per recreation (3.43) after ending tied for fifth final season (2.70). Including Nikita Zadorov, who offers the type of thump the Bruins might have been lacking, ought to solely be a boon to a group that also has championship aspirations. With Zadorov, each member of the Boston protection is 6-foot-1 or taller, is cellular, and might probably improve his offensive output, ought to issues break proper. Proper now, although, there’s plenty of room to develop on protection.

Zeisberger: I’m truly on board together with your logic in the case of the enhancements made by the Bruins. For me, Boston’s largest wants had been top-end heart and a few growl on the again finish, and so they addressed every in Elias Lindholm and Zadorov. The rationale I again the Maple Leafs right here has nothing to do with anybody on the ice and every part to do with the person behind the bench. Sheldon Keefe was an excellent regular-season coach however may by no means get Toronto over the postseason hump, particularly towards the Bruins. It is a Boston franchise that has defeated Toronto in 4 consecutive Sport 7s. It’s apparent the Bruins are within the heads of Toronto gamers. Enter Craig Berube, who was employed as Keefe’s alternative on Might 17. It’s already apparent his north-south, everyone-is-accountable model is the kind of blueprint that may equate to postseason success. The truth is, when he hoisted the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, it was on the ice at TD Backyard, profitable a Sport 7 on the street. That was proof of Berube not being intimidated by different groups or the arenas wherein they play. Can he get his gamers to purchase in and really feel the identical manner? That’s the urgent query.