For the second year in a row, the Boston Bruins will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning next week. Also for the second year in a row, the Bruins will have home ice advantage against the Leafs.
Does home ice advantage mean the Bruins will have a better chance at beating one of their original six rivals? The answer is hard to say. Home ice advantage made the difference when these two teams met last April. Not only were the Bruins able to win one of the best games in recent history in game seven at the TD Garden almost a year ago, the home team won five of the seven games in that series. During the regular season, the Bruins won both games at…
