With the strength of the top three teams in the Atlantic, it’s all but guaranteed that Boston-Toronto will be one matchup in Round 1, with the winner of that series going up against Tampa — assuming they take care of business in their first-round series. Generally, the first game back after a road trip doesn’t lead to the best performances, but the Leafs have no shortage of reasons to get up for this challenge tonight.
Fortunately, the Leafs have come to play in their two contests against Tampa this year. The 4-1 Lightning win on December 13th was one of the Leafs better even-strength performances of the year to that point, despite the scoreline.