Rivalry renewed: Leafs' 2024 first-round playoff matchup is set

Well, it’s official — the Toronto Maple Leafs will have another chance to exorcise their playoff demons once again.

Following their loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, the Leafs will be taking on the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Boston had a chance to clinch the Atlantic Division with a win, but fell 3-1 to the Ottawa Senators on home ice to close out their regular season.

Florida, meanwhile, will be taking on an instate rival, facing off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their own opening series.

While the rosters for both teams have changed heavily over the years, the Bruins are a team with quite a bit of playoff history with Toronto in recent years.

The Leafs and Bruins met back in 2013 in an epic seven-game playoff series, which most infamously is known for Toronto’s epic Game 7 collapse. Trailing 3-1 in the series, Toronto looked to be on the right side of an all-time comeback when they took a 4-1 lead in the third period of a winner-take-all game on the road.

The Bruins also got the best of Toronto in both 2018 and 2019, with both of those series also going seven games. Bruins captain Brad Marchand is the only current player on either team to have featured in all three series.

Elsewhere in the NHL, the Washington Capitals clinched the final Eastern Conference playoff spot by way of a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, with the Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings all being eliminated from contention.

Toronto still has one game remaining in their season, as they travel to Tampa to take on the Lightning on Wednesday night.

The NHL playoffs start this coming Saturday, April 20, with a schedule to be announced in the coming days.

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