Boston Bruins to continue domination of Toronto Maple Leafs - NHL Preview
Boston Bruins will look to put some gap between themselves and the chasing Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers for the second spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, March 19, 2012 at the TD Garden.
The Bruins have a one point lead over the Senators and are two above the Panthers as they look to enter the playoffs as the second seeded team.
Recently though the Bruins have struggled for results and just about managed to end a four-game skid with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last time out at home ice.
They will look to build on that result against a team they have dominated throughout the 2011-12 season.
Boston is currently second in the Eastern Conference with 85-points and will look for another two points as they hope to make a run to defend their Stanley Cup title.
The Maple Leafs, on the other hand, have put together a brace of good results to keep themselves barely in the race for a playoff spot.
Toronto ended a five-game skid with two 3-1 victories over Tampa Bay Lightning and fierce rivals Ottawa Senators respectively on the road and will be looking to build on that momentum against Boston.
The Leafs are currently 12th in the Eastern Conference with 72-points and trail eighth placed Washington Capitals by six.
They need to start winning games regularly from now on to have any chance of making the playoff rounds.
Bruins (41-27-3, 85 pts)
Boston ended a disappointing run of four straight defeats on Saturday with a shootout defeat of the high flying Philadelphia Flyers.
The game looked destined for another disappointing end as the Flyers rallied in the final two periods to peg back the Bruins 2-0 lead and send the game to overtime.
However, forward Patrice Bergeron stepped up for Boston to score the winning goal in the shootout and deliver a much needed win for the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Boston now will have to work hard and get some results if they want to secure the second spot in the Eastern Conference, a fact not lost on captain Zdeno Chara.
"It's big, especially at this time of the year. Everybody's scrambling for points, everybody's trying to establish position in the playoffs, in the standings, going into the playoffs, so every point is important."
Maple Leafs (32-32-8, 72 pts)
Toronto’s recent results may have come a little too late to help the franchise move into a playoff spot at the end of the season.
However, they are still in with a good shot at making it to the postseason rounds.
The Leafs defeated fierce rivals Ottawa Senators 3-1 the last time out with a big performance and defenseman Mike Komisarek is happy with the Leafs rebound.
"We've talked about playing with heart and intensity at this time of year and everyone knows how difficult it's been the last couple of weeks. We can build some momentum here and build off the positives."
Predictions
The Bruins will be favourites on home ice and their domination of the Leafs will continue.
Goals will be at a premium as both teams have struggled in offence during their individual skids.
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