Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins Pick and Prediction – April 20, 2024

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS VS. BOSTON BRUINS EXPERT PICK AND PREDICTION – April 20, 2024 — Both of these teams come into this series with something to prove to themselves. On the Leafs’ side, they finally ended the Curse of the Senators with their first playoff series win in 20 years last season — but they were promptly crisped in five games by upstart Florida.

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That’s better than Boston, which turned a President’s Trophy season into a seven-game loss in the first round. The Bruins have a real fear that their championship window might be closing soon, and the fact that they’re limping into the playoffs doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Nor does the fact that the Leafs were road warriors last season. Toronto didn’t lose a single playoff game in regulation last year, going 4-1 with the one defeat coming in overtime. The Buds are now a deep team from top to bottom that understands how to win in April. But the question is, do they understand how to win against Boston? The Bruins have owned this series lately, winning seven straight against the Maple Leafs.

The Odds

Puck Drop

When: Saturday, April 20, 2024, at 8 PM EST

Where: TD Garden, Boston

TV: TBS

Public Bets: Unavailable

Public Money: Unavailable

Odds courtesy of DraftKings, as of April 19th, 2024

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins In-Season Trends

Momentum is seriously lacking for both sides. Toronto comes in having lost four straight, while Boston lost three of four. The difference is that Toronto had little to play for, as it was locked to the No. 3 seed and was basically waiting for Florida and Boston to sort out who would play them in the first round.

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Boston had a chance to win the Atlantic and failed, and now they face a Leafs squad that openly admits they weren’t attempting to win their last four games. Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said after his team’s final regular season game that he couldn’t even recall the score of the game that his team had just played. So it’s wise to take the Leafs’ recent play with a grain of salt.

Toronto has given up five goals or more in four straight games and played to the over in five straight. But the Leafs weren’t as concerned with defense as they were with trying to get Auston Matthews to 70 goals. Now that the regular season is over, they’ll likely focus more on the blue line.

Players to Watch

Matthews has done his part against the Bruins this season. He scored four points in four games against Boston, but Toronto lost all of them, leading Keefe to quip that the Leafs have learned what doesn’t work against Boston. One thing that must continue to be part of the equation is Matthews putting up numbers.

David Pastrnak leads the Boston attack, but Pavel Zacha has been more consistent as of late. He scored in two of the Bruins’ final four games, and with 21 goals on the season, this is his time to step up and shine.

The Pick

I’m getting a feeling that the Bruins are out of gas again. We’ve seen it with teams such as the Penguins in 2019, when Pittsburgh got swept out of the playoffs by a younger and hungrier Islanders squad. Boston doesn’t seem to have everyone on the same page, and Toronto’s going to look to make a statement that the four losses to end the season really did mean nothing.

This Boston squad just isn’t as good at getting pucks to the net, and they rely too heavily on the goaltenders. That won’t cut it if Toronto’s attack is on from the beginning, and I think that happens. The Maple Leafs should get enough shots on goal to make their case, and if they do, I think they come out ahead.