Boston Bruins: 4 Keys to Wednesday's Matchup with Toronto Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins will seek to secure a near-perfect November and pole-vault over the Toronto Maple Leafs for tops in the Northeast Division with a Wednesday night visit to the Air Canada Centre.

Dating back to their previous tangle, a 7-0 Boston triumph 25 nights ago at the same site, one of these teams has labored tirelessly to improve its posture in the standings. The other has grittily battled to remain in the upper echelon.

But in the here and how, the Bruins and Leafs are to pit conflicting hot streaks in this home-and-home series, which will conclude at TD Garden on Saturday. Boston is 11-0-1 on the month while Toronto is returning home after winning the last three installments of a four-game road trip.

The four principal items worth watching in Part I of this series are as follows.

Gustavsson in a Groove?

Although Toronto continues to authorize an average of a little more than three opposing goals per game, backstop Jonas Gustavsson may finally be establishing some stability.

Having won each of his last four starts and each of Toronto’s last three games, Gustavsson figures to get the nod on Wednesday. This will mean facing the Bruins for the first time since a vain relief outing that saw him stop only four of six shots as part of the 7-0 lashing on Nov. 5.

Gustavsson’s first appearance this season was also against Boston on Oct. 20—then he took the albatross in a 6-2 submission. Over his first three starts, he allowed 13 goals on 91 shots and went 1-2-0.

Since then, though, he has yet to let more than three biscuits squeak by in a single game. During his personal four-game winning streak, he has stopped all but seven out of 136 shots faced.

For Gustavsson, there is no time like to present to try to get the Bruins out of his head. But if they act quickly enough, they can renew that dent in his confidence.

Discipline

The Maple Leafs will enter this matchup bearing the third-best power play in the league with a 22.8 percent conversion rate. Lately, they have tallied at least one man-advantage strike in each of their last seven games, going a cumulative 9-for-19 and posting a 4-2-1 record in that span.

When you do the math, Toronto has not required much opportunity to start reaping these rewards. Over the course of these seven games, the Leafs have averaged a little less than three power-play segments and have not had more than four on any given night.

Barring Bozak

Tyler Bozak has fired up his acetylene stick for Toronto in recent weeks, amassing five goals and three assists in the last six games. Three of those goals have constituted a hefty portion of the Leafs’ recent power-play buffet.

And generally, Bozak has found the net on nights when the opposition grants him more opportunities. In each of his last two goalless outings, he has been confined to two shots on net.

Conversely, he went 1-for-3 against Washington Nov. 19, scored twice on five bids against Tampa Bay last Tuesday and nailed two of his six tries on Anaheim this past Sunday.

Second Wind For Seguin?

Tyler Seguin, a Greater Toronto Area native and the primary piece of compensation in the Phil Kessel trade, has repeatedly voiced his poise when preparing to face the Maple Leafs. And he has repeatedly let that excitement translate to the scoresheet, particularly in the young phases of his sophomore surge.

Seguin’s hat trick during the Bruins’ last visit to Toronto earlier this month was his second three-point night in as many encounters with the Leafs this season.

Over Boston’s past seven games, Seguin has mustered only one goal and two helpers, yet his team has carried on to go 6-0-1 as several of his less celestial teammates have stepped up.

But with an undefeated November and first place at stake, all against his former hometown team, Seguin might be in a position to restore his own electricity on Wednesday.

On a side note, Milan Lucic has scraped out his own pair of three-point performances at the Leafs’ expense this year, but has been rather frostbitten of late.