10 reasons why it’s the perfect time to face the Bruins

For those who have asked, you can check out the Leaf Legacy series posts that you might have missed by visiting the "Categories" link on the right-hand side of the  page on the front of the Vintage Leaf Memories site under "Leaf Legacy series".

You can also find the links here below:

• Part I, the 1950s
• Part II, the 1960s
• Part III, the 1970s
• Part IV, the 1980s
• Part V, the 1990s
• Part VI, the 2000s

While most readers, I'm guessing, are more interested in current Leaf talk, I hope some people enjoyed the series.

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As seemingly devastating as the Leafs’ recent 11-game “skid” appeared to be, they have the good fortune to be operating in the rather middling Eastern Conference.  And because the Leafs are hardly alone in struggling to consistently find their form at times, they remain in the hunt for the remaining playoff spots. (Last I checked, I think we could fairly that say as many as nine teams are shooting for the last three playoff spots in the Conference...)

Toronto's victory in Montreal kept them either ahead of, alongside, or within much better than shouting distance of a number of clubs, namely, in no particular order:  Winnipeg, Ottawa, Tampa, Washington, Buffalo and Florida.

So, while Leaf fans can’t quite forget the pastings the Leafs received at the hands of the Bruins earlier this season, that was then—and this is now.  And to me, there are no shortage of reasons why the timing of this particular match-up could not be any better for the Leafs—and the blue and white faithful.

This includes the following reasons:

1. The Bruins are slumping.  This is a team that, especially since the White House fiasco, has not played at a consistently high level.
2. They are down to one NHL goalie, with former Leaf draftee Rask down and out, perhaps for a long time.  For his part, Tim Thomas, so magnificent last spring as the Bruins battled their way to their first Stanley Cup since 1972, has been merely human of late.
3. The Bruins are likely filled with self-doubt.  It’s not just the “repeat” syndrome—the wall that all Cup-defending teams tend to unsuccessfully come up against, though that weighs heavily in and of itself, when every team wants to take you out.  But in addition, other teams have gotten better, and the Bruins are fighting some injuries to key role-performers like Peverley, who was so important a year ago, along with Paille and Ference.
4. It has to be in the heads of the Bruins by now that they can’t beat the Rangers.  Sometimes they’ve lost close games (like Sunday), sometimes they’ve been blown out.  Either way, at the end of the day, one thing is clear:  The Bruins aren’t matching up well with Tortorella’s crew, and right now, they can’t beat New York-  at home or on the road.
5. As for the Leafs, they are back home Tuesday night, and you know that fans, inspired by a coaching change and a big win in Montreal, will be loud and ready to rock when the Bruins come to town.
6. The honeymoon effect will be in place for a while with Carlyle behind the bench.  Not that playing for him is a honeymoon for the players, but the fact is, they should respond to playing for a new guy very well for the rest of this season, at the very least. They are all vying for their role (and ice time) under a demanding new coach.
7. The Leafs will want to un-do some of the collateral damage they felt by losing four times earlier this season to the Bruins.  I want to believe they don’t like the impression that fans have that they can’t stand up to Lucic and the Bruins.  They should come out firing, checking and hitting Tuesday night.
8. Grabovski broke out of a, what was it—15 games?—scoreless drought in Montreal.  A big game against his old NHL team had to give him a boost.  He doesn’t have his new contract, but he also wasn’t traded at the deadline.  He is now playing to get his team into the playoffs—and to earn a shiny new long-term UFA contract in July (whether here or elsewhere).
9. A new defensive system will mean less “activating” of the Leaf defensemen, not as many costly "pinches" and as a result, fewer prime-time scoring chances for the opposition.  You can bet the Leafs will be much more vigilant defensively down the stretch than they were at times earlier in the season.  That means the goalies will have a much better chance for success.
10. At the end of the day, these guys have pride.  I don’t think that even the best athletes necessarily know precisely why confidence is lost, or personal “slumps” happen, or why teams play under their capabilities for stretches at a time.  But it does happen.  Once you fight through that, as the Leafs surely have, you generally come out the other end with a healthy chip on your shoulder—and a lot more confidence...which goes right to your feet.

It’s not a question of guaranteeing a win.  No point in that.  But the Bruins are eminently beatable these days.  And the Leafs should be ready to play their best hockey since earlier this season the rest of the way.

Time to win some games.