History with Maple Leafs could help Bruins snap short playoff slump

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins may have found just the solution to their playoff slump: A first-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Bruins haven’t lost a playoff series to Toronto since 1959, winning six straight series that have helped extend their Original Six rival’s Stanley Cup drought to more than half of a century. Boston won all four regular-season matchups with the Leafs during the regular season — all motivation, no doubt, for Toronto to turn things around.

“I think just with the history we’ve had with them recently, they’re probably our biggest rival now over the last decade,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said Thursday as the team began practicing for the Saturday’s series opener.

“It definitely brings the emotion and the intensity up for the fans. It’s a lot of fun to play,” he said. “It’s always extremely competitive. You never know which way the series is going to go. But that’s what you want and what you love about hockey.”