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NHL Toronto Maple Leafs

Dion Phaneuf Must Step Up His Play Against the Boston Bruins

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Phaneuf

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

No team has tormented Dion Phaneuf in his Toronto Maple Leaf career the way the Boston Bruins have.

Since being traded to the Maple Leafs in January of 2010, Phaneuf has become the captain of the franchise and the team’s defensive anchor. Unfortunately, that anchor can’t seem to ever play well against the Bruins, and it’s become one of the major reasons why Boston has dominated Toronto since Phaneuf’s arrival in blue and white.

The Maple Leafs’ lack of success against Boston in recent years goes well beyond Phaneuf’s inability to play a decent game against the club. Nobody could make the argument Toronto has been the better team at any point of Phaneuf’s Maple Leaf career, as the team simply hasn’t had enough talent around the defenseman to compete against the perennial Stanley Cup contender. However, a closer look at the numbers shows just how bad Phaneuf has truly been whenever he laces up against the Bruins.

Since Phaneuf arrived in Toronto, the Maple Leafs have gone 7-13-3 against Boston while the captain has recorded six assists and a pathetic minus-20 rating. The plus/minus rating might be a little skewed considering Tuukka Rask has been a wall in goal against the team that traded him and Tyler Seguin seemed to score a hat-trick every time he played Toronto before the Bruins decided to ship him off to Texas. Regardless, a team can only be as good as its leader, and clearly Phaneuf has struggled mightily against Boston.

Even in their infamous seven-game playoff series in the lockout year, Phaneuf finished with a plus-rating only once and ended the series with a minus-six rating overall and three points. It’s not uncommon in professional sports for certain players to have bad luck for whatever reason against certain teams, but considering Boston is a division rival, the Maple Leafs can’t have their captain playing this poorly this routinely if they ever hope to return to the playoffs.

If Phaneuf wants to lead his team back to the postseason, especially after signing a big contract extension last season, he needs to find a way to turn his fortunes around against Boston. There’s no better time than tonight when the Zdeno Chara-less Bruins visit the Air Canada Centre, 18 days after handing the Maple Leafs a 4-1 loss in Toronto in a game Toronto’s captain finished with a minus-two rating.

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