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NHL Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs Must Seek Revenge Against Boston Bruins

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Bruins

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs have an opportunity to redeem themselves against one of their biggest rivals less than three weeks after one of their worst performances of the season.

The Boston Bruins return to Toronto for the second time this season after a dominating 4-1 victory on Oct. 25 that had Maple Leaf fans booing their team off the ice. To make matters worse for the home squad, the Bruins are riding a five-game winning streak and have won seven of their past nine games despite playing the majority of those contests without their captain Zdeno Chara.

The good news for the Maple Leafs, entering a game against an opponent that has dominated them for close to five years, is Toronto has played their best hockey of the season since the ugly loss to Boston. The Maple Leafs enter the contest with a 5-1-1 record since losing to the Bruins, with former Bruin Phil Kessel leading the way with 11 points in that span.

Many expected Kessel to capitalize on a Chara-less Boston team the last time they came to town, but Toronto’s best player failed to rise to the occasion and finished with a minus-two rating in the contest. If the Maple Leafs stand any shot of defeating one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams they’ll need their $8 million man to lead the way offensively against his former club.

If gaining revenge after a pathetic performance isn’t enough motivation for the Maple Leafs, then it could be another long night for Toronto. This is a measuring-stick game against one of the league’s elite teams and nobody will fault the club if they happen to lose to Boston, but if the Maple Leafs fail to show a pulse like they did 18 days ago it would say a lot about whether Toronto is playoff bound or not.

Tonight’s game should be about pride for the Maple Leafs. They were badly outplayed in front of their home crowd despite the fact that the opposition didn’t have their captain in the lineup. Chara still won’t be in the lineup this time around, and if Toronto lets another opportunity slip through the cracks against a wounded opponent, then how could they possibly expect to compete against them later this season when the Bruins have healed up?

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