Even without the likes of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, both of whom retired last offseason, the Boston Bruins are still here.
A new-look roster was still competing for the Atlantic Division title until losing three of the Bruins’ final four regular-season games, including the last two to the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators earlier this week.
The past is the past now.
A new season begins Saturday when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Boston to begin the journey of best-of-sevens in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
“The worst thing you could possibly do is go into the playoffs and think that anything you did during the season matters,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said.
“We started (on Thursday) getting prepared for Saturday, looking at what we need to do and the things that (the Maple Leafs) do and we’ll keep building from that.”
The same sentiment also goes for Boston’s four-game sweep of its divisional rival during the regular season, which included goaltender Jeremy Swayman posting matching 4-1 wins during a home-and-home in early March.
Of course, the Bruins learned a painful lesson in the complete newness of the “second season” last April, losing their seven-game opening series to the Florida Panthers after a record-setting run to the Presidents’ Trophy.
Coach Jim Montgomery rode the near-even split between Swayman and Linus Ullmark throughout this season and has indicated no plans to move away from it come playoff time.
When asked about the team’s Game 1 goalie, general manager Don Sweeney nor Montgomery would commit to a starter for Saturday or beyond, but cited continued confidence in the position.
“Performance and results will dictate some of this, but we know what the plan is going in, and so do they,” Sweeney said. “And we’re comfortable with it.”
The Maple Leafs will not only look to erase their own four-game skid to end the regular season, but also a drought of losing all six playoff series against the Bruins in the NHL’s expansion era. This will mark the fourth series matchup between the Original Six rivals in an 11-year span.
Before the Bruins’ season-ending losses helped Florida clinch the division title, it looked like the first-round playoff matchups would feature Boston vs. Tampa Bay and Toronto vs. Florida.
Either way, both teams know the challenge that lies ahead.
“We’ve got to be aware of their top-end forwards,” Montgomery said. “We can’t give up odd-man rushes and we gotta make them defend.
“Probably the same thing they’re saying about us. It all comes down to execution.”
Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner is eager to start the playoffs.
“I think regardless of whoever we were going to play, it was going to be a competitive matchup and now, obviously, we are excited for that,” he said.
In a 6-4 loss Wednesday to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Auston Matthews was unable to extend his franchise-record goal total for a single season to 70, despite recording his second-highest shot count in a game this season with 12.
While Matthews fell short of a milestone that hasn’t been achieved since 1993, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe knows that his star center’s recent level of play shouldn’t go unnoticed.
“The way he’s played these last two games, give him those types of chances and those types of shots, and he could have had 75,” Keefe said.
Matthews — who is the only Leafs player to score 40 goals in five straight seasons — quickly turned his focus to the upcoming series.
“The most important thing is the team’s success, and making sure that I’m pulling my weight and doing what I can as a leader to help the team win as we go into the postseason,” Matthews said.
–Field Level Media