The Maple Leafs ran into a real 5-on-5 powerhouse in the first round, which isn’t their fault. The Bruins were a 53.7 per cent Corsi% team this year and Toronto was a 49.8 per cent Corsi% team. At the same time, for the Maple Leafs to have the parade, they need to be the 5-on-5 powerhouse in a series, not the team that’s hoping to avoid the 5-on-5 powerhouse or hoping to get lucky.



The Bruins outscored the Maple Leafs at 5-on-5 by a margin of 18-14 while overwhelming them in terms of possession. Boston out-shot the Maple Leafs 195-162 (54.6 per cent) and out-attempted them 351-321 (52.2 per cent). You don’t always get the goals and shots and attempts lining up in playoff series because of score effects but in this case, the time spent trailing and leading was pretty similar and the goals kind of accurately lined up with the possession. Toronto didn’t get whipped like the Minnesota Wild but they were pretty thoroughly run over.



Last year’s...