Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews said he learned last year just how different the playoffs are from the regular season as he sized up the Boston Bruins.

“There’s not much space out there for anybody,” said Matthews. “Not going to be high-scoring playoff games. It’s tight-tight out there. They’re a big team. They play well. Guys like (Zdeno) Chara with long reaches don’t give you much time or space. But come playoff time, it doesn’t matter how much space there is out there. It’s all the little battles.”

Matthews adds that players must raise their games come playoff time.

“I want to produce, obviously, and play both sides of the puck and help the team win, most importantly,” said Matthews. “It doesn’t matter what it is — scoring goals, getting assists. You can do other things like win faceoffs, block shots, play well defensively to help the team win. That’s what it takes.

Matthews had four goals and an assist over six games in last year’s opening-round loss to Washington.

“You see guys like Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Anze Kopitar win Cups. Those are guys that produced offensively, but they are also guys that can play on both sides of the puck. That’s what it takes.”

UNDERDOGGING IT: Given the Bruins have home-ice advantage, Leafs coach Mike Babcock says that should make Boston the favourite. “They got more points that us, so we’re the underdog. In saying all that, they believe they’re going to win. We believe we’re going to win. That doesn’t mean we think it’s going to be easy. We don’t think that at all, but we think we have enough in the room that we have to find a way.”

BOSTON READY: The Bruins did not practise in Boston on Monday, having played Sunday night. They lost four of the last five games of the season (1-3-1) and nine of their last 16 (7-5-4), missing out on a chance to win the division. GM Don Sweeney, though, told reporters in Boston that he isn’t concerned with how the team finished the season. “We won 50 games, and I think the body of work speaks that this team deserves to be where we are. We’re focused on Thursday night. I think every team would recognize they have errors they would like to clean up. Our target is (playing) our best hockey on Thursday night.”

BATTLE TESTED: The Leafs beat the Bruins three times out of four this season, but that means nothing, says Toronto winger James van Riemsdyk. “They were all really good games. Since I’ve been in the league, it’s always a fun arena (TD Garden) to play in. They’re always a good team. It’s always a good challenge. They’ve got a quality team. We have to bring our best.”

REMEMBER 2013: There are some key holdovers from the 2013 series that Boston won in seven — in overtime, following a third-period meltdown by the Maple Leafs. “Memories are not good from that series,” said defenceman Jake Gardiner, who joins Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov and van Riemsdyk as holdovers from that year. “At the same time, we played well for most of it. The last 10 minutes were tough.” Returning for Boston: goalies Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin, defencemen Chara, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaig, and forwards Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci.

BAB TALK: Babcock played a part in Bergeron and Marchand becoming the talents they are from their days together on national teams, at the Olympics and World Cup of Hockey. “Opportunity helps you get better and earn confidence,” said Babcock. “When you get to play on the Olympic team and you get to be around the best players and you decide you’re a pretty good player, that’s huge for confidence. You get to see who does what better than you, and you learn and you take things. The opportunity to play in those events help make you a better player.”

FOOD FIGHT: The Leafs would have been playing Tampa instead of the Bruins had Boston beaten Florida in the season finale. Babcock says he’s okay with how things turned out. “I like clam chowder, so I’m excited we’re going to Boston.”

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