A round of applause, please, for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yep, give it up for Leafs yahoos from Ontario and beyond, bless their hearts.

This time, Bruins fans don’t need to come to the defense of our beloved, on-the-mend city. In a truly historic twist, especially when one considers this is the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s fans of the Maple Leafs who are showing the world what sports decorum is all about.

At issue here is an incident from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals between the Bruins and Maple Leafs, played Monday night at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. Decked out in sunglasses and a blue-and-white Maple Leafs sweater, a spectator — sorry, can’t call him a fan — held aloft a placard on which was written: “Toronto Stronger.”

The idea, I guess, is that the guy was hoping to appropriate “Boston Strong,” which has come to symbolize our town’s strength, perseverance and teamwork in the ?aftermath of last month’s marathon bombings. We hear the phrase Boston Strong and we instantly think about the first responders, and the many people who suffered serious injuries, and, yes, the four people who lost their lives.

Boston Strong.

Bruins players wear Boston Strong T-shirts. At Fenway Park, a “B” Strong logo has been affixed to the Green Monster. We’ve seen “Entering Boston” signs being ?altered to include the word “strong.”

Boston Strong.

It seems to touch all of us.

It touched that guy in Toronto right in the head.

Now don’t get all stupid and throw it out there that this is the first time the Maple Leafs have been in the Stanley Cup tournament in nine years, and that, you know, it’s only natural that their fans might be a little unsteady on their playoff legs.

That’s not the case at all. The Maple Leafs fans have been acting like, well, sports fans — loud, goofy, over the top. Same as Bruins fans. But one guy, in Toronto, came up with the “Toronto Stronger” sign. And Maple Leafs fans are really, really ticked off about it. They’ve taken to Twitter, Facebook and the talk shows to make known their ticked-off-ness about what happened, and nearly 70 percent of respondents to an online poll by the Toronto Sun agree that the sign went too far.

This isn’t about you, Bruins fans. This is Toronto family business, and it’s being taken care of in-house. You can weigh in if you’d like, but please stay on your side of the room and let them sort things out.

If it’s true that a Bruins fan knocked out a Maple Leafs fan in Boston the other night, then get to the bottom of it, Bruins fans, and drum that guy out of your fraternity.

As for the guy in Toronto, he’s a one-man band with a 30 percent peanut gallery. The remaining Leafs fans don’t like it at all, and are saying so.