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Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 key factors to beating Boston Bruins in Round 1

By David Morassutti

John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs flips a puck back by Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs flips a puck back by Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews #34 and John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs pose prior to the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game at SAP Cente. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

John Tavares and Auston Matthews need to take charge

There aren’t many teams in the league with a strong one-two punch like the Leafs have with Tavares and Matthews. Both had great offensive seasons and it goes without saying they provide the Leafs with a clear advantage against the Bruins.

Patrice Bergeron is not an easy player to go up against but the Leafs have to feel more comfortable with their centre ice position this time around. Last season Matthews, Tomas Plekanec, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and Dominic Moore were the centres the Leafs used against Boston.

With Kadri out serving a suspension, the Bruins made it a point to shut down Matthews and he was not as effective as people thought he should have been. Adding Tavares to the mix changes all of that and it should present a matching nightmare for Bruce Cassidy.

This could also benefit Kadri the most considering most of the attention will be off of him and he should draw the easier assignments which probably explains why William Nylander was put on his wing to try and add more of an offensive punch to that line.

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