Todd Cordell
Though the Tampa Bay Lightning have more firepower up front, I'd rather face them than the Boston Bruins.
The Lightning can be leaky defensively at times and Andrei Vasilevskiy has been more human of late. They look much more beatable when he's not masking as many of their problems. The Bolts also don't have a shutdown line that can significantly limit star talent. Boston does. Their top line controls almost 60% of the shot attempts and have out-scored opponents 27-11 at 5v5. Having your best players facing them on a shift-to-shift basis for four games out of seven, if a series were to go that far, seems less than ideal.
I think you can trade chances and hope for the best against the Lightning whereas the Bruins are more likely to dominate territorially. Tampa Bay seems like a better matchup, especially for a fast, skilled team like the Maple Leafs.
Peter Tessier The Leafs want Tampa and it's not even close. The Bruins are peaking at the right time and simply eat others right now oh and the ghosts of 2013. Sure the Bruins have a MASH unit of injuries but that does not seem to slow them down. The Leafs strength is speed and skill so why not match it up against the other team that plays that way and then use the tactical nuances of the coaches to help decide the series?
It's a tough slog with either opposition but you take the team that has more to learn in the post season and in my opinion that's the Lighting.
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