The Toronto Maple Leafs like to believe that they learned something from last year's playoff experience, and right here would be the time for any wisdom they gained by that to manifest itself. They are locked into a rough playoff series against the Boston Bruins, with Game 1 taking place on Thursday night at 7 PM ET at the TD Garden in Boston. BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity to place wagers during the game itself, using the state-of-the-art software from Live Betting Ultra.

Toronto has not won the Stanley Cup in the last 51 years, and they like to think they are moving toward that elusive goal (pardon the pun) with a number of young stars. Probably the foremost among them is Auston Matthews, who won last year's Calder Trophy with 40 goals, including four of them in a spectacular NHL debut, and scored 33 times this season despite missing 20 games. Matthews, a California native who played a season of pro hockey in Switzerland before becoming eligible for the draft, is part of that young corps with the Maple Leafs that also includes Mitch Marner, who led the team with 69 total points, and William Nylander, known as a powerful skater, who scored 20 times. Toronto finished with a 49-26-7 record, gathering 105 points in the NHL standings.

Boston likes to think that it is the kind of team that can adapt itself to anybody's style, and the evidence demonstrates that they have the personnel to do it. On offense, they were sixth in the league in scoring, and they were also fourth-best in goals allowed. What might be their objective in this series is to do what they can to control the pace, because Toronto is a team that likes to be very wide-open as they bring the puck down. The Bruins had an opportunity to become the top seed in the Eastern Conference on the final day of the regular season, but they lost a makeup game to the Florida Panthers. Thus, they draw what is suspected to be the better opponent in Toronto, rather than the upstart New Jersey Devils.

In the NHL playoff betting odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Bruins are favored on their home ice:

Money Line
Boston Bruins -155
Toronto Maple Leafs +135

Puck Line
Boston Bruins -1.5 (+180)
Toronto Maple Leafs +1.5 (-220)

Total
Under 6 Goals -115
Over 6 Goals -105

For the Bruins, everything starts with their powerful line of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron, who have scored 99 goals between them. Marchand has to watch out for the stupid penalty, which he is sometimes susceptible to. But his plus-minus is +25, and he is one guy who comes through in the clutch, scoring five overtime goals. Pastrnak has 13 power-play goals, and Toronto will have a challenge in killing off penalties, as Boston's power-play is the fourth most effective in the league, converting 23.5% of the time.

Rick Nash, the trade deadline pickup who has been suffering from what the NHL likes to call an "upper body injury" (it's his back), should return and be ready to go for this one. He is a valuable two-way player on the #2 line. As mentioned, Boston defends well; one of the mainstays is defenseman Torie Krug, who are 14 goals and 59 points, so he is a two-way threat as well.

The rookies will certainly play a role for Boston. Jake DeBrusk is on that second line with Nash and center David Krejci, while Charlie McAvoy is on the back line with grizzled veteran Zdeno Chara, who is still getting the job done at age 41. This is a team that does a lot of different things well, and we expect that they will put the pressure on Frederik Andersen, Toronto's sometimes-beleaguered goaltender, who has faced more shots on goal than anyone and needs better support from the defensemen in front of him. We'll lay the goal and a half and take the Bruins with the +180.

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