In 2013 and 2018, the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped the first game of their playoff series against the Boston Bruins. They went on to lose both series in seven games.
As defenseman Morgan Rielly told Sporting News on Monday, these Leafs are different, and they proved it Thursday night by not only winning, but dominating, Game 1 of their 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs first-round matchup with the Bruins.
"It's exactly what we wanted," Nazem Kadri, who with Jake Gardiner are only players left from that 2013 squad, noted after the game. "A good start, (we) were able to jump right into the game. The first 10 minutes here we knew how important that was. If we came out even or up one, we knew it was going to be a good finish. Well done for us."
Mitch Marner netted two goals, including one via a penalty shot, and William Nylander and John Tavares each added markers in the Maple Leafs' 4-1 victory at TD Garden.
.@Marner93 with a wicked hard shot! #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/y7Y4o0jQij
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 11, 2019
Boston did take a 1-0 lead less than 10 minutes in on a Patrice Bergeron power-play goal, but Toronto did not fold. Instead, it maintained constant pressure and held the Bruins' top line of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak to just that man-advantage goal.
"It's a big road win for us. I thought we really kept our composure after that first goal and we just continued to play our game," Auston Matthews told reporters. "I thought we were patient, we were able to kind of turn over some of their pucks and head the other way and had some good opportunity. That first 10 minutes was crucial for us and then I think we really took care of the puck for the most part tonight."
The victory marked the first time the Leafs have started a series with a win since the 2003 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Philadelphia Flyers. Toronto lost that series in seven games. This is the franchise's sixth series since then.
As they look for their first series win since 2004, the Leafs are off to a good start.