But nearly five months later, things have changed drastically. With roughly four weeks remaining in the regular season, the Bruins and Maple Leafs are tied for third place in the Atlantic Division standings with 87 points and an identical 41-19-5 record through 65 games, setting up a crucial showdown on Tuesday night at TD Garden.
"I think we're all a little bit curious, kind of like going into Tampa earlier, saw them last week, getting familiar with them again. Toronto's the same thing. We've got them a couple times down the stretch here. It will be good. They've been two passionate fanbases, they've been good hockey games," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy.
"Obviously the playoff series has been tilted in our favor, but the regular season has gone back and forth. I think our players will be excited to play because it was developing into a rivalry that hopefully gets up and running again now that we're back in the same division. They should be good to go. It will be a good test."
The Bruins, having chased the Maple Leafs and Lightning all season long, briefly overtook both teams in the standings over the weekend amid a torrid 14-2-1 stretch that has them in position to seize home-ice advantage for the postseason should they continue to play to this level over the season's final month.
"It's a division rival and it does matter a little more in the standings because of where we are," Cassidy said when asked if he expects an uptick in intensity on Tuesday night. "We haven't talked a lot at all about the standings, other than moving up in them as the year went on. We've been able to accomplish that. Now we're back in the same area code as the other teams.
"We'll see how that plays out down the stretch. But we can control what we can control and we've done a good job with that. [Tuesday] our focus is outplaying the Toronto Maple Leafs."
