Mahovlich, Bucyk rooting hard for former teams in Maple Leafs-Bruins series

They didn’t often line up against each other during the seven games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs 65 years ago, the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins in the NHL postseason. 

But if Maple Leafs icon Frank Mahovlich and Bruins legend Johnny Bucyk weren’t on the same sheet in 1959, they’re on the same page now. Each will be tuned to the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series between their teams, beginning Saturday at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“I think the Maple Leafs have a pretty good team,” Mahovlich said. “They have four or five good goal-scorers. I can see them doing very well.”

Said Bucyk of the Bruins with a laugh: “I’m ready. I just hope the rest of my team is.” 

This will be the 17th postseason series between these two rivals, dating to 1933. They’re even at eight wins each; one of Toronto’s victories was in fact a 1-1 tie in games, that 1936 win coming by virtue of an 8-6 edge on a total-goals format.

From left: Toronto Maple Leafs’ Frank Mahovlich, Gerry Ehman, Bob Pulford and Billy Harris celebrate Ehman's overtime goal against the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup semifinal on March 28, 1959 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Boston is 8-4 in a best-of-7 format since 1939, rolling undefeated since 1969 with six consecutive series wins. The last three -- first-round series in 2018 and 2019 and an Eastern Conference quarterfinal in 2013 -- have gone the seven-game limit, Maple Leafs hearts broken piece by sudden-death piece.

Mahovlich today is pain-free and steady on a new right knee that was surgically replaced on Jan. 15, five days after his 86th birthday.

“I’m feeling good, walking well, and I hope I can play golf,” said 'The Big M,' knowing that his team, or Bucyk’s, will be swinging their clubs seven or fewer games from now.

Mahovlich played seven career playoff games for Toronto against Boston, with seven points (four goals, three assists) in the Maple Leafs’ 1959 semifinal victory. He faced the Bruins once more, as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1971, with 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in a seven-game quarterfinal win.

Ultimately, Toronto would be little competition for mighty Montreal in the 1959 Final, the Canadiens winners in five games for their fourth of an unprecedented five consecutive championships.

Toronto’s Frank Mahovlich battles Boston Bruins’ Fern Flaman and goalie Harry Lumley in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup semifinal on March 28, 1959 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto beat the Bruins 3 - 2 in overtime.

The Maple Leafs were the last 1959 playoff qualifier in the six-team NHL, winning their last five regular-season games to push past the New York Rangers by a single point into fourth place and a date with Boston.

Toronto lost Games 1 and 2 on the road then rallied at home with overtime wins in Games 3 and 4. A victory back in Boston gave them a chance to clinch at home in Game 6, but a 5-4 loss sent the series to Game 7 on Bruins ice.

The Maple Leafs rebounded from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, Bob Pulford scoring the tying goal 8:36 into the third period, Gerry Ehman with the winner at 17:27 from Mahovlich and Carl Brewer.

Ehman had scored the late tying goal and again in overtime in Game 3, the winner that night also assisted by Mahovlich.

“We’re going to take the whole thing,” crowed Toronto coach Punch Imlach, who as GM had replaced Billy Reay behind the bench after the Maple Leafs' 5-12-3 start. “I have no doubt about it. When we beat the Bruins, we beat the best. This gang of mine is the best.”

From left: Tim Horton, Johnny Wilson, Johnny Bucyk and Johnny Bower in action at Maple Leaf Gardens during an October 1959 game. The puck is seen as an oval white spot directly over Bower’s chest.

The Canadiens, of course, thought differently.

“The Bruins had a great team in those days,” Mahovlich recalled. “Our games were usually close and they were very competitive.”

Courageous in Game 7 defeat was Boston goalie Harry Lumley, who was brilliant despite being a bloody mess after having taken a Dick Duff shot in his unmasked face that knocked out two teeth. The game was paused for him to take seven stitches and the roots of a smashed tooth removed in the Garden clinic.

Bucyk, who turns 89 on May 12, has vivid 1959 playoff memories of Mahovlich. He can still picture the smooth-skating forward who gave the Bruins, and the NHL’s four other teams, no end of trouble.

“Frank was pretty big and strong, pretty tough to play against,” he said. “He was well-respected, but we mostly managed him (in 1959).”

That was the last postseason glory for the Maple Leafs against the Bruins. In their six series since 1969, Boston has won two in four-game sweeps, one in five games and the last three in the full seven games.

Boston Bruins teammates Charlie Burns (left), Jean-Guy Gendron (center) and Johnny Bucyk in a 1959 photo taken at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

The Bruins' five-game quarterfinal win against the Maple Leafs in 1972 got Boston rolling toward its second Stanley Cup win in three seasons, a sweep of the St. Louis Blues leading to a 4-2 Final triumph against the Rangers.

Bucyk played 20 postseason games for Boston against the Maple Leafs, spread over series in 1959, 1969, 1972 and 1974. He scored 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists). The legend nicknamed "Chief" had earlier played one series against Toronto as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, with one assist in a five-game 1956 semifinal.

The Boston-Toronto slate is clean heading into this opening round, no matter that the Bruins swept the Maple Leafs 4-0 this season, outscoring their rival 14-7.

“Special teams are going to be a big factor, as they always are in the playoffs,” Bucyk said. “I’m worried about our power play, which hasn’t been effective lately. I hope they can put it together the way they had it going at the beginning of the year. Special teams are what win and lose you games.”

The Bruins ranked 14th in the NHL on the power play this season (22.2 percent), tied for sixth on the penalty kill (82.5 percent). The Maple Leafs were seventh on the power play (24.0 percent), and tied for 22nd on the penalty kill (76.9 percent).

“And goaltending is going to be huge as well,” Bucyk said. “If you don’t have that, you’re going to be in trouble.”

Mahovlich will watch the series unfold from home in Toronto. Bucyk, the unofficial Mayor of TD Garden, will hold court and entertain visitors in the Bruins Alumni Suite during Boston’s home games, as he does always.

“Sometimes I leave disappointed but a lot of times I’m very happy,” he said. “I hope to be happy the whole series.

“I just hope the Bruins are ready and start playing well. You can’t play badly at the beginning of the game. The first goal is a big factor. Get the lead and they’ll need two to beat us.”

Top photo: Boston Bruins legend Johnny Bucyk presents the 2024 John P. Bucyk Award to goalie Linus Ullmark, awarded annually to the Bruins player who provides exceptional off-ice charitable contributions; and Frank Mahovlich, winner of four career Stanley Cup titles with the Maple Leafs and two with the Canadiens, holding a trophy miniature in April 2023.