Auston Matthews Says Leafs Want To ‘Send A Message Early’ Vs. Bruins

Auston Matthews saw his second career playoff series come to an end last season at TD Garden as the Boston Bruins took down the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of their first-round series.

One year later, the Bruins and Leafs find themselves in similar circumstances, meeting one another in round one of the postseason. Matthews and his Leafs teammates are determined to finish this series with a different outcome than last year.

Following Toronto’s regular-season finale Saturday, Matthews spoke about the team’s upcoming series with the Bruins, which is set to begin Thursday night at TD Garden.

The 21-year-old wants the Leafs to set the tone early against the Bruins in round one.

The Leafs certainly didn’t accomplish that last year as they dropped Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden, putting themselves in an early hole.

Game 1 is slated for Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET in Boston, followed by Game 2 on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET.