The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs are neck-and-neck in the NHL standings. But who will get home ice in the playoffs?
As it stands now, the Bruins are in second place in the Atlantic Division with 93 points to first place Tampa's absurd 110. Meanwhile, the Leafs are hot on the Bruins' trail, with 89 points as of right now.
All signs point towards the Bruins and Leafs having a first round rematch of last year's first round donnybrook, when the Bruins defeated the Leafs in seven games.
The only real question now, is which team will have home ice?
Let's look at the stats.
Both the Bruins and the Leafs have 13 games remaining.
As of today, when averaging the winning percentage of Boston and Toronto's remaining opponents, the Bruins appear to have a slightly harder schedule, facing opponents with an average winning percentage of 0.572 as opposed to the Leafs, who will face a schedule with an average winning percentage of 0.546.
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Both teams are coming off losses. The Bruins lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night, ending a 19 game point streak. Meanwhile, the Leafs were blown away by the Lightning 6-2 on Monday night.
If the Bruins can maintain their edge in their final 13 games, they should have home ice against the Leafs.
If the Bruins can repeat their performance from last year, their focus will then turn to trying to find a way to stop the white-hot Tampa Lightning, who ended the B's playoff run in the second round last season.
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