Ahead of their contest tonight, Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand had several complimentary remarks about the way the Toronto Maple Leafs have played this year.

If there’s one thing that Brad Marchand knows very well, it’s playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. The veteran has played the Maple Leafs 55 times in the regular season over his career, which is his second highest mark behind the 64 games he’s played against Buffalo.

However, Marchand has also seen the Leafs in the playoffs, dating all the way back to 2011. He’s collected 10 goals and 19 assists in 28 career playoff games, including 3 goals and 8 points in 7 games during their first round matchup last year.

Over the years his antics against the Maple Leafs – physical and verbal – have raised a lot of eyebrows to the tune of a heated rivalry, which is something the 36-year-old admitted earlier today:

“Toronto is definitely our biggest rival at this point in time.”

Marchand’s comments didn’t stop there, he actually went on to further compliment the Maple Leafs for playing a brilliant brand of hockey this year, which can be attributed to first-year head coach Craig Berube:

“They’re an extremely good team this year. They’ve been building for a while now and have really kind of figured out the right way to play, the way they stick up for each other, compete for each other. They’re a different brand of hockey right now.”

He’s not wrong either, as the Maple Leafs look like a completely different team compared to the previous seasons under Sheldon Keefe. However, the proof will be in the pudding when the playoffs begin, and based on how the playoff format is constructed there’s a good chance their rivalry is reignited again this year.

Toronto is currently tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers but hold the edge right now with the extra game in hand. As for the Bruins, they’re currently in third place but are only up 2 points on Tampa Bay who also have 5 games in hand.

After tonight, the Maple Leafs will face-off against the Bruins just once more on the 25th of February. Toronto is 1-0-1 this season to date after dropping an overtime decision on the 26th of October before claiming a 4-0 shutout a few weeks later.

It’s still very early to make any predictions but the Leafs could still manage to face the Bruins even if they claim the division in the off-chance the Bruins drop to a wild card spot, which undoubtedly would be something that Marchand – and the media for that matter – would probably relish.