"Different brand of hockey": Bruins' captain Brad Marchand heaps praises upon Maple Leafs ahead of tonight's clash

Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand spoke highly of the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of Saturday's game. The matchup between the Bruins and Maple Leafs will take place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto at 7:00 p.m. EST. They faced each other in the first round of the playoffs last season as the Bruins defeated the Leafs to qualify for the second round.

“They’re an extremely good team this year," Marchand said, via Leafslatest. "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.”

The Bruins, with a record of 20-16-4, are led by Marchand with four points in the last five games. Jeremy Swayman has a 3.00 GAA and .888 SV%.

Marchand and the Bruins' worry will be their goals for of 2.58 against the Leafs' 3.08. The Leafs also have a lower goals against of 2.74 compared to the Bruins' 3.0. The Bruins’ power play is 12.9% and their penalty kill is 75.8% while Toronto’s power play is strong at 21.1%, and their penalty kill is 82%.

The Maple Leafs, with a record of 24-13-2, are led by John Tavares, who has six points in the last five games and William Nylander has three goals. Joseph Woll has a 2.39 GAA and .917 SV%.

This season, the teams are tied 1-1. Toronto won 4-0 on Nov. 5, and Boston won 4-3 on Oct. 26.

Brad Marchand and Bruins lost to Rangers in previous game

On Thursday, the Boston Bruins lost 2-1 to the New York Rangers. Bruins coach Joe Sacco was not happy with his team's performance.

"It’s frustrating, obviously we’re not scoring right now at the level we want to be,” Sacco said after the game, via NHL.com.

Mika Zibanejad scored first for the Rangers to make it 1-0 in the first period. He took advantage of a rebound after Chris Kreider intercepted a clearing pass from Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

Brett Berard made it 2-0 in the second period. He scored on a 2-on-1 break, beating Swayman with a shot over his glove.

Elias Lindholm scored for the Bruins to make it 2-1. He received a pass from David Pastrnak and fired a shot past Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick. The Bruins had several chances, especially in the second period, but Quick kept Brad Marchand's Bruins in check.