ESPN

BOSTON -- Once the Stanley Cup playoff matchups were determined, Boston Bruins forward Tyler Seguin and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel knew they would be part of the storyline for this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Hockey fans, especially in Toronto and Boston, have known since June 2010 that Seguin could have possibly played for the Maple Leafs if the organization hadn’t traded first-round picks in the 2010 and 2011 NHL Entry Draft to the Bruins to acquire Kessel in September of 2009.

The Bruins selected Seguin with the No. 2 overall pick in 2010, and then defenseman Dougie Hamilton ninth overall in 2011.

Seguin helped the Bruins to a Stanley Cup title during his rookie season and this will be his third trip to the playoffs. Kessel hasn’t been in the postseason since he was with the Bruins during the 2008-2009 playoffs.

When the puck drops for Game 1 Wednesday night at TD Garden, no doubt the chants of “Thank you, Kessel” will be heard from the 17,565 in attendance.

It’s no secret Kessel has never enjoyed speaking with the media, especially when asked about the trade and the chants when plays in Boston.

“It was four years ago, right? So I don’t think it matters that much anymore,” Kessel said.

“It’s never been me to [think] much of the attention. I’ll talk when I have to talk and that’s about it.”

Seguin almost feels the same way about the transaction that ultimately made him a Bruin, and when he first heard those “Thank you, Kessel” chants in 2010, he laughed.

“First time I thought it was funny, just because it was my first year and I kind of smirked on the bench,” Seguin said. “Since then, fans can do what they want to do. The fans show great support here in Boston, but it’s not going to change how I play, and I’m sure it’s not going to change how he plays, either.

“It’s not like Toronto knew I was going to be the pick. It was just a pick and it happened to be me and Dougie, so I guess it’s just going to be linked through what people want to talk about and have stories. Other than that, Phil’s a great player and I definitely respect him on the ice. I’ve met him a few times off the ice and he’s a good guy, too.”

During his career with the Maple Leafs, Kessel has struggled against the Bruins and defenseman Zdeno Chara. In 22 games, Kessel has only three goals and six assists for nine points against Boston, including a minus-22 rating.

Overall this season, Kessel played well and recorded 20 goals and 32 assists for 52 points in 48 games for the Leafs. He was held pointless in four games against the Bruins.

He’s hoping to have better success in the playoffs.

“It’s going to be fun, right?” Kessel said. “Obviously I’m excited. It’s a good opportunity for myself and the team, we haven’t been in the playoffs for a while, so we’re looking to have a good time out there tonight.

“I like it here [Boston]. I had three great years here, some great memories. They were great to me when I was here,” added Kessel. “When you leave you’re always going to get the grief, right? It’s OK but I enjoy playing here, they have great fans and I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere tonight.

“It’s about the team, right? We’re going to have to play a good, hard game out there because they’re a great team over there. It’s going to be a battle.”

Once this series was scheduled, Seguin received numerous text messages from friends and family back home, asking for tickets. He jokingly said he shut off his phone so he could concentrate on the series. He did admit, however, it’s going to be a cool experience playing against the team he grew up watching.

“It was my hometown and I would go do Leaf games all the time,” Seguin said. “When we play at the ACC, I kind of look up to some sections where I know I was sitting growing up with a kid with my dad. I grew up hoping the Leafs would make the playoffs, and here they are playing against us. It’s a cool experience, an exciting experience, but I want to take it as just a playoff round and not about who you’re playing. You’ve got to make sure you’re ready.”

The Boston Bruins limp into the playoffs having lost three of their past four games, blowing leads and looking nothing like the team that dominated early on. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs carry the excitement and momentum of being the first Toronto squad to make the playoffs since 2004. Here's what to look for as these two divisional rivals and Original Six teams meet in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Records

Bruins: 28-14-6, 62 points, fourth in Eastern Conference, second in Northeast Division

Maple Leafs: 26-17-5, 57 points, fifth in Eastern Conference, third in Northeast Division

Head to head: The Bruins won the season series 3-1-0. That one loss was their first to the Maple Leafs since March 2011. Since the 2009-10 season the Bruins are 15-4-3 against their Northeast Division rivals.

Forwards

Bruins: On paper the Bruins have a clear edge in depth when it comes to skilled forwards. If they can finally play up to that potential on the ice, they will be a lot better than they have been down the stretch. Even with a subpar stretch run and major struggles lighting the lamp, the Bruins still finished sixth in five-on-five scoring. Of course, they will need top goal scorers Brad Marchand (18 goals) and Tyler Seguin (16 goals) to continue to score in the playoffs, but what may be more important will be whether players such as Nathan Horton (13 goals) and Milan Lucic (7 goals) contribute. If Lucic and Horton can utilize the playmaking skills of David Krejci -- who led the team in assists with 23 and will likely be centering them -- the Bruins have two scoring lines with the potential of more on a third line that will feature future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. In addition to increasing their scoring output, it will be essential that the Bruins play their physical game.

Maple Leafs: All the hype surrounding the Maple Leafs' turnaround seems to be their physical game and the way they resemble the 2007 Stanley Cup champion Ducks, who were coached by current Leafs boss Randy Carlyle. But don't sleep on Toronto's scoring potential. The Leafs scored 105 goals at even strength and were ranked fourth in the NHL in five-on-five scoring. Former Bruin Phil Kessel has finally started to live up to the potential that former Leafs GM Brian Burke was counting on when he traded a 2010 first-round draft pick (which turned into Tyler Seguin) and a 2011 first-round draft pick (which became defenseman Dougie Hamilton). Burke never lived down that trade, and Kessel and the Leafs are constantly reminded of it with "Thank you, Kessel" chants from Bruins fans at TD Garden. But Kessel comes into the playoffs leading the Leafs with 20 goals and 52 points, and if he can come out from underneath Zdeno Chara's shadow, the Leafs' chances of pulling an upset increase dramatically. Toronto's scoring doesn't stop after Kessel. Emerging stars Nazem Kadri (18 goals, 44 points) and James van Riemsdyk (18 goals, 32 points) pose threats as well.

Edge: Experience usually wins in the end, so the Bruins get the slight advantage here.

Defense

Bruins: This is another area where, if the game were to be played on paper and not ice, the Bruins would get the edge hands-down. But considering the Bruins' blue-line struggles of late, it's hard to predict whether one of the deepest groups of D-men in the NHL will show up. Will the Bruins' blueliners be the turnover machine that has left their goalies out to dry so many times recently? If the Chara-Dennis Seidenberg shutdown tandem returns to form, the Bruins should have an advantage. The scariest part of the Bruins' defensive woes lately? Chara has been at the core of it, turning the puck over more than any other time in his Bruins career. The Bruins have some solid defensemen in their bottom two pairings and finished the season third in goals against. But this defense goes the way Chara goes. If he isn't his Norris Trophy-level self, the Bruins are in trouble.

Maple Leafs: If you said before this season that Cody Franson would lead Leafs defensemen with 29 points or even say you knew anything about Franson, then you're either a really good NHL scout or a psychic. Franson finished with one point more than Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. But after Franson and Phaneuf, Toronto's blue line drops off, helping to explain why they finished 14th in goals against. However, the Leafs' defense -- and their forwards -- will make you pay the price if you're going to get down deep or in front of the net. They have the ability to grind opposing forwards down.

Edge: Bruins, because Chara's game simply can't be in as much decline as it has seemed lately.

Goalies

Bruins: Bruins fans should be chanting "Thank you, Leafs!" for goaltender Tuukka Rask. In a contract year, Rask -- whom Toronto dealt to the Bruins in June 2006 for former NHLer Andrew Raycroft -- has done his part in earning a long-term deal with Boston thus far. Rask is 19-10-5 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. While he admittedly has had a bad game here and there, he has been Boston's most consistent performer and has bailed his team out on many occasions. That type of goaltending is what wins in the playoffs. With a motivated Rask looking to erase the memories of 2010, when he was the starter and his team blew a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs to the Flyers, this is one area the Bruins can count on.

Leafs: James Reimer has continued to silence the doubters, despite coming into the season knowing that his team was trying to replace him with Roberto Luongo via trade, and then having Leafs GM Dave Nonis publicly acknowledge they were doing so again heading into the trade deadline. Reimer finished the season at 19-8-5 with a 2.46 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. But this will be his first playoff experience, so the doubts will continue. Thus far, Reimer's perseverance in blocking out the distractions of the trade rumors and playing in a hockey hotbed like Toronto have shown he can handle it.

Edge: Bruins. Rask puts the epic collapse of the Philly series behind him and will be the MVP of this series.

Power Play

Bruins: There is really not much to say here in terms of the Bruins' power play. They don't have one. Nothing has changed over the past three seasons. The Bruins finished 8-for-64 on the man-advantage during the regular season. If that changes in this series, it will obviously help, but don't count on it.

Leafs: The Leafs' power play wasn't much better as they finished 14th overall and were 16-for-88. They have some weapons in Kessel, Kadri and Joffrey Lupul but they won't win this series on the power play.

Edge: Leafs, but not by much.

Penalty Kill

Bruins: The penalty kill has been the Bruins' bread-and-butter with Claude Julien at the helm. They once again finished near the top, with the fourth-best rate in killing off 142 of 163 power plays against them this season.

Leafs: Toronto's penalty kill actually finished ahead of the Bruins' in killing off 138 of 157 power plays, second-best in the NHL. The Leafs play a similar tenacious style to the Bruins on the penalty kill. Against a woeful Bruins' power play, Toronto shouldn't have any problems.

Edge: Leafs, but again, not by much

Coaching

Bruins: Claude Julien is second all-time in wins for Bruins coaches and brought Boston its first Stanley Cup in 39 seasons in 2011. While his team was bounced in the first round last season and struggled down the stretch this season, many players will tell you things could be worse if not for Julien's even-keel approach. If the players follow his game plan, they should find a way to win this series.

Leafs: Carlyle transformed the Anaheim Ducks into a bruising team that scored clutch goals, leading to a Stanley Cup for them in 2007. He has successfully started the same transformation in Toronto, though the Leafs probably won't hoist their first Stanley Cup since 1967 this June. Still, Carlyle has the coaching skills to pull an upset in this series.

Edge: Too close to call.

Prediction

Bruins in 7: The Bruins played like a team riding out the season for the last month. While fatigue played a factor, it wasn't enough of an excuse for their lackluster, underachieving performance. However, there is something about the Stanley Cup playoffs that can wake a team up. With the experience the core of this Bruins team has in the playoffs, the bet here is the Bruins will play more like the team that looked like Cup contenders in February. The Leafs do have a team that could pull an upset. If they can steal one in Boston in the first two games, those chances obviously increase. But the Leafs won't be pushovers, experience usually takes over in the playoffs.

BOSTON -- Bruins forward Shawn Thornton won his first Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, playing for a head coach, Randy Carlyle, who expected hard work and physical play from his players. The Ducks delivered on both fronts, playing with a lunch-pail mentality and leading the league in penalty minutes.

On Wednesday, Thornton and his Bruins teammates will play a similar team coached by Carlyle. In about six months as head coach of the Maple Leafs, Carlyle has transformed the Leafs into a physical, hard-working team whose young stars are finally realizing their potential. The result so far is a fifth-place finish in the Eastern Conference and the organization's first playoff appearance since 2004.

Carlyle was hired by the Leafs on March 3, 2012. Toronto faced the Bruins in his second game as head coach.

"I remember running into him in the lobby of the Westin," Thornton recalled. "I knew right away he would help them. I didn't know their former coach [Ron Wilson] that much. But I knew Randy, from playing for him, that he would get the most out of his players."

Carlyle has done just that, but Thornton also was familiar with the man who helped construct the roster Carlyle inherited. Former Leafs general manager Brian Burke was the GM of that Cup-winning team in Anaheim. Thornton sees Burke's fingerprints all over this current Leafs squad.

"A lot of the pieces that Burkie put in place are there now and they're playing the way he wanted them to play," Thornton said. "He deserves a lot of credit."

Thornton is happy for his ex-coach and knows that he and his Bruins teammates are in for a physical, hard series against this rejuvenated team.

"I'm sure he's a big part of it," Thornton said of his former bench boss. "He's an extremely smart coach. He demands a solid work ethic. I think he'll have them going at the top of their ability, that's for sure. They're a skilled team that plays big and tough. They're built a certain way, and they play that way and to their style."

There's no other way to put it: The Northeast Division is a train wreck with the playoffs just around the corner.

That may end up meaning nothing once the second season begins, but I doubt the way the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators have played of late comforts any of their fans as the postseason approaches.

The Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night having dropped five of their past six games, unwilling to cement a division title the Habs have tried to hand them on a silver platter. Bruins coach Claude Julien was incensed after the team's road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, saying among other things in a terse dressing down of his team: "We're running out of time to get this stuff going."

The Bruins should be able to beat a tired Tampa team Thursday night (the Lightning played at home Wednesday night) before visiting the Washington Capitals on Saturday, then closing out their season Sunday night at home against the Senators. Odds are the B's should win the beleaguered division, with the emphasis on should as a word that doesn't imply certainty.

The Canadiens? Mercy, they've fallen apart worse than any other club in the division -- and not just because, like Boston, they've lost five of their past six games. Rather, it's the manner in which they've lost: clobbered in most of those games and looking nothing like the juggernaut that surprised everyone this season. The team's defensive coverage has been porous and star netminder Carey Price has looked downright shaky.

Having said all that, I think the Canadiens finally showed some promise in the final 30 minutes against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, and perhaps that's what they build on heading into Thursday night's road game against the Winnipeg Jets. Maybe.

Otherwise, if Montreal loses again Thursday and the Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers, the Habs could lose home-ice advantage in the first round if Toronto beats them in regulation in Saturday night's season finale (the Leafs own the tiebreaker on the Canadiens).

Of course, the fact that the Leafs could end up with the fourth seed (and possibly the division title) would also have to suggest they have a clue right now. They've been outshot a whopping 183-114 over their past five games. They've won two of those five, but even in those wins, they were outshot 32-13 by New Jersey and 50-22 by the Senators.

On Wednesday night, with a golden chance to cut the gap to two points on both idle Boston and Montreal, the Leafs fell 5-2 in Tampa against a Lightning team that sits 14th in the Eastern Conference.

Combined with losses to the New York Islanders and Capitals last week, Toronto is mired in a mediocre stretch that mirrors that of the Habs and Bruins.

"There's things we have to shore up for sure," Leafs blueliner Cody Franson told TSN.ca on Wednesday night after the game in Tampa. "The last thing we're going to do is just hit the panic button over it. We know the mistakes we're making, and it's just a matter of paying attention and shoring them up."

A win in South Florida on Thursday night against the last-place Panthers would make a lot of people in Leaf Nation breathe a little easier. But just a bit.

And finally, what of the Senators?

A five-game losing streak earlier this month had people thinking perhaps the injury-riddled club had finally hit a wall. But four straight wins again made believers out of Sens fans. Then came a demoralizing home loss to the hated Leafs on Saturday, followed by another home loss to a Pittsburgh Penguins team missing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a game Senators players said was one of their most uninspired efforts in a while.

All of which has left the Sens just one point ahead of ninth-place Winnipeg, although with Ottawa having two more games to play than the Jets -- who wrap up their regular season Thursday night -- you have to think the Sens will get in without a problem.

Perhaps the game-changer Ottawa has been waiting for will arrive in the form of Erik Karlsson. The reigning Norris Trophy winner is on the verge of returning from what was supposed to have been a season-ending Achilles injury, taking a regular shift at practice Wednesday alongside normal partner Marc Methot, which had people in Canada's capital buzzing. Word is Karlsson and the Senators will decide after the morning skate Thursday in Washington whether it's a go that night or if he'll wait for Saturday's game against the Flyers.

The Sens will take any boost they can get, that's for sure.

Frankly, so would any playoff-bound team in the Northeast. It's ugly right now in this grouping. Somebody show the way!