Kevin Bieksa believes one team would have big advantage in playoff series between Leafs, Habs
Kevin Bieksa, a veteran of more than 800 NHL games as a defenceman, has settled nicely into his role as an analyst on Hockey Night in Canada. Bieksa brings a great combination of knowledge and humour to the roll that many fans appear to appreciate. He's not above the occasional hit take though, and this is definitely one that's sure to ruffle some feathers.
Bieksa appeared on the Tim and Sid Show on Sportsnet Friday and was asked who he'd think would win in a playoff series between this year's Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. It is an entirely plausible scenario that the two clubs will meet in the playoffs this year given the reformatted divisions, and fans of both teams are crossing their fingers for that to happen. Bieksa believes Montreal would come out on top.
"Montreal is built to win in the playoffs and Toronto is built to win in the regular season," said Bieksa. "The game changes as we all know in the playoffs, it's not the same game. It's not the freewheeling, high scoring games in the playoffs as much as it is in the regular season."
"Montreal and Toronto and both clearly going to make the playoffs barring disaster and I know Leafs fans are going to be all over me for this but I'm just giving you my opinion, I think it is a really tough series for Toronto to win 4 games against Montreal in a tight-checking, physical playoff series."
So far, Toronto has the edge in the regular season with two wins over Montreal, while the Habs got their first win over the team in 2020-21 Saturday night 2-1. The next game between the two rivals takes place next Saturday night, the fourth of nine match-ups this season.
| POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 14 | 142 ANSWERS Kevin Bieksa believes one team would have big advantage in playoff series between Leafs, Habs Who have you got in a playoff series between Montreal and Toronto? | ||
| Leafs | 63 | 44.4 % |
| Habs | 79 | 55.6 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Conor Garland | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Schmaltz | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikhail Sergachev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jayden Struble | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Cooley | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Barrett Hayton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Quinn Hughes | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| David Savard | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Pius Suter | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Joel Armia | - | - | - | |
| Arshdeep Bains | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 22 | 18 | 4 | - | 36 | |
Devils | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 31 | |
Wild | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 30 | |
Golden Knights | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | |
Capitals | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 29 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 20 | 13 | 7 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||