The Boston Bruins faced the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fourth and final time of the regular season on Thursday, but the scrappy, physical game provided a preview of what might be coming in the postseason.

BOSTON – After 91 hits, 50 penalty minutes and two fights, the dust settled at TD Garden with the Boston Bruins cruising to a 4-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, earning the season sweep.

After Thursday’s morning skate, Bruins captain Brad Marchand referred to Toronto as Boston’s biggest rival of the past decade, and that was proven just hours later in what the coach of each team referred to as the most physical game their team played this season, respectively.

“It’s just an emotional game, for both sides,” Marchand said. “They brought it as well. I mean, it kind of starts when you get cross-checked in the face and throat pretty early. I mean, that’s gonna get anyone kind of riled up, and I mean from that point forward, it was an emotional game all the way through for both teams.”

Marchand was referring to the cross-check he received from Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe at 3:54 of the first period, which set Boston up with a 5-on-3 power play on which David Pastrnak scored to take a 1-0 lead at 5:37.

Aside from that incident, the first frame was a tight, checking game with a lot of energy, but without too many extracurriculars. It was the second period where tensions started to boil over.

Between a double minor on Charlie Coyle against former teammate Tyler Bertuzzi at 5:00, then matching minors between Matt Grzelcyk and Bobby McCann as well as a fight between Bertuzzi and Parker Wotherspoon at 11:25, it seemed like there was a scrum or scrap during every break in the action. On Toronto’s side, the animosity was reciprocated.

“Whenever Toronto plays Boston, it’s going to be a war out there,” said Maple Leafs forward Max Domi, who ended the night with a fight against Charlie McAvoy at 18:29 of the third period. “Obviously the score was a little bit different than I think the game should have been, but we hung in there and we kind of made a pact in the locker room; no matter what happens, we’re going to stick together, and that was one of the positives we can take out of tonight.”

Even the goalies wanted to get in on the action – or at least one of them did. After a Domi roughing penalty against Marchand at 5:29 of the third period incited another scrum, Jeremy Swayman skated towards center ice and stared down Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll, inviting him to engage in the scrapping. Woll didn’t budge, and Swayman backed down.

“It probably didn’t call for it, but I don’t know, I see all my guys go in. It’s a team effort, we all go in,” Swayman said. “He’s my buddy and I respect the hell out of him and his game, so it was just an opportunity but nothing happened.”

Woll, a former Boston College goalie who was teammates with Swayman on the 2018 United States World Juniors team, did not appreciate the challenge, but called Swayman a “good guy.”

“My focus is on, again, like I just said, I’m trying to win a hockey game, and I’m trying to do everything I can to help my team win,” Woll said.

If the season ended today, the Bruins would face the Maple Leafs in the first round. Barring a significant change in the standings, that’s likely to remain the matchup, and Thursday’s romp would be the most recent memory of the rivalry heading into a potential Game 1.

“There’s a lot of hockey left. We need to play well,” said Trent Frederic, who scored a breakaway goal to give Boston a 2-0 lead early in the second period. “This was like the closest simulation to the playoffs. … It’s hard to beat a team twice in a row.”

Other Links:

Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup Champions Visited Morning Skate

Jesper Boqvist Goes Full Circle as Bruins Travel Back to Long Island

‘Definitely Feel Super Honored’: James van Riemsdyk Reflects On 1000 NHL Games'