The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins renew their bitter rivalry with their first meeting of the 2024-25 regular season at TD Garden on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, NESN, SNP, SNO, CBC).

Every team is still looking to find their early form.

The Maple Leafs (4-4-0) have lost two games in a row and three of four. In those three losses – against the New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues – Toronto was outscored 15-4. New coach Craig Berube, who replaced Sheldon Keefe during the offseason, was visibly unhappy during a 5-1 loss to the Blues, his former team, on Thursday. Center Auston Matthews has three goals in eight games after scoring a career-high 69 in the NHL last season.

The Bruins (3-4-1) are 0-2-1 in their last three games, including a 4-0 loss Tuesday to the winless Nashville Predators . They then lost 5-2 to the Dallas Stars at home on Thursday. Aside from forwards David Pastrnak (five goals) and Cole Koepke (three), no other player on the roster has scored more than two goals. Captain Brad Marchand has yet to score a goal in eight games.

To say the game is huge for either side is an understatement.

But these two teams bring out the best in each other, especially since they began facing each other on a semi-regular basis during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2018. They faced each other in the first round three times in the last seven playoff series and Boston has emerged with a seven-game series victory each time.

Last season, Pastrnak scored in overtime of Game 7 to once again send Toronto home early. But the Bruins lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round.

Each team spent the offseason trying to fill holes in their game, bringing in new players. Everyone struggled to find consistency at the start of this campaign.

This makes it difficult to know which team has improved the most and which new additions could have the biggest impact on this bitter rivalry and the season as a whole. But that’s the argument that editors Amalie Benjamin and Mike Zeisberger tackle in the latest installment of State Your Case.

Benzoin: I still think it’s Boston. Yes, yes, I know I’m based here. But I also have some confidence in what the Bruins are building, in the improvements they’ve made specifically on the defensive side of the puck, and in the possibilities of a team that has a ton of punch on the blue line. I will say that I didn’t expect Boston to be tied for 24th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (3.43) after finishing tied for fifth last season (2.70). ). The addition of Nikita Zadorov, who provides the kind of scoring punch the Bruins may have been lacking, should be just a boon for a team that still has championship aspirations. With Zadorov, every member of Boston’s defense is 6-foot-1 or taller, mobile and can potentially increase their offensive power if things go well. However, at present, there is plenty of room for improvement on defense.

Zeisberger: I actually agree with your logic regarding the improvements the Bruins have made. To me, Boston’s biggest needs were a high-end center and some rumble at the back end, and they each addressed Elias Lindholm and Zadorov. The reason I support the Maple Leafs here has nothing to do with anyone on the ice and everything to do with the man behind the bench. Sheldon Keefe was a very good coach in the regular season, but he was never able to get Toronto over the hump in the playoffs, especially against the Bruins. This is a Boston franchise that has beaten Toronto in four straight Game 7s. It is obvious that the Bruins are on the minds of the Toronto players. Enter Craig Berube, who was hired to replace Keefe on May 17. It’s already evident that his north-south style, where everyone is in charge, is the type of model that can equate to playoff success. In fact, when he hoisted the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, it was on the ice at TD Garden, winning a seventh game on the road. It was proof that Bérubé was not intimidated by other teams or the arenas in which they play. Will he manage to convince his players and feel the same way? That’s the pressing question.