Jun 7, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins pose with the Prince of Whales trophy after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 in game four and winning the Eastern Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports
Unbelievable.
The Boston Bruins are Eastern Conference champions once again and are headed back to the Stanley Cup Finals after sweeping the not-so-mighty Pittsburgh Penguins out of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, only allowed two goals in the 4 games and finished with a 0.44 goals against average for the series. That is absolutely unheard and if you can believe it he’s actually playing better than Tim Thomas did back in 2011.
Those numbers are made even more incredible by the fact that the Penguins were one of the highest scoring offenses in the history of the NHL playoffs headed into this series. Star players like Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal were held pointless for the entire series. Just an incredible display of team defense and goaltending, an absolute systematic dismantling of an offense.
On the offensive side for the Bruins, David Krejci kept adding to his ever-growing playoff legend and still leads the NHL in scoring with 9 goals and 21 points.
Also, head coach Claude Julien was able to roll all four lines with confidence and quite honestly I never felt nervous with any Bruins forward on the ice at any time of the game. Even Kaspars Daugivins stepped into game 4 for the injured folk-hero Gregory Campbell and hit a post while looking solid in all 3 zones.
Now the Bruins get to rest there surely aching bodies as they wait to see if they’re playing the Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings for the Stanley Cup.
I’ll leave you with one final note, the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, they won the last game of the Eastern Conference Finals by a score of 1-0.
Just saying.
Jun 7, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) and Boston Bruins center Tyler Seguin (19) celebrate after defeating the Pittsburg Penguins and winning the Eastern Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports