Jun 8, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (7) takes a shot against the Los Angeles Kings during the first overtime in game five of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

After 5 periods of hockey, the Chicago Blackhawks have eliminated the reining Stanley Cup Champions; The Los Angeles Kings in 5 games. The Presidents Trophy and Campbell Conference Trophy winners will face the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday June 12 at 8:00 PM (EST).

This is the first time in the long and rich history of these two teams that they have ever had to face one another in the Stanley Cup Final. These two teams however have faced each other before, the last meeting was the 1974-75 NHL playoffs when the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins faced each other in the long forgotten Preliminary Round which the Hawks took 2-1. This also marks the third occasion so far this post-season that the Boston Bruins have had to face an original six team and a team they haven’t played since the mid 1970s.

As stated, the last time the Bruins played the Hawks was 1975, and these two teams are obviously much different then the two that played in 1975. But the one thing that will stay the same through this playoff series as it has since the start of the playoffs; Goalie vs Goalie , Top Line vs Top Line. Currently the Boston Bruins have two players in the Top 5 playoff scoring leaders. Numbers 1 and 2 are spots owned currently by David Krejci and Nathan Horton with 21 and 17 points respectively. The Chicago Blackhawks have 3 players with 14 points all tied for 6th in the league. The Boston Bruins offence out played the offence of the Pittsburgh Penguins during Games 1 & 2 scoring 9 goals in the two games combined, yes everything sort of slowed down for Games 3 and 4 and it became a goalie vs goalie battle, but since the 5-2 win over the Rangers in Game 2 of the Semi-Finals the Bruins have found a very dangerous offensive spark that helped in the slaying of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Can the KHL (Krejci – Horton – Lucic) line and the Bergeron line handle the likes of Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa? Yes, and they are gonna do exactly what they did to the top line of the Penguins, grind them down. The Bruins might have not been the front runner on hits in the series putting up only 97  hits to the Penguins 150 but those 97 hits were big and they hit to hurt. The Boston Bruins forced a lot of turn overs and played a much harder shut down game than the Penguins defense could. The Bruins could definitely do the same thing to the Hawks because their two-way play is the best in the league and can easily be a deciding factor in this series.

The other story line was goalie vs goalie, Tuukka Rask pulled his best 2003 J.S Giguere impression only allowing 2 goals for a final GAA of 0.44 and a .985 SV%. Tuukka Rask played absolutely out of this world amazing, and got a lot of help from his defense this time around (SEE: Net front scramble at the end of Game 4). Corey Crawford hasn’t been no slouch either, posting a respectable 1.82 GAA and a .927 SV%. His defense has also done a very good job around him, of course when people aren’t up in his face. The two goalies are incredible, but the one thing that differs Crawford from Tomas Vokoun is that Crawford is a starting goalie, so elite play should be expected right out of the gate. Neither of these two goalies are gonna make this easy and every night they will give their team a chance to win.

One storyline that everyone will focus on come Game 1 is Jaromir Jagr‘s return to the Stanley Cup Final against the last team he won it against. He’s had to face 2 of his former teams so far this post-season and now faces the very same team he helped sweep back in 1992, nearly 21 years ago. Jaromir hasn’t been tearing up the goal column in these playoffs, but his inspiring work ethic and presence alone has given him 7 points in 16 games and has had his name next to some pretty important goals (Game tying goal against Toronto in Game 7 and the 2OT Goal against Pittsburgh in Game 3). But this is a great time to bring up a huge glaring point that seems to be missed by everyone, Jaromir Jagr is not the same player that skated on Mellon Arena ice when he “deked the whole world” 21 years ago. He really shouldn’t be expected to tear up the league goal scoring column in the post season and he should not be expected to do what he did to Brent Sutter all those years ago every night. Yes he has moments where he hangs on to the puck too long and yes he has moments where it seems like he tries a little to hard to set something up, but it’s that work ethic that has been an inspiration to the whole team. Since coming to the team the KHL line has been pulling out some of Jagr’s tricks as of late, especially Krejci and Lucic. Their overall hockey sense has improved and they’ve been a dominating force all playoffs, same goes for the Bergeron line. Both Marchand and Bergeron have been developing a stronger attitude and have been all around fantastic players.

Can the Bruins defeat the Blackhawks, on paper yes.. but the ice is a different story. Ready the Madhouse, because here come the Bruins.

Jun 1, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Boston Bruins center David Krejci (46) scores his second goal of the game against Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun (92) during the third period in game one of the Eastern Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Boston Bruins won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When the Boston Bruins started Game 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 1st most people expected the Penguins to begin their route of the Boston Bruins. However from moment the puck dropped at the start of Game 1, the storyline changed. The Boston Bruins shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1, being the first team to do so since February 2012. The Bruins followed up that extraordinary Game 1 performance in Game 2, striking early on Vokoun and pepper him with shot after shot. Vokoun would let in 3 goals before the end of the first period and we would be pulled and replaced with Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury would surrender 3 goals late in the game as the Boston Bruins routed the Penguins 6-1 on their home ice.

Now the series shifts back home to Boston, with the Bruins riding an incredible momentum wave; the question becomes whether or not the Bruins can handle themselves with their huge momentum spike. The Bruins handled one momentum spike following Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and it carried over into the Rangers series and despite losing 1 game to the Rangers, the Bruins were able to not let the one loss get in their way and closed out that series in 5 games. The Bruins can handle the momentum spike and so far they’ve shown that they can handle the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins defense has done a fantastic job shutting down Crosby and Malkin and taking away the slot and vulnerable areas of Tuukka Rask. The defense also has been exposing the holes in the Penguins defense as well as the Penguins poor neutral zone break outs, constant turn overs have given the Bruins a large sum of scoring chances and the Bruins have capitalized on several Pittsburgh turn overs (all of which have come along the defensive blue line and neutral zone) , the Bruins have the power to smother the Penguins offense and continue to create scoring chances and they can do it with or without the home ice fans behind them.

Another major factor that the Pittsburgh Penguins have to deal with is their goaltending situation. Both Tomas Vokoun and Marc-Andre Fleury have crumbled at the hands of the Boston Bruins. Vokoun let in 6 goals in 2 games, and Fleury 3 goals in 1 game and while it’s obvious both goalies are having significant struggles, it also needs to remembered that when it comes to solid goaltending, it’s 1 part goalie and 1 part team defense. The Boston Bruins can play strong defense, and have been for the last 7 games, they’ve helped Rask significantly in minimizing the time opposing teams have for their scoring chances and have also done great work controlling the rebounds that Rask can’t. The Pittsburgh Penguins on the other hand, have done minimal help at best for Tomas Vokoun and Fleury. The only reason that the Bruins didn’t get more than 3 goals past Fleury for the 2 periods he was in net was because a lot of the times he had a clear enough view of the puck that he could stop it because his defense wasn’t covering him. The Penguins are relying too much on their offense, and they are starting to crack. The Bruins can play two way hockey better than any other team in the NHL and it’s showing now against the star powered Penguins.

Fleury is the most likely candidate to start Game 3 in Boston, but the goalie doesn’t matter. What matters is if the Boston Bruins can continue to abuse the lackadaisical defense off the Pittsburgh Penguins. Putting all their stock in Letang and Murray isn’t working anymore, and the Bruins have found  their way on getting the puck to the goal with no major issues.

Is it possible that the Penguins could make a come back, yes. Is it possible that  the Bruins will repeat their stunning game winning formula of Game 2 and squash any comeback hopes? Absolutely.

Game 3 is Wednesday June 5th on NBC Sports, 8 PM (EST)

Jun 1, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (17) congratulates center David Krejci (46) after Krejci scored a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period in game one of the Eastern Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Boston Bruins won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I just so happened to be watching NHL tonight on the NHL Network this afternoon when they were talking about last night’s game-2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.

As we all know by now, the Bruins dominated the Penguins on Monday night and prevailed with an impressive 6-1 win. Which helped them to take a commanding 2-0 series lead back to Boston.

Everything is going the Bruins way right now and in-large part because of the play of Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask. He’s been a wall between the pipes up to this point and has stopped 55 of 56 shots through the first two games of the ECF. He’s playing like a man possessed, however fortunately for the Bruins there is another man playing like he’s possessed and his line-mates are coming along for the ride.

David Krejci is not only the leading points getter for the Bruins so far this playoffs, but he also leads the entire NHL in playoff points (20) and is currently tied with Chicago Blackhawks forward, Patrick Sharp, for the lead in goals (8).

Krejci is no stranger to playoff success, he lead the Bruins and NHL in scoring during Boston’s Stanley Cup run in 2011 and he appears to be back at it again in 2013. Even with all his talent, points and his aforementioned success, Krejci is not considered a superstar in the NHL and you won’t hear his name spoken a lot unless its playoff time.

[ LINK: David Krejci Inching Closer To Becoming A Playoff Legend ]

There could be many reasons for this, his game just looks so effortless or he’s a soft-spoken guy with a funny accent who comes off overly humble and well, he just doesn’t really put up the kind of numbers in the regular season that guys like Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin do.

Whatever the reason one thing is certain, when it comes to playing under the bright-lights of the Stanley Cup playoffs, very few excel like Krejci and speaking of those “very few that excel like Krejci”, thankfully the Bruins have another one on their roster in Nathan Horton.

Horton came to Boston in 2010 having zero playoff experience in his 5-year career spent entirely with the Florida Panthers. You could tell from his day of arrival that Horton couldn’t be happier to be in a hockey-crazed town like Boston and on a team that appeared to be headed in the right direction after a few years of disappointments. But many still questioned if he could thrive under the microscope and if he could handle the pressure that comes along with performing in the playoffs.

All Horton did was go out and score some of the most memorable goals in Bruins playoff history on his way to becoming the first player in NHL history to score two game-7 game winning goals in the same playoff season. Like Krejci, Horton is back at it again this playoffs and is second in the NHL for points (17) and is currently tied for second in the NHL in goals (7). Horton is also the league-leader in +/- with a ranking of +19.

The 3rd guy on their line, Milan Lucic, has been solid as well, creating time and space for Krejci and Horton with his bruising style of play. He’s no slouch in the points department either with 12-points in the playoffs, 3 goals and 9 assists.

This line accounted for all 3 of the Bruins goals in game-1 and factored into two of the 6 goals from game-2. Needless to say, this line is getting it done individually and as a whole.

Photo & stats courtesy of NHL Tonight on the NHL Network.

On the other side, for the Penguins we have Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. Slouches by no means, as Crosby is easily the best player in the world and is currently 5th in playoff scoring with 7 goals and 8 assists, good for 15 points. Dupuis has 7 goals so far in the playoffs, while Kunitz has 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists).

However, none of these 3 have done anything overly positive through the first two games, in fact they’ve done quite the opposite.

Versus the Bruins, Crosby has 0 points and is a -3, he also committed 4-giveaways Monday night and one of them led directly to a Brad Marchand goal. Dupuis also has 0 points and is a -3, while Kunitz is a touch better, he has 0 points but is only a -2.

Now, to be fair to the Penguins, like the Bruins, they basically have two”first-lines” but that second line isn’t doing much better. Evgeni Malkin, arguably the second best player in the world, also has 0 points and a -3 rating. Jarome Iginla? Take a guess… (I’ll give you a hint, it’s the same as Crosby and Malkin’s). James Neal on the other hand is easily doing the worst of the six, he has 0 points and is an even uglier -5 for the series.

Needless to say, the Penguins haven’t been very good and its easy to see why they are in an early 0-2 hole. If they wish to get out of it, their first line needs to get a whole lot better and so does the rest of the team, especially the goaltending.

But it starts with your stars and your top players, and right now, only one team’s stars are playing. How does that saying go? “Hardwork beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.”