Boston Bruins Final Week of the Season
Well, this is the last week of the regular season and could very well be the last week of the year for the Boston Bruins. The expectation for the Boston Bruins to make the playoffs this year was questionable in the beginning and, although most of the season had them comfortably in the playoffs, they now sit in that questionable position once again.
Puck Prose
The demons of last year have come just in time as the Bruins have not won many games and may have to win all of the their last three. Even that might not be enough as the Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers currently have more points than the Bruins and could win all of their games. The one piece of good news for Boston this week is the three teams they are playing.
Bruins v Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes were in the playoff race for a decent amount of this season. No team is an easy win in this league, but a the Boston Bruins have been playing some excellent teams as of late and a win against the Hurricanes shouldn’t be considered a tall order. Unfortunately, any win could be considered a tall order for the Bruins who have not had much luck in recent games.
I need to believe that Boston will show the appropriate urgency. It’s just a matter of whether or not that style of play will result in a goal total like in the game against the St. Louis Blues last week, or a goal total like in the game against the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the Bruins game to win or lose and I think that they will be able to pull off a win. The final for this game will be 3 to 2 in regulation.
Bruins v Red Wings
Now this game is not against a team out of the playoff race, but it is great news for the Boston Bruins since they can really determine their fate. The Detroit Red Wings are now ahead of Boston in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings and need to be stopped if the Bruins are going to have any chance of making the playoffs and avoiding the Washington Capitals in the first round.
The Red Wings will have the same goal as the Bruins which should make for a good game. I don’t feel that the Bruins will be able to win this game since the team just hasn’t been a very clutch team this year. Every time they have a chance to distance themselves from elimination and become a higher seeded team, everything falls apart. I don’t think that Detroit will obliterate the Bruins in this game, but they will win. This will be the closest thing to a playoff game this year, and it will go into overtime with the Red Wings winning in the end, 2 to 1.
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Bruins v Senators
The Ottawa Senators are not the team to push the Bruins out of the playoffs like they were last year, but they could be the team that causes Boston to miss out for two years straight. The Senators had a very disappointing year but are not what you would call a bad team by any means. This game may or may not mean anything as it is the Bruins’ last game of the season. Either way, I see Boston taking this game, whether to cement their spot or move up in the standings. Not like the other two games this week, this game will be all Boston with a score of 3 to 0.
Another game worth noting is the Detroit Red Wings playing against the Philadelphia Flyers this week. This game will hopefully not go into overtime and will result in the right team getting a set back. It is very difficult to determine who to cheer for in this match up but I would say the Philadelphia Flyers because Detroit holds a divisional spot where Philadelphia holds just a wild care position. Plus, the Bruins play Detroit and if both they and the Flyers can win against Detroit, it would make Detroit’s chance pretty slim to make the playoffs.
Next: Bruins Lose Playoff Position
I did not expect the race to get this close for the Boston Bruins, but this year had one of the closer and more involved races in recent memory. With the Eastern Conference looking the way it is right now, it is a great time to be a playoff team. Therefore, it would be awfully upsetting if the Boston Bruins could not be a part of this year’s post season. At this point, it seems more likely than not, but there still is plenty of hockey left to play.
To make your own predictions for this week, comment below.