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Boston Bruins: Comparing this second round line-up to last year’s roster

By Joey McDermott

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 11: Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle (13) checks the defense before a face off during Game 1 of the First Round between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 11, 2019, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 11: Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle (13) checks the defense before a face off during Game 1 of the First Round between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 11, 2019, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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This is the second year in a row where the Boston Bruins have squeaked out of their first-round match-up with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Last year, the Boston Bruins were eliminated in 5 games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Strangely enough, the top-seeded Lightning were eliminated in 4 games by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and now the Blue Jackets will play the Bruins in the second round.

The Boston Bruins have the same core entering this years second round, but have new faces in many spots in the lineup.

This is the Bruins lineup for game 1 against Tampa Bay last year (regular season points indicated in parenthesis):

"Marchand (85) –Bergeron (63) –Pastrnak (80)Debrusk (40) –Krejci (44) –Rick Nash (34)Heinen (47) –Riley Nash (41) –Backes (33)Schaller (22) –Kuraly (14) –Acciari (11)Chara (24) –Mcavoy (32)Krug (59) –Miller (16)Grzelcyk (15) –Mcquaid (4)Among some of the game 1 scratches: Gionta (7), Donato (9), Wingels (17), Holden (17)"

Now to look at this years expected game 1 lineup against Columbus (regular season points indicated in parenthesis):

"Marchand (100) – Bergeron (79) – Heinen (34)Debrusk (42) – Krejci (73) – Pastrnak (81)Johansson (30) – Coyle (34) – Kuhlman (5)Nordstrom (12) – Kuraly (21) – Acciari (14)Chara (14) – Mcavoy (28)Krug (53) – Carlo (10)Grzelyck (18) – Moore (13)The expected scratches are Backes (20), Kamfer (6), Wagner (19), Clifton (1)"

The line-ups are similar in numbers, but this years team holds the advantage deeper than numbers.  Both Rick Nash (concussion) and Riley Nash (ear tear) were battling injuries during the post season that hurt their value.

David Krejci is up 29 points from last season and a healthy Brandon Carlo and John Moore help the Bruins defense that struggled heavily in last years second round.

With the physicality that Columbus brings, the Bruins should be well fitted for it with a strong two-way center Charlie Coyle centering the third line and a bunch of different combinations for the fourth line.

The series begins Thursday, April 25th at 7 P.M. in Boston.

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