Boston Bruins: 3 Deciding Factors In First Round Victory
By Luke Ryan
The Boston Bruins have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-1 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s been a series that hasn’t been without its own set of challenges. The Boston Bruins had to deal with their number one goaltender Tuukka Rask packing his bags and heading home after two games.
They also lost their regular season leading goalscorer in David Pastrnak for three games. Needless to say though, they faced up to the adversity and eventually took the series.
After two games, you sensed that the series was definitely anyone’s game. However, this is where the Boston Bruins shone and demonstrated much greater play-off experience. Matching up to the relative youth and inexperience of the Canes, the Bruins were just too much.
Most heartening was the performance of Jaroslav Halak, when he unexpectedly was pushed into the spotlight. He has carried the team to three wins in his three games and although not perfect, he definitely looked better than the Carolina goalies.
Heading into the second round, it’s still anyone’s guess who we’ll actually be facing. There are several different scenarios that could play out, leading to a different opponent.
Should the Montreal Canadiens continue with their comeback and overhaul the Philadelphia Flyers, we face the winner of the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals series. However, if Philly comes out on top, we face them should Washington win or Tampa Bay if the New York Islanders win.
Whoever we face though, we have no doubt that the deciding factors in the next round will be similar to the first: