3. Can the Bruins get a win on Long Island?
If they want to get by the Islanders and into the semifinals against the winner of the series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes, then they have to.
In four trips, albeit, earlier this season, they came away empty-handed in the win column. On Jan. 18, they were shutout 1-0 and a Jean-Gabriel Pageau goal late in the third period was the difference to make Semyon Varlamov (27 saves) a winner. A month later, the Isles beat the Bruins, 4-2, with two third-period goals.
On Feb. 27, the Black and Gold were blown out to the tune of 7-2 after leaving Jaroslav Halak out to dry with five third-period goals from New York. Two weeks later, the Bruins played probably their best game of the four on the Island and lost 2-1 in a shootout.
There are going to more fans in attendance at the Nassau Coliseum for the next two games than the Bruins have faced over there this season and expect the Isles to get a change of energy like Boston did at the TD Garden from their fans.
Winning a game on the Island won’t be easy, but in order to advance, they’ll have to do it at least once this postseason.