It’s that time of year Bruins fans. The time of year when the games mean just a little more and if you’re part of that weird sense of Boston fans where you’re not happy unless the team wins a championship, it’s when players “earn” your respect. The Boston Bruins are in a really good spot to start the playoffs. Depending on who you might ask, the Bruins are either in the best spot or are in the worst spot.
Boston was the best team in the regular season, earning the not-so-coveted President’s Trophy. With it, comes home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Some have an issue with the award because not a lot of teams in recent seasons have won both the President’s Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season. The last team to win them both was the 2012-2013 Chicago Blackhawks. The Bruins have been very clear about their drive for the season. The big one. Not a word of complacency has been uttered. The team wouldn’t even LOOK at the trophy let alone celebrate it. Boston went 8-2 in their last 10 games ending the season on a 8-game winning streak going undefeated in the month of April.
Round 1 Preview
Boston found out their opponent for the first round on Thursday night when the Florida Panthers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes. The teams tied the season series 2-2 with the fourth game being decided by overtime. Florida fell into the second wildcard spot after winning the President’s
Trophy last season. They added some new faces last summer and have had a tough season due to injuries. The scoring is there for this team but they have some questions in goal. Sergei Bobrovsky is their top goaltender with a .901 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average. Bobrovsky went 24-20-3 on the season to help get Florida where they are now. In Bobrovsky’s only game against Boston this year, he allowed 4 goals in a loss with a .879 save percentage.
The player to watch out for is most certainly Matthew Tkachuk who leads in points, assists, and plus/minus. Tkachuk has the ability to impact the game in a way that Marchand does. He’s annoying to play against and can put pucks in the back of the net whether he sets someone up for it or finishes it himself. Boston is going to have to find a way to slow him down while making sure to play their game.
Carter Verhaeghe is Florida’s top goal scorer with 41, a career-high. so the Bruins will also have to keep an eye on him when he’s out on the ice.
Boston’s Strengths
David Pastrnak has had some ease with the Panthers this season. Scoring at least one goal in each of the 4 meetings this year. Jake DeBrusk is another player that tore Florida apart. DeBrusk had 2 goals and 2 assists in 3 games against the Panthers. It is safe to say that even though Florida is a good team, they still have a lot to handle in the Boston Bruins.
The Vezina favorite Linus Ullmark should start the series for Boston. Posting a .925 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in his 2 wins against Florida this season.
Prediction
I would be crazy to think that the Bruins are gonna walk over this Florida team. That being said, I do not think that the Bruins will let this series go for too long, their advantages in the net show that they are the more complete team in this series. I’ll give Florida a game at home but I’m expecting it to go 5 games. The season series was split but the two games Boston lost were started with Jeremy Swayman in the net. With Linus Ullmark being the number-one goalie for this team I don’t see it being fun for Florida.