Boston Bruins News: Marco Sturm's subtle message, NHL whiffs on series schedule, more

During the regular season, the Boston Bruins spent a lot of time in the penalty box. That is something that they can't afford to do in their first-round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres. Spending too much time in the box with the offensive firepower the Sabres can roll out will be bad news for the Bruins.

First-year head coach Marco Sturm has spoken about the number of penalties his team has taken this year and tried to address it. Before his team shuttled off to Western New York for the first two games, Sturm sent what could be seen as a subtle message through the media about staying out of the box.

“All of our big guys, starting with (Zadorov) on the backend, and then having Jeannot, Kasty, and just guys being very physical and nasty. Without taking any penalties, that is going to be huge,” Sturm said. “I think that could be a game-changer, that could be a series-changer, that could be a lot of things. We just have to be smart about it. Because I know a lot of teams, they’re afraid of us.”​

Being smart would go a long way toward the Bruins having success in the series. Playing their structure without taking penalties would be a game-changer throughout the series.

NHL announces series schedule with several conflicts

It took the NHL a long time, longer than some would have liked, to relased the full schedule. The problem with the Bruins finishing on Tuesday night is that they had to wait well over 48 hours to find out the schedule. Heck, it took almost that long just to find out when Game 1 was. Maybe the NHL needs to go the NBA route on the last day of the regular season, everybody ends on the same day. Anyway, Boston and Buffalo will play at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday in Game 1.

That would make too much sense. Anyway, the schedule has some conflicts for Boston sports fans with the Boston Celtics playoff schedule in the NBA. There are four days where both teams play, and on Tuesday night, the Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees at Fenway Park at 6:45, the Celtics host the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their series at 7 p.m., and the Bruins and Sabres will play Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

NHL Playoffs begin on Saturday

While the Bruins and Sabres wait until Sunday night to begin the postseason, three series will get underway. The Ottawa Senators will visit the Carolina Hurricanes at 3 p.m., followed by the Minnesota Wild at the Dallas Stars at 5:30 and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers at 8.

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