COMMENTARY The road to the Stanley Cup now goes through Boston. The Bruins earned that home-ice distinction with their statement Game 7 win over…
COMMENTARY
The road to the Stanley Cup now goes through Boston.
The Bruins earned that home-ice distinction with their statement Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs Tuesday night. Now they hope to take advantage of a golden opportunity after all four regular-season division winners were knocked out in the first round.
Make no mistake, though. The Bruins will have their hands full against John Tortorella’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Boston’s second round opponents are fresh off a historic sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1.
The Bruins and Blue Jackets got accustomed to one another quite often over the last few weeks of the regular season. Bruce Cassidy’s bunch earned a pair of wins in a three-week span against Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and a solid Columbus squad.
“My initial thought is they beat a really good team, because I thought Tampa was lights out, and we saw them first hand late in the year. So, clearly, we got our hands full,” Cassidy said following the Game 7 win over Toronto.
“The good news is we saw them three times late in the year. That will help with our preparation. Should help with the players. We know they were physical against Tampa. They came after them. They got key saves. Their power play was lights out. So, we got our hands full.”
The Bruins have the quick turnaround from the Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs to their Game 1 matchup Thursday with a Blue Jackets squad that last took the ice a week ago Tuesday. Let’s break down a few keys to a Bruins’ series win.
Nazem Kadri’s suspension for cross-checking Jake DeBrusk in Game 2 put Mike Babcock in a tough spot. The Toronto coach had to move William Nylander away from his usual spot with Auston Matthews and into Kadri’s third line center role.
Trevor Moore and Tyler Ennis each had their skating legs going on the fourth line. But the Bruins exposed the Leafs’ bottom-six issues, particularly in Game 7.
Joakim Nordstrom and Marcus Johansson gave the Bruins a lift with their first period tallies. Sean Kuraly, playing in just his third game of the series, notched a back-breaking goal early in the third after the Leafs dominated play in the middle 20.
It all came together for the third and fourth lines on a night where Boston’s top guys couldn’t find the score sheet aside from Patrice Bergeron’s final empty-netter.
