Boston Bruins: Road to the Stanley Cup goes through Boston

With a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7, the Boston Bruins have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will play the Columbus Blue Jackets with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line.

The Boston Bruins have done it. They won Game 7!

As exciting as it was, it’s now time to move on and get ready to face the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Bruins host Game 1 tonight, only 2 days after winning Game 7 against Toronto. After sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blue Jackets haven’t played a game since last Tuesday, hopefully the long layoff stunts any momentum they had and works in the Bruins’ favor.

The Boston Bruins are now the highest seed remaining, and the favorite to win the Cup. Boston will have home ice from here on out, including in the Stanley Cup (should they get there).

With playoff juggernauts now eliminated in Tampa Bay, Calgary, Winnipeg, Nashville, Pittsburgh; even the defending champion Washington Capitals are out, the door is wide open. Any of the remaining 8 teams have a legitimate shot at winning the Cup.

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Avoiding the Lightning in the second round is a huge win for the Bruins, now let’s see if they can take advantage of that and capitalize on an opportunity that may never present itself again.

This may be the last shot at a title for the Bruins’ core in Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, Marchand and company; all of their top players are performing up to their level. Boston’s top line has combined for 20 points (9 goals and 11 assists). David Krejci is having his best season since 2013-14. Zdeno Chara is looking like his old self at age 42.

The Bruins’ young players have stepped up as well in these playoffs so far. Jake DeBrusk has a goal and an assist with 20 shots in 7 games. Torey Krug has 4 points and 16 shots. Charlie McAvoy has 3 points with 9 shots and is a +4 while leading the team with an average of 24:03 time on ice.

Secondary scoring has also stepped up in big spots. Game 7 featured goals from Joakim Nordstrom, Marcus Johansson, Sean Kuraly, Charlie Coyle, and Patrice Bergeron. If the secondary scoring can step in with timely goals and plays to compliment the stars, the Bruins should be in store for a long playoff run and hopefully a parade in the summer.

Tuukka Rask has also stepped up when he needed to in this Toronto series. After getting outplayed for most of the series, Rask stood tall when his team needed him the most. In Game 6, Rask had 22 saves on 24 shots. In Game 7, Tuukka only let in 1 goal on 33 shots. He had two huge performances in the biggest games of the season.

Entering Game 7 Tuesday, Rask was 2-2 in 4 previous career Game 7’s. He also carried a .845 save percentage and a 3.72 goals against average. I’m sure he lowered those numbers after his stellar performance to send the Leafs packing for the second year in a row.

Standing in their way is a tough Columbus Blue Jackets team. As the 8 seed in the East, they matched up with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. Tampa Bay was a wagon all season long, becoming the second team in NHL history to win 62 games, and first since the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings.

Boston Bruins: Tuukka Rask can no longer be hated. dark. Next

The Blue Jackets made quick work of the President’s Trophy winners, sweeping them in 4 games and out scoring the Lightning 19-8. The Bruins should not take the Blue Jackets lightly. Columbus has a Vezina caliber goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky. The Jackets also have some stars of their own in Matt Duchene, Artemi Panarin, Boone Jenner, and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Boston won the regular season series against Columbus 2-1, with the Boston Bruins scoring 12 goals and the Blue Jackets scoring 10. Game 1 is tonight, and I would fully expect the Garden to be rocking as the Bruins look to continue their journey on the way to Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Go B’s.

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