The Columbus Blue Jackets didn’t have enough this year to do the Boston Bruins and the rest of the NHL a big favor.
A year after the Blue Jackets eliminated the first-half-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning, the Lightnings took revenge on a five-game win this year. Now, despite everything, we’re going to see a two-year playoff series running between the Bruins, the regular-season Presidents Trophy winners who are now fourth seed due to their 0-3-0 functionality in the circular robin, and the second-seeded Lightning, which eliminated Boston in five games in 2018. The series begins on Sunday night.
The Bruins have been waiting for their rematch since that series two years ago, but Columbus has replaced Boston’s trail towards the 2019 Cup final. Boston lost three of four games to Tampa Bay in the normal season a long time ago, adding a 5-3 Lightning win with a 94-minute penalty. Yes, the Boston-Tampa Bay rivalry is alive and kicking, especially since Lightning added courage to the NHL industry deadline.
Boston’s victory over Carolina was a referendum on what they had said in the circular robin about their three games (all defeats) to stand up. They supported those who opposed hurricanes. Now, the next best-of-seven series will be a referendum on some express pieces on your list. Let’s see:
It took the 43-year-old a little longer than many of his teammates to get into a pace opposite to the Hurricanes and him on the ice with more goals and high-risk goals than you’d expect. It has become clearer as the series progressed, with the Bruins maintaining the overdue leadership in the games and the Hurricanes without star striker Andrei Svechnikov due to injury. Even without Steven Stamkos, who hasn’t played in Lightning’s postseason yet and is far from a comeback, the Lightning have more firepower and intensity ahead, and that’ll put pressure on Chara not only to better protect, but to move the puck faster. .
A peculiarity in the calendar can also come into play, with Bruins and Lightning betting their series on 11 days, with consecutive games 2 and 3 and games 6 and 7 scheduled for consecutive nights. Chara is perfectly fit, however, even the largest iron men would be tested with such a compact calendar.
The Bruins reached Game 7 of the Cup Finals last season with their two small backliners (both five-foot and nine-inch) as regular until Grzelcyk was eliminated from much of the St. Louis series by a head-to-head failure. Lightning is almost as bulky as the Blues, but more skillfully. It will be an entirely new challenge for Krug and Grzelcyk, especially if Grzelcyk has to do something for Chara like he did in front of the Hurricanes.
Overall, the Bruins’ defense team played well against Carolina, but Boston’s two most productive offensive dynamos made mistakes that the Lightning would be better provided to take advantage of if they are continually engaged.
Based on coach Bruce Cassidy’s practice lines at a glance on Saturday, Nick Ritchie and Anders Bjork will return to the third row with Charlie Coyle, while Sean Kuraly will return to the middle of the fourth row. It is by far the maximum balanced alignment of the Bruins if they all live up to expectations. Against Carolina, Cassidy was able to seamlessly combine the game and get a rebound in performance, especially with Svechnikov out of the Hurricanes lineup. With the Balanced Lightning attack, there probably wouldn’t be as much room for error. Cassidy will have to temporarily turn to By Lindholm, Karson Kuhlman or Jack Studnicka if the Bruins don’t fit right.
Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow made a difference over Columbus and can be a problem for the Bruins if the third row of Boston fails.
We know quite well what Andrei Vasilevskiy’s Lightning will get in his fold. He has a savings percentage of Array927 in the 2020 playoffs. He’s an eternal candidate for the Vezina Trophy. He makes backups that make you wonder if he has a spine.
Halak all the Bruins expected from him as 1B opposite to Tuukka Rask’s 1A. But being a 1B is not having to play seven games in 11 days, never play back to back and never face a team like Lightning. In fact, Halak hasn’t opposed Tampa Bay this season and hasn’t opposed lightning since March 2018. The game might not bother you, but one wonders about the rigors of the calendar, especially in which figures to be a series much faster even than that of hurricanes.
The Bruins will be very informed about themselves next week.
I write about the Bruins and the NHL, the Red Sox and the MLB. I have covered the Bruins and the NHL since 2005 for various entities, most recently to WEEI.com and
I write about the Bruins and the NHL, the Red Sox and the MLB. I have supervised the Bruins and NHL since 2005 for various entities, recently to WEEI.com and NHL.com. The my Bruins canopy has also been published in CBS Boston, Boston Herald, New England Hockey Journal, Associated Press and ESPN.com. I have also contributed to the red Sox canopyage in many media. I’m from the e-book “100 things bruins must know and do before they die.” You can follow me on Twitter on @MattKalman.