Brandon Smith and Reilly Smith will take sibling rivalry to the TD Garden ice tonight. (photo from @bssmith7 twitter account)
Tonight the Bruins will finally get started on their playoff hockey journey. The team standing in their way for round one is the Detroit Red Wings. This will be the eighth time these teams have faced off in the postseason with the Bruins having a slight edge of 4-3. If you can't remember the last time the teams met in the playoffs, that's okay because it was in 1957.
The matchup against the Red Wings will be a good one to say the least. Although the Red Wings were the last team to make it into the Eastern Conference side of the bracket, they are the only team who has beaten the Bruins 3 times this season. Looking back at the 4 times these teams faced each other this season, it is hard to really gather too much insight into how these teams stack up against each other. The first two games came in early October before either team really had an identity. The Bruins won the first matchup 4-1 while the Red Wings took the second 3-2. The next game came on November 27th when the Bruins were routed by a score of 6-1 in Detroit.
In those first 3 games, there was one constant for Detroit and that was the scoring of Henrik Zetterberg. In all 3 contests leading up to the Olympic Break, Zetterberg had at least one goal when playing the Bruins. Zetterberg was one of the NHL stars who was injured while participating in Sochi. If he does return to the Red Wings this season it will not be in round 1 of the playoffs.
The most recent time the Bruins faced the Red Wings was on April 2nd in Detroit. Detroit was playing playoff hockey to continue their postseason appearance streak, while the Bruins were faltering after having their wining streak snapped. Although the Bruins put the puck on net 35 times, Jimmy Howard was putting on a clinic in net for the Red Wings. The Red Wings would score the tying and game-winning goals midway through the 3rd period to prevent the Bruins from continuing on their point streak.
In those first 3 games, there was one constant for Detroit and that was the scoring of Henrik Zetterberg. In all 3 contests leading up to the Olympic Break, Zetterberg had at least one goal when playing the Bruins. Zetterberg was one of the NHL stars who was injured while participating in Sochi. If he does return to the Red Wings this season it will not be in round 1 of the playoffs.
The most recent time the Bruins faced the Red Wings was on April 2nd in Detroit. Detroit was playing playoff hockey to continue their postseason appearance streak, while the Bruins were faltering after having their wining streak snapped. Although the Bruins put the puck on net 35 times, Jimmy Howard was putting on a clinic in net for the Red Wings. The Red Wings would score the tying and game-winning goals midway through the 3rd period to prevent the Bruins from continuing on their point streak.
Looking at every team statistic, the Bruins have an advantage over the Red Wings. They score more often on the power play and are more effective on the penalty kill. They average 3.15 goals per game while the Red Wings average 2.65. When it comes to goals allowed, the Bruins average 2.08 to the Red Wings' 2.70.
Other than the fact that this is playoff hockey and the team who wins is one step closes to the cup, a storyline worth being up to speed on is the sibling rivalry angle. Bruins' RW Reilly Smith will be playing against his brother defenseman Brendan Smith. Reilly has has played well against Detroit this year and have notched an assist in every game. On the season Reilly has played in all 82 games scoring 51 points. Brendan has played in 71 games this season and scored 5 goals to go along with his 14 assists. Brendan played in 14 playoff games last season and scored 2 goals and 1 assist from his defensive position.
Unlike other people, I'm going to predict a 5 game series with the Bruins coming out on top. Specifically, I'm predicting the Bruins to win both games this weekend and then lose the first game in Detroit.
Unlike other people, I'm going to predict a 5 game series with the Bruins coming out on top. Specifically, I'm predicting the Bruins to win both games this weekend and then lose the first game in Detroit.
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