ROUGH START TO PLAYOFFS FOR BOSTON BRUINS

After being on autopilot for the last 2 months of the NHL season, the playoffs have have handed the Bruins some turbulence.  Upon getting the top seed in the tournament, the Bruins were handed a pretty rough draw in the Detroit Red Wings.  Although I have predicted the Bruins to move on to the next round, I still would have preferred a different opponent.   

Besides having a formidable opponent to face on the ice, the Bruins also had a virus to contend with in game one.  The flu found a real crappy time to make its way to Causeway Street.  It was just last weekend when people were discussing who would sit during the playoffs.  Now the playoffs come around and the team is needing emergency call ups.  Not quite the way we were hoping to start the postseason.  Luckily, this is not a single elimination tournament and there will be more hockey to be played. 

According to the Boston Bruins twitter, the Bruins had all 8 defensemen (including Bartkowski and Miller) back at practice today.  Hopefully that will be the end of the flu this season and the players who had it will be feeling 100% for game two and beyond.  Unfortunately, it looks like the Bruins will still be without the services of  forwards Daniel Paille and Chris Kelly.  Paille was on the ice before practice working on skating and stick handling while Kelly is still out with a back injury.   

While I typically prefer a day game for the Bruins, I'm not sure if it will be much of a factor.  The Bruins usually seem to have higher energy levels during day games, so maybe that extra boost will benefit them.  If they could start the game with the intensity they finished with on Friday, they have a much better chance of being successful.  The faster we get on the scoreboard, the better our chances of winning are.  When the Bruins have scored first in games this season they have won 83.7% of the time. 

While this is a pretty impressive statistic, the one that really stands out is what happens to both teams when they head into the third period with or without the lead.  If they head into the 3rd trailing, the Bruins have a respectable .304 winning percentage.  When leading after 2 the Bruins are pretty close to unstoppable and have one of the best winning percentages in the NHL at .911.  Coupled with the fact that Detroit has only comeback in the 3rd period 9.5% of the time this season makes a Bruins' lead at the second intermission appear all that more insurmountable.  

If the Bruins plan on scoring some goals they will need to be much better with the puck.  Passes are going to need to be much crisper and accurate.  They will need to actually gain and maintain possession of the puck for more than a few seconds.  I have a feeling that the first ten minutes will have more scoring than the last game.  Hopefully, it will be all Bruins. 

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