With the Stanley Cup playoffs set to begin, the Boston Bruins will be looking to avenge last season's heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, who came back after being down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series. This season will be equally as tough, with a first-round showdown against the Montreal Canadiens.
Here are five keys for the Bruins as they seek their first Stanley Cup since 1972.
1. Zdeno Chara:
The hard-hitting, monstrous defenseman has done an outstanding job captaining the Bruins this season and leads a defense whose goals-against average was second in the league. Chara also brings a physical presence to the game that has his opponents always looking over their shoulders in the defensive zone. At 6-foot-9, he is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL, and his slap shot and checking ability are second to none.
If Chara can keep his cool and not have many lapses in judgment — like his controversial regular-season hit against Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty — the Bruins will be able to lean on him as they did throughout the season. If not, expect a quick exit for Boston.
2. Physicality:
This goes hand in hand with the first key: Boston is undoubtedly one of the most physical teams in the league. The Bruins need to come out of the gates checking their opponents at every opportunity and asserting themselves, especially against a team built on speed and finesse like Montreal. If the boards aren't rattling with the force of Bruins' checks, Boston will have a hard time containing anybody, and more agile teams like Montreal will be skating circles around the Boston net.
3. Is there enough scoring?
Though the Bruins have been solid defensively, their problems this year have come at the other end of the ice: Though Boston ranks fifth in the league in goals per game, the Bruins are just 20th in power-play efficiency. Furthermore, the team lacks a dominant go-to scorer, possessing just one player (Milan Lucic) in the top 30 goal scorers in the league.
Boston needs some non-traditional goal scorers to step up, particularly on the power play. Look for Chara to pepper the net with shots at every opportunity as well as forwards Patrice Bergeron and Lucic to try to crash the net and get some cheap goals.
4. Goalkeeping:
Without a doubt, the biggest individual contributor to the Bruins' success this season has been Tim Thomas. The perennial Vezina Trophy candidate leads the league in both save percentage and goals-against average and also finished the season second in shutouts to the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist. Thomas was one of the best goalies in the league this season and comes into the playoffs on fire. If he can perform the way he has during the regular season, the Bruins will have a chance to win every game, even if other parts of the team are misfiring.
5. Keeping cool:
Boston is a club with obvious talent, but sometimes emotions have gotten the better of the Bruins this season. Boston finished in the top 10 in the league in penalty minutes and seemed to have a knack for particularly violent hits and taking penalties at inopportune times. With the league's new focus on hits to the head, the Bruins could get hit with major penalties and ejections if they can't keep their tempers under control, especially given the fact that the team's penalty kill is mediocre, at 16th in the league.
