Ranking the Bruins’ potential first-round playoff matchups
COMMENTARY
It didn’t take until Game No. 82 for the Bruins to find out if they had a spot in the playoffs in 2017.
Instead of looking at the teams beneath them in the standings, interim coach Bruce Cassidy and company can look forward to securing a top-3 spot in the Atlantic Division and potentially gaining home-ice advantage for the first round entering the final weekend of the regular season. While their Round One opponent will be determined this weekend, we do know that they will be facing one of three teams after the Washington Capitals clinched their second straight Presidents’ Trophy following their 2-0 win over the Rangers on Wednesday night.
Ideally, the Bruins would love to avoid the Caps next week. But the two other potential opponents have also been a thorn to the B’s side this season.
Here’s a complete look at Boston’s potential first-round matchups, ranked from most difficult to easiest.
Washington Capitals (54-18-8, 116 points)
Head to head:
0-1-1
Goals per game: 3.23 (2nd)
Goals against per game: 2.18 (1st)
Last postseason meeting: 2012 first round (Caps in 7)
Overview: With everything locked up and nothing to play for, the Bruins could catch the Caps at a good time when they come to TD Garden on Saturday. That can only be a good omen for a Black and Gold squad that has lost eight straight to Alex Ovechkin and company dating back to October 2014.
The big question for the Bruins come Saturday is whether or not Vezina candidate Braden Holtby will get the nod between the pipes. In his career against the Bruins, the 27-year-old is 11-2-0 to go along with a .945 save percentage, 1.80 goals against average and three shutouts. Though the Bruins managed to score three goals in each of the two meetings against Holtby this season, they will still have their work cut out for them if they face him on Saturday — and potentially beyond.
With the trade deadline addition of Kevin Shattenkirk, the Caps are primed to get over their playoff hump. They have never gone past the second round during the Ovechkin era. Even with Washington’s past postseason disappointments, it’s hard to see the Bruins pulling off a potential first-round upset.
Ottawa Senators (43-27-10, 96 points)
Head to head:
0-3-1
Goals per game: 2.51 (22nd)
Goals against per game: 2.56 (10th)
Overview: Like Holtby and the Capitals, the Senators have had the Bruins’ number over the last few seasons. Thursday’s shootout loss marked the Bruins’ sixth straight setback against the Sens dating back to last January.
Of all the potential playoff opponents, the Sens losses have been the most frustrating to the Black and Gold, who only lit the lamp six times in four meetings. Guy Boucher’s tight 1-3-1 system gives opposing offenses little room for error. That could be a good recipe for postseason success as the physicality and intensity heightens with each game.
Though the Bruins haven’t had a postseason meeting with the Sens since Ottawa’s addition to the league in 1992, they have a familiarity with Boucher while he was behind the Lightning’s bench during the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. They were able to break through that same 1-3-1 system when it mattered the most during that epic seven-game series, but would they be able to do it again? Perhaps they may find a crack or two in that defensive structure while digesting film if the two teams cross paths again next week.
Toronto Maple Leafs (39-26-15, 93 points)
Head to head:
0-4-0
Goals per game: 3.04 (5th)
Goals against per game: 2.85 (21st)
Last postseason meeting: 2013 first round (Bruins in 7)
Overview: They are young and talented and have given the Bruins fits every time they have faced them. Whether it’s Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner or goaltender Frederik Andersen, the Bruins have been burned by the Leafs.
The Bruins may have an edge over Toronto when it comes to postseason experience, but this is not the same Leafs squad that suffered their Game 7 collapse at TD Garden four years ago. Ironically enough, Mike Babcock’s squad won three of the four meetings this year by the same 4-1 margin the Bruins came back from in the spring of 2013.
This potential playoff meeting may bring a nostalgia factor, but the coaching and talent in Toronto has improved significantly in that four-year timespan.
