4 Reasons Why The Bruins Will Win Game 7

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalWorcester Sports Editor

The Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals will play the seventh and deciding game of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series Wednesday night at 7:30pm at the TD Garden. Here are 4 reasons why Boston will win game 7:

4.) Home ice advantage. The game is in Boston. Yes, the Capitals have won twice here in the playoffs already, but those were not seventh games. There’s a reason teams work so hard in the regular season to get the home ice advantage in the playoffs and it’s primarily because you want to host a game 7 if at all possible. While Boston was just as good on the road as they were at home this season, the Caps finished 16-21-4 away from the Verizon Center.

3.) Officiating. For the most part, the refs haven’t helped the Bruins in this series. In fact, it has been just the opposite. It seems that all of the questionable calls have gone against Boston thus far. But, this is game 7 and it is in Boston so the refs will probably swallow their whistles a bit which should favor the home team. Remember the penalty-less game 7 against Tampa Bay last year at the Garden? It would be nice to have another one of those contests Wednesday night.

2.) Experience. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Bruins have a lot of experience in elimination games heading into Wednesday night’s game. Having just won an elimination game two days ago, the B’s are as good as it gets in these types of situations. They played in 4 elimination games in last year’s playoffs and won them all. In addition, Boston is (3-0) in their last 3 game 7’s while Washington is (1-3) in their last 4 game 7’s.

1.) Goaltending. Yes, Washington’s Braden Holtby has been terrific in these playoffs and has arguably outplayed the reigning Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas. But Thomas didn’t win those trophies out of sheer luck. He was the best goalie on the planet last year and, while he hasn’t been as good this year, he’s still among the elite netminders in the NHL. Want more? Thomas is (9-2) in elimination games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs including Sunday’s game 6 win at Washington. While Holtby has shown no signs of cracking under pressure, he has never experienced what he is about to go through in game 7 at Boston tomorrow night.