Can The Bruins Win The Cup?

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalWorcester Sports Editor

With the Bruins and Maple Leafs set to drop the puck Wednesday night in game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round series, GoLocalProv.com breaks down the match-up and offers up its prediction:

First, here’s the schedule for the best-of-seven series:

Wed. May 1, 7 p.m., at Boston
Sat. May 4, 7 p.m., at Boston
Mon. May 6, 7 p.m., at Toronto
Wed. May 8, 7 p.m., at Toronto
*Fri. May 10, 7 p.m., at Boston
*Sun., May 12, TBD, at Toronto
*Mon., May 13, TBD, at Boston

* If necessary

It has been nearly 40 years since these two Original Six teams have met in the postseason. Despite playing in the same division (Northeast), there isn’t that same sense of rivalry with Toronto that you have with Montreal.

However, this should be a fun series for fans of both teams. While we here in Boston like to think of ourselves as good hockey fans, Torontonians absolutely LOVE their Maple Leafs and the media coverage they receive north of the border is second to none.

Offense: While Boston seems to have more weapons, the Maple Leafs were the more productive offensive team this season. Toronto lit the lamp 145 times this season as opposed to the rather paltry 131 goals scored by Boston. Leading the way for the Leafs offensively was former Bruin Phil Kessel. Kessel led the team in goals (20), assists (32) and points (52) despite a -3 rating. However, the Leafs most productive player has been center Nazem Kadri (18-26-44 / +15).

The B’s most productive line has been their second line of Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand. While the top line of David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Nathan Horton has been wildly inconsistent, Lucic finished the regular season strong giving hope for a solid postseason run.

Phil Kessel

Health will be an issue for the B’s up front as Horton missed the last 5 games of the regular season with an upper body injury. He is expected to return for game 1. Also, Jaromir Jagr missed the final two games of the regular season battling the flu. He will be back on the team’s third line for game one.

On paper, the B’s rate the edge here, but on the ice, Toronto has been the more productive unit.

Edge: MAPLE LEAFS

Defense: While the Maple Leafs have done a better job putting the puck into the net this season, they have not come close to matching the Bruins excellence in keeping it out of their own cage. Toronto yielded 133 goals this season while the B’s were second best in the league giving up just 109.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg are as good of a tandem as you will find in the league, but the Leafs have Cody Franson and Dion Phaneuf who tallied 57 points combined which was 21 more than Boston’s tandem.

Still, when it comes to clamping down on opponents, the Bruins are the better of the two teams.

Edge: BRUINS

Goaltending: This won’t take long to break down. Boston’s Tuukka Rask (2.00 GAA) has been very solid this season while the Leafs James Reimer (2.46 GAA) has been just good.

Tuukka Rask

Edge: BRUINS

Special Teams: The Maple Leafs power play (18.7%) has netted 31 goals to Boston’s anemic 18 (14.8%). The B’s power play goal output ranks dead last in the league. Bruins fans might think that their team would rate the edge on the penalty kill (87.1%, 21 GA) but they would be wrong! Toronto yielded just 19 power play goals (second best in the NHL) and killed penalties at an 87.9% clip (also second best).

Edge: MAPLE LEAFS

Coaching: In terms of Stanley Cups won, Randy Carlisle (2007 – Anaheim) and Claude Julien (2011 – Boston) are even at one a piece. Both coaches have won more than 300 games in their careers. Hard to pick a winner here.

Edge: EVEN

Intangibles: Neither Boston nor Toronto finished the season strong. The B’s squandered a golden opportunity to win the Northeast Division by losing 7 of their final 9 games. Meanwhile, the Leafs dropped 4 of their last 6. Even though Boston won the regular season series 3-1, they are the team struggling more heading into postseason play.

Edge: MAPLE LEAFS

The pick: Despite their recent woes, this Bruins team still has many of the same players that helped bring home Lord Stanley’s Cup just two seasons ago and does appear to have more talent across the board. And while the B’s don’t have Tim Thomas from that Stanley Cup run, they still do have the better goaltender as well. Despite their poor finish to the regular season, we’ll take Boston to outlast the Leafs in seven games.