Datsyuk's late heroics topple B's in Game 1

Well, it’s certainly not the start of the series that Bruins fans hoped for and expected. The Bruins team that finished 3rd in the league in goals was shutout by Jimmy Howard and the Detroit Red Wings, the lone goal of the game coming from an incredible individual effort by Pavel Datsyuk.

The Bruins have had a tendency under Claude Julien to struggle out of the gate in the first round and it looks like this year’s no different. Many confident B’s fans were calling for a 5 game washout of the Wings, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be that easy. Keep in mind that the first round series in the last three years have gone seven games.

The Bruins got off to a quick start tonight, rolling four lines and putting pressure on Howard early. He responded to the challenges however, and Detroit came back with some chances of their own. In the second period, the Wings seemed to carry the play and there were several spans of two to three minutes where the Bruins couldn’t even get the puck out of their zone, which is very unlikely for them.

Bruins - Red Wings Series Preview

It’s that time of year again, and what better way to start the Bruins 2014 playoff journey than an Original Six match up against the Red Wings? Led by the elusive Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit has booked their reservation to the postseason for 23 years in a row now. I’ve already projected the Bruins to beat Detroit in 6 games, but let’s take a deeper look at how they match up.

Offense

The Bruins finished 3rd in the league with 3.15 Goals/game, whereas Detroit sat at 16th with 2.65. The Bruins boasts four deep lines that Julien can roll through regularly, which only a small handful of teams have the ability to do. Krejci-Lucic-Iginla is as talented, but more importantly well-balanced, as any line in the league. Go on down the line and Bergeron, Marchand, Smith, Eriksson, and Soderberg all provide great secondary scoring that creates a match up nightmare for opposing teams.

NHL Playoff Predictions

The board has been set. With the conclusion of the NHL regular season yesterday, the match-ups for the first round are finalized and boy are there some exciting ones.

I filled out a bracket on NHL.com, which has a fun and easy tool to use. Here's a screenshot of it:

As you can see, I have the Bruins winning it all (big surprise.) I do have a few interesting upsets, though, and the first round will be fascinating to watch.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Avalanche vs Wild

What a story for Colorado this season, going from a basement dweller to the top team in the West. On the other hand, Minnesota is a team that just squeaked by. This is an easy one. Avalanche in 5.

Blues vs Blackhawks

Wow. The Blues were a top 3 team all season long, but a major collapse in the final 6 games (and .500 hockey since the Olympics) have brought to light some major issues. They're dealing with some major injuries (as are the Blackhawks) but I'm going to go with the proven entity here. Blackhawks in 7.

How the West Will be Won

All season long, there has been a lot of dialogue and discourse about how the Western Conference is a lot stronger than the East. Analysts heralded that the teams in the West were better, the game was faster, and the stats guys backed it up.

As it stands now, seven of the top ten teams in the standings are from the West, and five of the bottom six teams are from the East. This makes the West, statistically speaking, much deeper and more competitive. Indeed, most NHL experts will tell you that they favor a team from the West to win it all, such as the Ducks or the Blues.

Fret not, Bruins fans. I've been digging up some research and reading reports, and I'm here to tell you right now that not only should you not fear the West, you shouldn't fear any team in hockey. I''m going to take a systematic look at the six powerhouse teams in the West and tell you why the Black and Gold could and indeed should beat them.

Seidenberg Skates, McQuaid done as a Bruin?

Seidenberg Eyeing Playoff Return

Great news out of Boston earlier this week as Claude Julien confirmed that Dennis Seidenberg skated on Tuesday for the first time since December 27. He suffered an ACL and MCL injury against Ottowa and was immediately ruled out for the rest of the season.

It was a stunning blow to the Bruins "D" corps, who were  tried and tested to fill the gap he left. The bottom line was this: they weren't going to be able to get a defenseman at the trade deadline who can do what he does night in and night out for that cap hit. Instead, Julien stressed that the group as a whole would have to step up in his absence, and it's worked out nicely. Johnny Boychuk has especially taken a bigger role with 44 gone and his great play hasn't gone unnoticed by B's fans.

It's a pleasant surprise that Seidenberg has resumed skating and is ahead of schedule, but people shouldn't put the horse before the carriage here. He suffered a serious injury and Julien has said he still has no timetable for his return. At best, it would be the Eastern Conference Finals, assuming the Bruins even make it there (of course they will.)

Zac Rinaldo to Face Hearing After (Another) Illegal Hit

Another despicable hit from a despicable player. I have no patience for players like this. There are players that love to toe the line and agitate opponents, but still are great hockey players: Marchand, Hartnell, even PK Subban. But Rinaldo, not unlike John Scott he offers little else.

His most productive season of hockey is when he posted 32 points in the OPJHL (what?) with 193 PIMs. So yeah, he sucks. He's a dangerous player and an insult to the league as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully Shanahan makes a statement here.

**UPDATE**

Four games for Rinaldo. Will he learn his lesson? Probably (definitely) not.

Bruins Clinch the East, Silence the Doubts

The Bruins clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia in today's matinee matchup. Loui Eriksson, who's really been looking great lately, led his team with 4 points and shut down a flailing Flyers team.

This victory pushed away a few (small) seeds of doubt in the back of my mind. The Bruins have had some trouble against desperate teams lately, and a loss to the Flyers would have created a real honest-to-God problem.

It started last weekend in Philly, when the Bruins let up an uncharacteristic come-back agaionst the Broad Street Bullies. With under a minute to go, Bergeron failed to chip the puck out of the zone and Boychuk whiffed on it, giving Lecavalier a chance to tie it with just 25 seconds remaining. The Bruins were able to win with a Reilly Smith shootout goal, but it was still a scary game.