Bruins, Capitals Set for First Round Matchup
For the first time since 2012, the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals will square off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Fortunately for the black and gold, they won’t have to face former Capitals netminder Braden Holtby who is 18-4 (!) against the Bruins in his career with four shutouts, a .939 save percentage and a goals-against average of 1.98.
But enough talk about the past. Here’s how the Caps and B’s – the second and third seeds, respectively in the MassMutual East Division – stack up against each other.
Goaltending
Between the pipes, the Bruins certainly hold an advantage over the Caps. Although he played in just 24 games, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask finished the season with a record of 15-5-2 to go along with a .913 SV% and 2.28 goals-against average. On Saturday night Rask will begin his eighth postseason as the starting goalie for the black and gold, having already started a total of 93 playoff games.
Rask’s backup will be rookie phenom Jeremy Swayman. Swayman beat out Jaroslav Halak who struggled at times this season while also missing a stretch as a result of testing positive for COVID-19. The University of Maine product has been spectacular to begin his career:
For the Capitals, goalie Vitek Vanecek just wrapped up his first regular season in the NHL. Vanecek shouldered a heavier workload than Rask finishing the year with a 21-10-4 record, .908 SV% and 2.69 goals-against average. Game 1 will be the rookie Vanecek's first playoff appearance and he'll have to make it against a Bruins offense that has found their game.
Defense
Could it be any more fitting that Zdeno Chara will go head-to-head against his former team in his first playoff series with the Capitals?
He and the rest of the Capitals’ defense have been relatively consistent all year long as Nick Jensen, Dmitry Orlov, Brenden Dillon, Justin Schultz, John Carlson and Chara all played in at least 46 games this season. They ranked 13th in goals against (161) and 15th in goals against per game (2.88) yet they managed to kill penalties at a rate of 84% which was good for fifth in the league.
The Bruins were not as fortunate when it came to injuries. They had only one defenseman play more than 46 games – Charlie McAvoy anchored the Bruins blue line in 51 contests. Despite this, the Bruins finished the regular season with the second-best penalty kill (86%), the third-fewest goals against per game (2.39) and the second-fewest shots against per game (27.1).
The good news for the B’s is that with the playoffs just a few days away the physical condition of the defense is in a good spot. McAvoy, Mike Reilly, Jeremy Lauzon and Matt Grzelcyk are healthy, Brandon Carlo is back and although Kevan Miller has had problems with his knee over the course of the season, he isn’t worried:
Offense
Everyone knows the Capitals’ ability to put the puck in the net. With Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson and Anthony Mantha in their top six, this crew can light up an opposing netminder.
The Capitals finished the regular season tied for third in goals per game (3.36), tied for second in goals for (188) and third in power-play percentage (24.8). Add to that the offensive mindset of Carlson (who finished second on the team in points with 44) and the well-known physicality of Wilson, and this team is equipped for a scoring outburst on any given night.
As for the Bruins, their forward group is no stranger to production either. Since the trade deadline on April 12, the Bruins find themselves second in the NHL in shots per game (36), second in goals for (58) and sixth in goals per game (3.41).
As I wrote in my previous article, the B’s have looked like a completely different team since the acquisition of Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Reilly. We all know how lethal the first line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak can be. Now add the way Hall, David Krejci and Craig Smith are playing into the mix and the first line won’t be relied upon as much for scoring.
That being said, there are certainly question marks on the third and fourth lines as Charlie Coyle missed the last few games of the season and Ondrej Kase went for an early exit in Monday’s tilt against the New York Islanders in his first action since January 16.
Prediction
This is going to be a phenomenal series. When these clubs are at the top of their respective games they are two of the best teams in the league. I expect this series to go the full seven games with the Bruins coming out on top thanks to their goaltending and revitalized offense.
