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The Boston Bruins entered the week in first place in the Atlantic Division. But with the Bruins losing the first game of this four-game road swing, and with the Florida Panthers coming through with wins over Montreal and Toronto this week (think of an easier one-two, I dare you), they’ve dropped down to second place by a mere three points with 11 games to go for each club. And while the Atlantic is expected to switch between the Black and Gold, Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning from now ‘til Game 82, it might actually be in the B’s best interest
not to finish the year in that No. 2 spot.
This seems like a weird belief to hold when you see that the B’s have finished first in four of head coach
Claude Julien’s eight years behind the Bruins bench, and when you see that they’ve advanced to the second round in all but one of those four seasons in which they finished as their division’s best, but it’s one that might actually make more sense if you’re to believe that the Black and Gold are truly capable of deep playoff run this spring. So, follow me here, if even for just one moment.
When I look at the Atlantic Division’s top three, I’m fairly confident in suggesting that the Lightning are the division’s best, and should finish the year as that, and that the Bruins and Panthers have enough separation with the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings to prevent either of them from a fall into the wild card. (So long as neither one of them go into a freefall combined with a Wings charge up into third.)
Since the Capitals are finishing the season as the East’s best and have by all means secured a date with the conference’s second wild card seed, a a first place finish would set the Bruins up for a first-round date with the East’s better wild card club. Today, that’s the Pittsburgh Penguins, though the Wings trail Pittsburgh for that spot by just three points (and Philadelphia by four with fewer games played).
And although the Bruins swept the season series with Pittsburgh, and outscored them 14-to-3 over that stretch, a Pittsburgh postseason would mean that the Penguins are playing their best, battle-tested hockey of the season. That would also mean that
Sidney Crosby is playing great hockey. (Doubly true with
Evgeni Malkin out for at least another month.) Say what you will about how the Bruins have handled Crosby over the last few years of head-to-heads, of course, but I think the Pens as an underdog are the Pens you don’t want to face. Active defenses have been known to give the B’s fits, and the Scuderi-less, Daley-bolsted Pens have that. All of that, factored with a strong playoff resume for
Phil Kessel (13 goals and 21 points in 22 career postseason games) and his man-this-regular-season-has-been-too-quiet kind of feel around No. 81, makes Pittsburgh dangerous.
(It’s a hunch of course, but this Pittsburgh group reminds me a bit of the 2012 Capitals group that eliminated the Black and Gold in the first round that season in terms of a group finding its identity late.)
If not Pittsburgh, you’re talking about a Flyers club that swept the season series with Boston and looks on fire right now, or a Detroit club that’s honestly putting forth their best 2014-15 Bruins impression. The former should scare you a lot more than the latter. In fact, the latter shouldn’t scare you at all. That is if you can read this over the sound of the Red Wings backing into the playoffs, in fact.
For me, this all comes back to the belief that Boston’s path of least resistance comes with a first-round date with the Panthers. Since Day 1, I haven’t exactly believed in this team. I watched the deadline weekend acquisitions of Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell, and defenseman Jakub Kindl and said sure. They were solid moves, of course, but I didn’t think these were the moves that put Florida over the top.
Then there’s the head-to-head between the B’s and ‘Cats, which has been all Boston for, well, ever.
Boston netminder
Tuukka Rask has owned the Panthers in his career (15 wins and a .952 save percentage in 18 games), and the Bruins’ history with Roberto Luongo is well documented.
Keep in mind that for any of this to
actually work in Boston's favor, the B's will need to the slumping Bolts to take first place while the 'Cats drop to either second or third in the Atlantic.
At the end of the day, the Bruins want to remain a team in control of their own destiny, and one that doesn’t rely on the matchups around them falling into place. But at the same time, in a wide open East, all it takes is a bounce here or there -- on the ice and in the standings -- to clear the path for your club.
And who wouldn’t want that?
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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