The Toronto Maple Leafs or the Carolina Hurricanes.
One of those two will be the Bruins first-round opponent when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin next week, that we now know.
On Tuesday, the Bruins hosted the league-leading Florida Panthers in a game that in every way, felt like playoff hockey.
With a playoff spot locked up and nothing more than standings positioning on the line from an earning points standpoint, Tuesday’s contest was an important one for the Bruins.
Knowing what type of hockey team the Florida Panthers are and the likelihood that if the Bruins are to get to where they want to be, they’ll have to get past the Panthers, head coach Bruce Cassidy was using the contest as a measuring stick.
Test passed.
“[The Panthers] didn’t look like, to me, they had their usual jump. We’ve got to take our share of credit for getting in their way,… Cassidy said. “Maybe it was just one of those nights. But I certainly liked the way our team played. Offensively, we generated a lot.…
Once the playoffs roll around next week, if the Bruins can replicate Tuesday’s performance—plenty of scoring chances, timely scoring, stout defense and key saves—often, success should be in the Bruins future.
Whether it’s Auston Matthews and his league leading 60 goals or a deep Hurricanes’ offensive core led by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, the Bruins are guaranteed to see a high-powered offense in the first round.
An offense very similar to the one they stifled on Tuesday in a 4-2 victory.
"I thought it was a good test for our group. Florida is a high-powered offensive team and keeping them to two goals is good, just keep on growing our confidence,… said Erik Haula who had one of the Bruins four goals, his third in two games.
“We're getting close to the end, and it's kind of starting to become more and more clear, I think, as the days go by of who we're gonna play. So, I think today was perfect, and I'm glad we got the win."
The Bruins entered the third period holing onto the 3-2 lead. Expecting the Panthers to come out with their biggest push of the night, the Bruins instead came out with one of their better third period defensive efforts of the season.
The Bruins outshot the Panthers 16-3 in the third period.
With their win on Tuesday, at worst the Bruins will be the top wild card team in the east, avoiding the Panthers until the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bruins can still pass the Lightning into the third playoff spot in the Atlantic, setting up another first-round date with the Maple Leafs—who the Bruins end their season with on Saturday.
As much good came from the Bruins effort and win on Tuesday, there’s still some issues the Bruins need to figure out in these last two games before they enter the playoffs.
Once again, the Bruins allowed a goal in a period’s final minute, Florida’s Sam Reinhart tying the game with less than a second left. It was the Bruins league-leading 21st goal allowed in the final minute of a period.
“That’s a lost faceoff,… Cassidy said of the play. “I don’t think it’s gone through anybody’s head. I think it’s one of those years where we have breakdowns at the wrong time. I’ve said this before; sometimes we get unintelligent at times, sometimes it happens to be during the last minute. This one I wouldn’t say that.…
And it was another night without a power play goal, the Bruins failing to score on three tries, extending their slump to 0-for-36.
“It’s all five of us on that unit that need to help each other out. You’re going to go through that in spurts throughout the season. That’s a real focal point that I’m sure we’ll work on before playoffs start,… Taylor Hall said.
“But if we can get pucks back, retrieve pucks after shots, then our power play’s great. But if we’re one-and-done and they’re clearing it after every shot on goal, it’s really hard to get momentum that way. I think we’ll figure it out. There are too many good players on that unit.…