Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
It’s been 57 years since the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in what was a five-game series win for the Bruins against Gordie Howe and the Wings. The year was 1957, and eventual Boston hockey legend Johnny Bucyk was still a member of the Red Wings. So yeah, it’s been a pretty long time between playoff meetings, to say the least.
But thanks to last summer’s wonderful realignment that put the Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference (and mercifully moved the Winnipeg Jets to the West for a more human schedule), matchups like the one that begins tomorrow night have become possible.
An Original Six playoff war? Sounds like springtime in Boston to me.
When the puck drops at TD Garden this Friday night, you see, this will be the Bruins’ fifth series against an Original Six franchise since the start of the 2011 playoffs. They’ve faced a different franchise in all five of those series, too. They went the distance with Montreal in 2011, and took out the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers before falling to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games last year. This first round series against the Wings just completes the four-year tour of the teams it all began against 90 years ago for the Black-and-Gold.
Overall, this will be the eighth playoff series between the Bruins and Wings, and with 23 straight playoff appearances to their name, Detroit presents the Bruins with a whole set of challenges. Even if this year’s version doesn’t come with the same cache as some of the previous 22 squads.
Squeaking into the playoffs as the East’s second wild card club, the Red Wings suffered a franchise-worst 417 man-games lost to injuries this year. That’s a simply insane figure, and it was the second most in the league (only the Pittsburgh Penguins had more injured bodies this year).
But they’re there, and that’s simply all that matters this time of year.
And B’s head coach Claude Julien isn’t going to be fooled by their seeding (via CSNNE):
“We’re not letting them fool us with that underdog card and that they don’t have the players. We’ll just go out there and play our game. I know he’s got players, and he’s got players that have done extremely well for him. The guy that right now is a question mark for them is [Henrik] Zetterberg, but other than that those young players have done a good job even if the [Dan] Clearys and the [Todd] Bertuzzis are question marks in the lineup. They’ve got a pretty good lineup with a lot of choices. That’s how I look at it.…
This is still (for the most part anyways) a Detroit franchise that bounced the two-seed Anaheim Ducks in the first round last year before taking the Presidents’ Trophy winning (and eventual Stanley Cup champion) Chicago Blackhawks to a Game 7 overtime. This role and this stage is nothing new.
On the same note, this role is a different one for Boston, too.
This is the first time since 2009 that the Bruins come into the playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and it’s the first time since 1990 that they enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the league’s top team. And while they’ll be the first to admit that the season by all means resets after that 82-game marathon, the Bruins enter this series with a top-five offense and top-five defense. The expectations in this city? H-U-G-E. Huge. Huge! The pressure? Even greater. But what else would you expect from a team that’s had their first round decided in a Game 7 overtime for three years in a row now?
Exactly.
In Boston, the one thing that’s stuck out about the Bruins’ offense this year has been its consistency.
Top tier talents Milan Lucic and David Krejci didn’t go through their infamous disappearing acts this year. That’s something that comes back to the influence and presence of one Jarome Iginla. The Cup-less veteran of over 1,300 games at the NHL level came to this city with one thing on his mind: The 30-pound piece of hockey heaven that’s missing from his resume, the Stanley Cup. And in year one in Boston’s version of Black-and-Gold, the 36-year-old put up a 30-goal, 61-point campaign, and finished the year as one of the league’s hottest skaters.
He’s become the obvious rallying cry for the B’s this spring, and after a four-goal, 12-point postseason with Pittsburgh last year, you can expect the man with just two career playoff trips beyond the first round to try and take full control of his 2014 playoff destiny with each shot on net.
On the second line, you can expect more of the same 200-foot play that’s become the norm for Patrice Bergeron and his linemates, Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith. This line has been a buzzsaw at even strength in 2013-14, and with Bergeron earning some much needed rest before the postseason’s start, the trio will be relied upon against the Wings’ top talents.
The most interesting dynamic for the B’s in this round (and in the playoffs in general) will be the club’s third line, which at full health, features Chris Kelly with Swedish talents Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. This is obviously a huge upgrade over last year’s “Let’s hope this works out… mix-and-match of a third line that featured guys from Paille to Seguin to Jagr to Daugavins. But if Kelly, who hasn’t practiced at all this week, can’t go, it’s Justin Florek time.
A veteran of just four NHL games, the 24-year-old has been practicing with Soderberg and Eriksson for most of the week, and would enter the postseason with a goal and two points to his NHL resume.
“[Florek]’s a big body, you can tell that he can battle along the walls, he’s a decent skater and he’s a decent playmaker,… Julien said on Wednesday. “I haven’t seen him as much as the people above me have, but they feel that he’s a guy that can be right here to help us if some of our guys can’t go.…
And on the fourth line, if the 30-year-old Paille, another player that hasn’t practiced this week, can’t go, it’s time for Jordan Caron to suit up alongside Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell on Boston’s beloved Merlot Line.
On the other bench, there’s not a scorer that’s been hotter than Gustav Nyquist over the past three months. Since the start of Feb., the 5-foot-11 forward has struck with a ridiculous 18 goals (on 84 shots, no less) and 30 points in just 28 contests. Five of those 18 goals came via the power play, and four were game-winners. His year (somehow) began with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Red Wings’ minor league affiliate, by the way. We’re way past the point of this being fool’s gold in the case of the 24-year-old Swede, and with Nyquist on a line separate from Pavel Datsyuk, he’ll have the chance to take advantage of some of the Bruins’ younger defenders.
But you can still expect much of the damage to come from the Datsyuk line. Centering big body jammers Justin Abdelkader and Johan Franzen, Datsyuk comes into this series with three goals and 11 points in just 13 career games against the Black-and-Gold. Some more good news for the people that love bad news: Detroit head coach Mike Babcock noted on Sunday that he thinks Datsyuk, who missed 37 games this year, is ready to break through.
Down the lineup, the B’s won’t be able to sleep on the Wings’ third or fourth line, as the third line features a noted Bruin killer in Daniel Alfredsson on the wing of a line with Tomas Jurco and Darren Helm, and with a fourth line that has former Nashville top-liner David Legwand skating as a veteran presence.
The biggest question for Detroit (and Boston, really) is the status of captain Henrik Zetterberg.
Practice just started here at The Joe, and Zetterberg is back on the ice! #RedWings pic.twitter.com/QBUys7dVmU
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 17, 2014Taking part in the Wings’ practice on Thursday, the 33-year-old forward reportedly still isn’t ready for contact drills yet following back surgery in Feb., but if this series runs late (think six or seven games), you just never know what can happen. I know that he’s shooting for the second round, but it’s the playoffs, and at 33/with an aging Wings core in a win now mindset, I think all bets would be off in the case of No. 40 if this series goes the distance. But then again, I’m not a doctor.
Boston’s X-Factor: This one’s easy-- Eriksson. With a regular season riddled with concussions, the 28-year-old has the chance to truly show fans in the Hub just what he brings to the table. Skating in his first playoffs since 2008, there are obvious pluses in Eriksson’s post-Olympic play that seem to tell you that he’s well on his way to being the player he was with the Dallas Stars. Finishing his regular season with four goals and 17 points in the final 23 games of the year, the Swedish winger takes to the ice with 13 goals and 23 points in 30 career contests against the Red Wings. He’s ready to go.
Detroit’s X-Factor: Staying with the Swedish theme (it’s kinda hard not to when you’re talking about the Red Wings, really), you have to think that the B’s will take a strong punch from the ageless Daniel Alfredsson. Like Iginla, the 41-year-old Alfie is in search of his first Stanley Cup, and left Ottawa after 17 seasons with the Sens to get just that. Based on injuries and everything in between, this could Alfredsson’s last true crack at being part of a Cup winner, and it’s fair to expect him to lay it all on the line against a Boston club he’s recorded 26 goals and 70 points against in 89 career games. Another stat in No. 11’s favor heading into this series? The Red Wings were 11-1-3 during the regular season when Alfredsson scored at least one goal.
At 6-foot-9, there’s not a bigger playoff menace than Boston captain Zdeno Chara.
But as last year’s Cup Final loss showed fans in Boston, the 37-year-old captain can’t do it all on his own. That’s where the Bruins’ youth movement on the blueline comes into play. Unlike year’s past, the Bruins have given the keys of their defensive depth to names like Matt Bartkowski, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug, and Kevan Miller.
Together, these four players combine for 29 games of NHL playoff experience; Krug leads the way with 15 games played, while Bartkowski and Hamilton both have seven games to their name.
That’s a stat that’s both exciting and downright terrifying to fans in Boston.
With Hamilton slated to skate with Chara on the top pair like he has for much of the second half of the year, there’s little concern about the second-year pro crumbling under the pressure of big minutes.
But on the second pairing, the 25-year-old Bartkowski is simply going to have to rise to the challenge alongside Johnny Boychuk. That’s been a problem, from a consistency standpoint if nothing else, really. As I’ve said numerous times this year, Bartkowski’s an adventure every night. Some nights he’s as sound a second pairing guy as there is, and other nights he’s all over the place. Such is life for a player that never played more than 11 games at this level before this season.
Against a team like Detroit, the Pennsylvania-born Bartkowski is going to be relied upon to be the Bruins’ strong left side presence on D2 (not Mighty Ducks, unfortunately), and without a real safety net set behind him, this is the true potential weak spot for the B’s Cup hopes this springtime. Oh, and he’s missed his share of practices this week with an undisclosed ailment. (Great news, I know.)
On the third pairing, expect Krug and Miller to see sheltered minutes, while Andrej Meszaros and Corey Potter seem set to begin the postseason as the healthy scratches.
Veteran defenders Dennis Seidenberg (knee) and Adam McQuaid (quad) both look like long shots to return to the Boston lineup this postseason at this point, too.
In Detroit, there’s a lot to like about the face of the Wings’ defense, Niklas Kronwall. A Red Wing since 2003-04, the veteran Swede has been the club’s minute-eating machine for some time, and with 49 points in 79 games this season, the 6-foot blue-liner does it all.
But like Chara in Boston, he’ll need help. He’ll find some with Brendan Smith -- brother of B’s winger Reilly Smith -- expected to skate with him on Detroit’s top pair. Below that, guys like Danny DeKeyser and Brian Lashoff are going to have to carry their weight with top-four defender Jonathan Ericsson ruled out for the series.
This all sounds familiar...
Boston’s X-Factor: How about the hometown boy, Torey Krug? Called up to the Bruins last postseason in the most emergency of emergencies, the undersized Michigan-born blue-liner stole the show in the Bruins’ second round beatdown of the Rangers. Finishing the postseason with four goals and six points in 15 games, the 23-year-old defender continued to put up points at an unbelievable pace in 2013-14, striking with 14 goals and 40 points in 76 games this year. Let’s see if it continues...
Detroit’s X-Factor: Kronwall’d this, and Kronwall’d that, Kronwall’s gonna have to be a beast or the Wings will be flat. As the most tenured and crucial piece to the success of the Detroit defense, he’s a guy that’s going to be targeted by the big body Milan Lucic all series long. He’s gotta stay on the ice, out of the box, and get it all started out of the Wings’ zone. That’s one tall order.
Boston netminder Tuukka Rask will in all likelihood win the first Vezina Trophy of his career later this spring. Finishing the regular season with a 2.04 goals against average and .930 save percentage to go with his 36 wins, the 27-year-old Rask turns his sights to building off a highly impressive 2013 playoff run that put him on the map as a legitimate NHL monster.
Finishing last season’s playoffs with a superhuman .940 save percentage in 22 games, the Finnish phenom comes into this series with some demons to put to bed.
First up, Rask’s last playoff memory? Surrendering two goals in 17 seconds in Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks. That’ll only be erased with a Cup win, truthfully. So, actually first up? Putting some dreadful career figures against the Red Wings to rest. In six career starts against Detroit, Rask has one win and a dreadful .868 save percentage. This year alone, Rask dropped three of four against Detroit, and surrendered 13 goals on just 101 shots, truly unlike Rask to the nth degree.
In reality, Rask’s overall body of work and ability to rise to the challenge (see: last year’s series wins against both the Rangers and Penguins) should quiet any major concerns that he won’t show up to this series as the goaltender that posted a .941 save percentage at even strength this season.
He’ll be backed up by Chad Johnson. The 27-year-old Johnson posted a 17-4-3 record and .925 save percentage in 27 games for the Black-and-Gold this season.
In the most interesting head-to-head of this series, the Red Wings will counter Rask with their own ace netminder, Jimmy Howard. Finishing the regular season with a .910 save percentage, his second worst figure since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2009-10 (he had a .908 in 2010-11), the 30-year-old Howard went through his bumps and bruises as an Eastern Conference goaltender.
Missing a total of 13 games this season due to injuries varying from a bruised hand to a knee sprain, Howard finished the year with a disappointing 21 wins in 50 decisions this year.
But if there’s one constant for Howard no matter the year, it’s his excellence against Boston. Taking to the crease for five career starts against the B’s, Howard has four wins and a .934 save percentage against Boston, and stopped 33-of-35 shots in his last start against the Bruins back on Apr. 2.
He’s backed up by former Toronto Maple Leaf Jonas Gustavsson, but if Gustavsson’s undisclosed injury flares up at any point, Petr Mrazek becomes Detroit’s backup.
This one is tough, really. I think the Bruins’ depth can expose Detroit’s ho hum defensive unit. I think the same about the Red Wings against Boston’s younger defensive squad, too. I think Rask will steal a game. I also think that Howard will, too. This is a 1-seed against a 4-seed, sure, but my goodness does it feel like it’s anything but. Detroit has the speed, Boston has the bodies. I see this one going the distance, with the Bruins winning in a dramatic Game 7. It is the first round, after all.