Its been almost 20 years in the making. Last time the B's got this far in the playoffs Boys' to Men Were topping the charts with End of the Road and Who's the Boss and MacGyver were in their final seasons. Its been a long fuckin time, lets just say that.
As a Bruins fan this all we really wanted, the chance to compete for the Stanley Cup. With an addition 4 wins the Bruins will be able to do just that. Standing in thier way are they vary talented and dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning.
It's easy to dismiss Tampa as a soft as hockey team from Florida that doesn't belong here. Thier fans are fake as fuck and only show up with they go deep in the playoffs. (Just ask the Rays). If you're just hopping on the B's bandwagon I have bad news for you. Unlike their fake fans, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the real deal. This will be a very difficult series for the Bruins to win but I do see them taking the Eastern Conference Crown. Here are some things to look for in this series.
- Keep the Potent Tampa Forwards in Check. Tim Thomas's former UVM teammate Martin St. Louis is playing close to his MVP form of 2004 when the Lightening last won the cup. Tampa's posses and the best power play in the playoffs so it will be KEY for the Bruins to not take bad penalties against this team. Stamkos, Malone, Dowie, Lecavalier and old nemesis Simone Gagne will make you pay.
- Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson are 2 of the best goalies in the NHL playoffs thus far. The B's had a lot of success against Tampa in the regular season however, Roloson was not in goal for any of those games as he was acquired in a trade later in the season from the NY Islanders.
- Stepping in for Bergeron: We all wanted to see what the kid Tyler Seguin could do in the playoffs. Although, not at the expense of an injury. Look for Chris Kelly and Rich Peverly to fill the void left by Bergeron. Kelly and Peverly have been HUGE additions to this hockey team and they hope to collectively fill the forechecking and faceoff production left by #37 who looks like he could be back by game 4 or 5.
- I'm really looking forward to seeing the line of Ryder, Peverly and Seguin. I feel like this line could be very explosive and yield some great scoring chances for the black and gold
- Top line of Lucic, Krejci and Horton need to ride the momentum they captured in the second round against Philly. It was good to see Lucic pot his first 2 goals of the playoffs in game 4. If all three forwards are hot on this line the Tampa defense will have thier hands full.
- Interesting to see what line Julien matches Chara and Seidenburg with. I would have to guess Chara would Shadow the St. Louis line but we will see.
