On May 14th, the puck will drop for game one of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Winner goes to fight for Stanley Cup glory, while the loser joins Kobe Bryant on the golf course. This is the biggest Bruins series in years; it is the deepest they have made it in the playoffs since 1992. To put it into perspective, that is the same year that Tyler Seguin was born. Needless to say, it has been a tough couple of decades for the Black and Gold and it is this group of players that show the most promise.
With an 8 day gap between the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and the The Eastern Conference Finals for the Bruins, the team will have time to recover from their bout with the Flyers. Obviously, the biggest concern for the Bruins is the health of arguably their best player, Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron suffered his third concussion of his career thanks to a hit from the Flyers’ Claude Giroux in the third period of Game 4. After missing 72 games after his first concussion and almost a month after his second concussion, Bruins fans should be worried. The team has reported that Bergeron’s concussion is “mild” and that he is showing positive signs of recovery, but he is still going to miss the first couple games of the upcoming series. Bergeron’s injury means that Tyler Seguin will get his first playoff hockey experience as he will join the Peverley/Ryder line as Chris Kelly’s impressive playoff performance has bumped him up to take Bergeron’s spot in the Recchi/ Marchand line. Clearly, the second line is taking a huge hit by losing Bergeron as the line’s success (especially Marchand’s) is due to Bergeron’s fantastic two-way play. The other injury to note for the Bruins is that of Adam McQuaid. He suffered a sprained neck on a freakish crash into the boards on a missed hit on Flyer Mike Richards in Game 2. He should be ready for the Lightning as he has practiced with the team without any limitations. If he is able to play, the Bruins will not need the services of Stephen Kampfer, who is recovering from a knee injury of his own, or the sporadic and unreliable play of Shane Hnidy.
The time off between series has also helped the Lightning, who lost both LW Simon Gagne and D Pavel Kubina in Game 1 verse the Capitals. They both suffered head injuries, with Gagne hitting the ice and Kubina hitting the boards. While Gagne is expected to be back for Game 1 of the series, Kubina is expected to miss it as he is listed under day to day. Gagne’s return is huge for the Lightning as he adds more firepower to the team’s already loaded arsenal of snipers.
Eastern Conference Finals X-Factors
1. Containing St. LeStamkos
The hardest task for the Bruins in this series is denying Tampa’s Big 3 (St. Louis, Lecavalier, Stamkos) of scoring chances. They combined for 244 points in the regular season and know how to score better than any other tandem in the eastern conference. Although Tim Thomas was a brick house against the Flyers, if the Bruins let up 54 shots on goal like they did in Game 2, the Lightning will take advantage of all of the opportunities and make the Bruins pay. The key to slowing down St. LeStamkos is controlling the pace of the game, as the Bruins did with the Flyers. By slowing down the pace, they will greatly lower the Lightning’s transition opportunities, the area in which they excel.
2. Concussion Repercussion
If Bergeron misses significant playing time, the Bruins are in trouble. Just look at what the loss of Krejci did last year’s Series that Shall Not Be Named. The Bruins won three in a row with Krejci, then lost four in a row without him. The Bruins need Bergy back ASAP if they want any chance of winning the Cup this year, Seguin is not ready to take any of the load they miss by losing Bergeron as he is truly an irreplaceable piece of this team.
3. Clash of the Grampas
The two goalies in this series, Tim “The Tank” Thomas and Dwayne “The Rock” Roloson have been the two hottest goalies in the NHL Playoffs. Thomas has been solid all year, racking up one of the best season for a goaltender in NHL history. Roloson has been decent, but has really turned his game up a notch since the playoffs. In the playoffs, Roloson has a slight advantage over Thomas with a 2.01 GAA to Thomas’ 2.03 GAA and a .941 Save % to Thomas’ .937. Thomas (37) and Roloson (41) both definitely benefited from their time off. You can expect both goalies to be well rested and both to bring their A Game in this series. It is going to be tough for both teams to score so every goal in this series is going to be huge.
Prediction: Bruins in 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment