Second Round Determined
The Carolina Hurricanes advanced to the second round of the playoffs by beating the New Jersey Devils 4-3 tonight. Since the New York Rangers lost to Washington the Bruins will play the sixth seeded Hurricanes. The Bruins won the regular season matchup 4-0-0 led by David Krejci (3 goals 4 assists +7) and Blake Wheeler (3 goals 2 assists +5). Reports are that game one is Friday night at 7:00, with game two Sunday.
Offense
The Bruins were second in the league with 274 goals for while the Hurricanes ranked fifteen in the league with 239 goals. The Bruins clearly have a deeper lineup with the ability to roll four lines for the majority of any game. Three of the Bruins four lines have the ability to score. For the Hurricanes they have two solid lines that can score, led by superstar Eric Staal.
Advantage: Boston
Defense
The Hurricane have an underrated group of defenseman led by veteran Joe Corvo. Four of their defenseman collected more than 30 points during the regular season. The Bruins will need Zdeno Chara to shut down the Whitney-Staal-Ruutu trio. Overall fairly even here, although since the Bruins have Chara they get the edge.
Advantage: Boston
Goaltending
Cam Ward carried the Hurricanes a few years back when they won the cup. During the regular season he posted a record of 39-23-5 with a 2.44 GAA and a .916 save percentage. Ward has the experience and has done it in the past, but the Bruins have the Vezina winner.
Advantage: Even
Special Teams
Bruins powerplay - 4th, Bruins penalty kill - 12th
Hurricanes powerplay - 17th, Hurricanes penalty kill - 19th
Advantage: Bruins
Will the Bruins long lay off hurt them in the second round? It is possible, but the Bruins have more depth and balance than the Hurricanes. If Chara shuts down the Staal line, the Bruins take this series easily.
East
Prediction: Bruins in 6
(4) Pittsburgh over (2) Washington in six games.
West
(2) Detroit over (8) Anaheim in five games.
(4) Chicago over Vancouver in six games.
Round One Prediction Record 7-1
Offense
The Bruins were second in the league with 274 goals for while the Hurricanes ranked fifteen in the league with 239 goals. The Bruins clearly have a deeper lineup with the ability to roll four lines for the majority of any game. Three of the Bruins four lines have the ability to score. For the Hurricanes they have two solid lines that can score, led by superstar Eric Staal.
Advantage: Boston
Defense
The Hurricane have an underrated group of defenseman led by veteran Joe Corvo. Four of their defenseman collected more than 30 points during the regular season. The Bruins will need Zdeno Chara to shut down the Whitney-Staal-Ruutu trio. Overall fairly even here, although since the Bruins have Chara they get the edge.
Advantage: Boston
Goaltending
Cam Ward carried the Hurricanes a few years back when they won the cup. During the regular season he posted a record of 39-23-5 with a 2.44 GAA and a .916 save percentage. Ward has the experience and has done it in the past, but the Bruins have the Vezina winner.
Advantage: Even
Special Teams
Bruins powerplay - 4th, Bruins penalty kill - 12th
Hurricanes powerplay - 17th, Hurricanes penalty kill - 19th
Advantage: Bruins
Will the Bruins long lay off hurt them in the second round? It is possible, but the Bruins have more depth and balance than the Hurricanes. If Chara shuts down the Staal line, the Bruins take this series easily.
East
Prediction: Bruins in 6
(4) Pittsburgh over (2) Washington in six games.
West
(2) Detroit over (8) Anaheim in five games.
(4) Chicago over Vancouver in six games.
Round One Prediction Record 7-1
posted by Pekese at 10:24 PM
19 Comments:
If Chara shuts down Staal / Whitney, I think is what you meant. I like this match-up for the Bruins. It will be a battle and the Canes never stop working ! Bruins in 6 !
Thanks Birdman, didn't catch that originally. Just changed now. Finally, the second round!
i love this match up, i think the bruins take this in five, and i almost want to say they will sweep, although the canes do battle hard and it will be tough to do against ward, although i would not be surprised.
not only do we get to watch this, but we also get to see the caps and pens beat up on each other, which will be an entertaining series to watch.
the first round series were all very exciting to watch, and i love how the second round match ups look, especially for the bruins.
bruins in 6??? honestly?
way too much credit is being dished out here. yeaa yeaaaaa they beat nj, play offs are a differnt story...but this bruins team is playing with a fire under their ass! people say in 6 because statisticly ( sp? ) the odds are pretty good...but not against there 2 teams
bruins in 4...no question about it.
and vancouver def over chicago
I like your confidence in a sweep, but you gotta realize, the Hurricanes have done this all before, and Cam Ward is scary good right now. I still think the Bruins win, but not without a decent fight.
Boston in 6.
I hate to say it, but I'm closer to agreeing with Williss on this one.
Here's what I see happening. The Hurricanes, after finishing the regular season on a good run, ran into the New Jersey Devils, a team with no secondary scoring and is learning to live without the trap - they also finished the season struggling mightily. And the Canes only squeeked through by the hair on their chin.
That being said, the Bruins dominated them this year because the Hurricanes thrive on that first line. The way they play a collapsing defense effectively took their big guys out of the play, and will do so again in the playoffs.
B's in 4 folks
My predictions:
Bruins in 5 (lose game 1)
Pens in 7
Anaheim in 7
Vancouver in 5
yes, anaheim. detroit will not score 6 goals on anaheim, and a couple of games they needed a touchdown to win.
chicago gets no love from you guys. they are stacked up front similar to the bruins. im with pekese on this one, detroit and chicago out west. not sure about washington pittsburgh series though thats a tough one.
Im just glad the bruins don't play Washington(Yet) they where the best team against us this year - I think we lost most of the games - Pitts would also be tough. I think this could not have worked out better - Bruins should win in 4 - 5 against Carolina. Let Was and Pit beat the crap out of each other which will happen because of the Love between Sindy and Ove. - 12 more wins!!! bring on friday
Bruins in 4 (I never predict a Bruins loss)
Crapitals in 7 (they went 2-1-1 against the Bruins, but found us on hard times, and their overconfidence against the Bruins will be their undoing)
Chi town in 6
Ducks in 6
I just posted my Rnd 2 Predictions over at From the Blue Line, so heres what I have:
Bruins in 4
Capitals in 6
Anaheim in 7
Blackhawks in 5
As far as I'm concerned, Luongo is the only advantage they have. Offensively, Defensively, and on special teams, they have them beat line against line. The Canucks will struggle to score on the Blackhawks.
exactly mc puck. chicago is better then people think. i didnt mention theyre defense before, but theyre stacked as well. vancouver has the twins and then sundins line but thats about it. luongo is the only chance vancouver has.
Enough already. You guys are a real piece of work. My canes are one of the hotter teams down the stretch and will crap on your too rested bruins all the way to a 6 game win. The regular season means squat now & besides we are a much better team than what you played in the regular season.
wow, what a gay name.
there's no such thing as "too rested." Rusty? maybe. But Julien has definately kept them in game shape.
i went to college in NC so i know how stupid you, along with the rest of the whale ( thats right. the whale) fans out there really are. most are racist republican inbred red necks who dont know shit about shit, LET ALONE, anything about hockey.
the bruins are going to make cam ward look like....well...carey price.
haha and i love the fact that you come to a BRUINS blog and start your first post with ENOUGH ALREADY
how dare us...how dare we talk about how great our team is in a pro bruins internet blog. we should all be ashamed of ourselfs....ENOUGH ALREADY GUYS
ps could you have picked a gayer blog ID sugarcane?
No. You couldn't have.
Anyone notice a particular pattern of these people from other teams who come here, and tell us how and why the Bruins will lose to their team?
You got that idiot et le blue, panther penpal, Ovie, habman, and a couple others that all say the same shit.
I'm telling you, its all the same person. Most likely et le blue, who has tried to get back at us any way he can.
Even if its not, when will he/they all learn to stop coming here to post? ...and the coyote plods on, just like the Canes; admirably battered but losing in the end.
Um Mr. Cane... I hate to break it to you, but if it weren't for the heroics of Mr. Staal, you would be watching the Bruins take on the Penguins - that being said, they almost lost to a New Jersey Devils team that barely limped into the playoffs (5-7-1) shows me you are EXACTLY THE SAME TEAM. You are just good enough to beat a decent team, but you're not going to beat the Bruins. Chara is going to eat Staal alive... you think Cole is going to swing the matchup? not enough to make a difference - sorry bud
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