Two More Wins

So the B's take Game 3 and it looks like the Caps might be Backstrom-less for Game 4. Solid. Bruins need to take advantage on Thursday night and then close the book back home in Boston. That would give us the winner of Devils-Panthers, either one of which I think will be a weaker team than the Capitals. 

Meanwhile, it's looking more and more like Rangers-Flyers on the other side of the bracket. Regardless of how well Philly's been playing, I think that'll be a cupcake matchup for the Rangers, who swept the Flyers in the regular season. The Flyers are a very similar team to the Rangers in style; they're just a little bit worse. And that always makes for the most lopsided matchups. 

I liked what I saw out of the Bruins tonight. I'm not worried about the three goals because I think at least two of them were attributable to unusual, unlikely-to-recur mental lapses on the part of Zdeno Chara.

(1) It was Chara's roughing penalty in the first that led to the first Capitals goal. He is a crucial part of the Bruins' penalty kill and the B's are at a huge disadvantage when he steps into the box. He's gotta avoid doing that.

(2) It was Chara whose lapse led to the wide-open breakaway Laich goal in the third. Chalk it up to Chara's having his eyes on Ovechkin, and hopefully it doesn't happen again. 

(The third goal was classic Ovechkin, and one can take solace in the fact that this is the first we've heard from him all series.)

Once again, the defense was phenomenal, particularly Seidenberg and Boychuk. Once again, the third line of Rolston-Kelly-Pouliot provided dynamic production, with Rolston netting one in the second. 

Cause for Concern: Anemic production continues from the top 5 offensive weapons of Lucic, Krejci, Seguin, Marchand, Bergeron. Seguin in particular has looked hapless at every turn. Of the first two lines only the add-on Rich Peverley has provided any sort of spark. 

Nevertheless, I'm confident the B's will win the series, and the reason for that is depth. The big guns will continue to get their minutes, but so will the third (Rolston-Kelly-Pouliot) and fourth  (Paille-Campbell-Thornton) lines. And that's where Washington is doomed. By the end of the second period, Dale Hunter was barely even playing his third line, while the Bruins rotated four lines right up until the final horn. That leads to fresher legs, more and harder hits, and ultimately more goals. 

Bruins in 5.