McDonald: Stop pinching yourself, Bruins are legit Cup contenders

If you’re a Bruins fan and you watched yet another comeback victory, this time a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Friday night, that feeling inside you was normal. Because an entire fandom twitched just like you did when a sprawling, leaping and diving David Pastrnak scored the game-winning goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation.

Yes, this Bruins team is for real.

For. Real.

It’s incredible to think what this team is doing without the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Backes, Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy, Rick Nash and Jake DeBrusk, all sidelined due to injury. It’s just another example why this team has the makings of a deep Stanley Cup playoff run this spring.

Why?



Everything has the potential to fall nicely into place. Once coach Bruce Cassidy has a healthy roster, this team will have all the blocks that could equal a Stanley Cup champion. This isn’t something that happened overnight, either. It’s been growing since the team’s west coast trip in mid-November.

The Bruins were 6-6-4 only 16 games into the season and then they posted a 2-1-0 record on that trip, losing to the Anaheim Ducks, but followed with a pair of wins over the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks.

It was at that point when the Bruins learned of the team’s potential.

Starter Tuukka Rask was struggling, so Cassidy leaned on backup Anton Khudobin, who stopped the team’s four-game losing skid and marked the start of something special. After seeing that Cassidy would even push his franchise goalie in the midst of a funk, internal competition sprouted throughout the lineup and propelled the team forward.

What was supposed to be a bridge season, quickly turned into something unexpected.

The young core the organization groomed, matured ahead of schedule. The veteran core, which had already won a Stanley Cup, welcomed the rookies with open arms and has helped their development. The chemistry and depth quickly developed and is now at an all-time high for this new generation and it’s showing on the score sheet.

McAvoy, Danton Heinen, DeBrusk, Sean Kuraly, Matt Grzelcyk have dealt with the normal ebbs and flows for rookies, but they've all made significant contributions and they're showing zero signs of slowing down at this point.

It starts with the team’s best players needing to be its best players. Before he suffered a broken foot on Feb. 24, Bergeron was in the conversation for the Hart Trophy. Despite the injury, he’s having a career season at both ends of the ice.

Linemate Brad Marchand should no doubt be in the same discussion for the Hart. His reputation, and the fact that he served a five-game suspension this season could hamper his chances, but the Bruins don’t clinch a postseason berth without his heroics, especially in Bergeron’s absence.

When it's intact, Boston's top line is the best in the league. Opposing coaches and players have admitted as much for the majority of the season. Pastrnak is becoming one of the more dynamic players in the league

Even at age 41, Chara is having one of his best seasons. Sure, it helps that he’s playing for a contract but he continues to be a dominating force. This upper-body injury he’s dealing with will actually serve as a blessing in disguise because it will help him handle the postseason grind.

It’s still inconceivable that many wanted the Bruins to either trade Rask or make him the backup earlier this season. After Friday’s win in Dallas, he’s 31-11-5 in 48 games, and while he’s allowing more goals than usual of late, he’s making the timely saves and the team is responding with goals at the other end.

No matter how much success he has during the regular season, his legacy in Boston will be cemented whether or not he can reach the elite level and lead the Bruins to another championship under his watch. It’ll be interesting to see if that can happen this spring.

Off the ice, general manager Don Sweeney deserves credit. He understood prior to the trade deadline that this team has the potential, so he went all in and added the pieces necessary to help the cause. He acquired Rick Nash. Sweeney added depth with Brian Gionta, Nick Holden and Tommy Wingels.

Oh, and prospect Ryan Donato signed and has added another layer of youth that has invigorated the team once again. Cassidy has done an outstanding job behind the bench and now has a 64-25-11 record since taking over the job in February 2017.

I’m not saying the Bruins will win the Stanley Cup in 2018, but they have the talent, commitment, desire and luck right now — and that’s the recipe of a champion. So, stop twitching because that gut feeling you have could be spot on. Enjoy it because no matter the outcome, it’s going to be fun.

 

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