Bruins have little time to bask in another triumph over Maple Leafs, but that’s certainly not a bad thing

Their day jobs might differ a bit, but the Bruins are hockey fans just like the lot of us — and they’ve been keeping close tabs on the Columbus Blue Jackets over the last couple of weeks.

And to be fair, who hasn’t?

Tabbed as cannon fodder ahead of their first-round matchup against a 62-win juggernaut of a club in the Lightning, John Tortorella’s club didn’t roll over. Rather, they punched Tampa Bay in the mouth with a suffocating forecheck, stingy play in the D-zone and a potent power play that cashed in on five of the 10 chances afforded to it.

With its shocking sweep of Tampa, Columbus not only clinched its first postseason series victory in franchise history, but put the rest of the league on notice.

They might have been the second Wild-Card team in the East to punch their ticket to the postseason, but underestimate the Jackets at your own risk. Columbus has plenty of skill up front in Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene, one of best D pairs in the league in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski and a two-time Vezina winner in Sergei Bobrovsky — while Josh Anderson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Boone Jenner are all more than willing to oblige when it comes to throwing their weight around.

But beyond the narrative, the Bruins knew that Columbus’s triumph — and more importantly — Tampa Bay’s fall — was going to be their gain, as long as they could handle their first-round foe in the Maple Leafs.



A best-of-seven series destined to go the distance fell in Boston’s favor following Tuesday’s 5-1 victory at TD Garden, with the B’s generating plenty of momentum after taking two straight to close out their rematch with an Original Six foe.

For as much the book appeared to be out on the 2018-19 Bruins when it comes to their strengths (power play, the Bergeron Line) and weaknesses (secondary scoring, the goalie *sigh*), Tuesday’s result was a refreshing change of pace.

No power-play chances for the B’s? No problem, as an offense that ranked 19th in the league in 5v5 goals scored (157) still managed to light the lamp three times before Charlie Coyle and Patrice Bergeron added a pair of empty-netters.

No-shows up top? Even on a night in which the Bergeron line generated a sub-50 CF% and was outshot, 10-8, while David Pastrnak failed to land on the scoresheet for the second time this series — Boston’s offense remained afloat.

In total, the five goal scorers for Boston in Game 7? Joakim Nordstrom, Marcus Johansson, Sean Kuraly, Coyle … and Bergeron. Not too shabby — especially when you add in that Tuukka Rask has a .928 save percentage through seven games so far this postseason. 

There’s an awful lot to like about this Bruins team and how they’re playing over their last two outings. Meanwhile, the winds of change that have dictated the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs have evolved from a simple swell into a full-brown maelstrom.

Boston managed to stay afloat against the Leafs and earned the right to extend its season for at least another couple of weeks. A number of other Stanley Cup contenders were not so lucky.

Along with the Lightning and Maple Leafs, another three 100-point clubs are out of the running by way of first-round exits — with the Penguins swept by the Islanders, Nashville bounced by the Stars and the Western Conference’s top point-getter in Calgary manhandled by the Avalanche.

Add in the fact that the defending Stanley Cup champions (and noted Bruins killers) in the Washington Capitals have been pushed to a Game 7 with the Hurricanes — and the Bruins have a golden opportunity to put together a prolonged run in pursuit of Lord Stanley’s Cup, especially with home ice secured for the remainder of the postseason.

Of course, harping on things like home-ice advantage and “preferred” postseason matchups can leave you with plenty of egg on your face. But Boston does have a few things working in its favor ahead of Thursday’s Game 1 bout with the Blue Jackets.

At first glance, the quick turnaround doesn’t seem to benefit the Bruins when it comes to their second-round schedule. With a concert slated for Sunday night at TD Garden (thanks a lot, Cher) Boston will not have a regular, two-day break in between rounds, with the B’s first two home games set to be all wrapped up by Saturday night.

While Boston seemingly hasn’t even started to untie its skates following its matchup with the Leafs, the Blue Jackets haven’t played in a game since all the way back on April 16. Since then, they’ve had four full days off, three regular practices and an intrasquad scrimmage as they look to stay fresh and pass the time.

The added time off might have given injured skaters like Adam McQuaid, Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara more time to lick their wounds, but Bruce Cassidy doesn’t believe that the quick turnaround will put any injured Bruins behind the 8 ball.

“The odd thing about this series for us is we actually got healthier as the series went on,” Cassidy said. “Usually, in the playoffs it’s the opposite, so for us to get guys back, John Moore, [Marcus] Johansson was the other one who got hurt, [Sean] Kuraly, I think helped us a lot.  Donny (Sweeney) has done a great job with depth, so we know we can use different players because of injuries. Knock on wood, I believe we are going to be healthy going into the Columbus series with the group we finished with.”

Jumping headfirst into a new postseason matchup also provides other benefits, especially when it comes to the value of rest — and the risk of rust. Remember last year, when the Bruins went into Amalie Arena and handed a Lightning a convincing 6-2 defeat in postseason play? The Lightning, who appeared flat after besting the Devils in five games, managed to right the ship in short order, but it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Tortorella's team is a bit sluggish on Thursday.

With Wednesday marked as a scheduled off-ice day for Boston, Cassidy and his staff are afforded just one pregame skate on Thursday to get Boston refocused ahead of Game 1.

If you ask Cassidy, that might not be much of a hindrance at all.

“We’re going to enjoy this one tonight, but tomorrow we’ll be back in trying to break them down,” Cassidy said. “I don’t mind a quick turnaround necessarily when you’re playing well. Our last two games we have played well. I thought the start of this series, we had time off, we rested players, we had a couple practices, and they also gave us too much information and they’re overloading

“This way they won’t be able to get so, you know, they’ll get a little bit Thursday morning. The good news is we saw them three times late in the year. That will help with our preparation. Should help with the players. We know they were physical against Tampa. They came after them. They got key saves. Power play was lights out. So, we got our hands full. Listen, we’re looking forward. I think it’ll be a good matchup for us. I think the teams are similarly built, so it should be a good series.”