10 questions facing Bruins & Blue Jackets ahead of their 2nd-round showdown

The Columbus Blue Jackets have generated plenty of headlines over the last couple of weeks, but most have centered on the opponent that they dispatched handily in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — rather than the victors themselves. Of course, when a 62-win wagon of a club like Tampa Bay is sent packing in the early going, most of the immediate aftermath tends to focus on what went wrong, rather than what a team like Columbus did right.

But make no mistake, Don Sweeney and the rest of the Bruins aren’t taking their second-round opponent lightly, even if the Jackets punched their ticket to the postseason in their penultimate regular-season game. 

“They’ve won, by our count, it was seven of eight, 11 of 12 down the stretch and four in a row against arguably a favorite going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs,” Sweeney said of the Blue Jackets. “They made a lot of changes. They come together. They present a lot of challenges, and we’re going to have to be at our best in order to beat them.”

There isn’t going to be a whole lot of time for both the B’s and Blue Jackets to size each other up before the puck is dropped in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, as Game 1 is slated for Thursday night at TD Garden.

With Boston and Columbus set to take to the ice tonight, let’s take a look at 10 questions facing the Bruins and Blue Jackets going into their heavyweight bout.

1. Does Cassidy break up the new Bergeron line?

If we’re looking at the results, there’s a lot to like about Bruce Cassidy’s decision to split up his top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak midway through the Toronto series. During the three games in which Boston rolled out a trio of Bergeron, Marchand and Danton Heinen — Boston rattled off three victories in Games 4, 6 and 7.

Although the tangible production from those three might leave a bit to be desired (two 5v5 goals scored in 35:43 of TOI) when compared to the path of destruction that Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak left during last year’s playoff matchup with Toronto (30 combined points over seven games), they did what was required of them, especially away from the O-zone. Even if 63-37-43 only managed to tally two 5v5 goals against Toronto, it still falls in line with their regular-season output (3.34 goals scored per 60 minutes) — and not that far off from the 3.51 GF/60 that the Bergeron line + Pastrnak generated this year.

Primarily matched up against the high-powered Tavares line for most of the Toronto series, the 63-37-43 combination transitioned into much more of a defensive stopper for Cassidy as the series went along — with that trio only taking 44.44 percent of their face-off draws in the offensive zone. Still, even with most shifts spent keeping the puck out of high-danger areas, that line still managed to put together some favorable possession numbers — with Boston holding a plus-11 differential in shot attempts and plus-5 shot differential whenever Bergeron, Marchand and Heinen were called upon.

Having three plus-defensive forwards together gives Boston an imposing shutdown line when needed, and it should come in handy against a Blue Jackets team that loves to spread the scoring across the lineup. Look for Heinen to remain up with Bergeron and Marchand to open the second round — with that group expected to log heavy minutes against a line featuring either Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois, or Cam Atkinson and Matt Duchene. Pick your poison. However, keeping Heinen up top leads to the next question...



2. How does David Pastrnak get going?

While Bergeron and Marchand still played a key role in Boston’s victory over Toronto, especially on the defensive side of things, Pastrnak had a much tougher go of it. After tallying five goals and 13 total points during last year’s playoff matchup against the Maple Leafs, Pastrnak struggled to settle into much of a groove during the 2019 rematch — even if his six points over seven games might say otherwise.

Especially during 5v5 play, Pastrnak was a mixed bag against Toronto over the last couple of weeks. When slotted up with Bergeron and Marchand — Boston’s go-to forwards only managed to tally a single 5v5 goal over 45:01 of 5v5 TOI together while getting outshot, 24-23, during that same stretch. Not what you usually see from the Bergeron line.

Things didn’t get much better when Pastrnak was knocked down the lineup to skate with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. While a B’s line featuring both Krejci and Pastrnak generated 14 goals and a 56.97 CF% during 238:58 of 5v5 TOI together during the regular season — the same can’t be said for the playoffs.

In 44:46 of 5v5 TOI in which the DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak line was deployed against Toronto, they too only managed to score one 5v5 goal, but also posted a dreadful 43.96 CF% along the way — with Toronto holding a 51-40 edge in shot attempts.

Whichever the combination, Pastrnak labored — with the usually confident winger often over-thinking plays in the O-zone, taking low-danger attempts (avg. shot distance of 36.4 feet) and getting knocked for nine giveaways during the series.

Don’t be surprised if, similar to Game 4 against Toronto, Cassidy opts to promote Pastrnak again to the Bergeron line in search of a spark, especially if it's against a favorable matchup or a draw in the O-zone. Some contributions in the area of the game mentioned below would also be a welcome sight for Pastrnak …

3. Can Boston’s power play keep humming against the Blue Jackets?

One way to get Pastrnak and the rest of Boston’s offense rolling? Potting a couple on the man advantage. Boston’s proficiency on the power play (25.9 percent success rate in the regular season, 3rd overall in NHL) bailed the club out on numerous occasions against Toronto —  with the B’s cashing in on 43.8 percent of their power-play opportunities.

But replicating that mark is easier said than done against a Columbus club that denied 83.3 percent of Tampa Bay’s stints on the man advantage last round. Over the longer sample size of the regular season, the Jackets boasted the second-most effective PK unit in the league with an 85.0 percent success rate.

Anchored on the blue line by Seth Jones and Zach Werenski (1:28 and 1:20 average shorthanded TOI, respectively, this postseason), Columbus’ PK also deploys plenty of speed and size up front — with heavy forwards like Josh Anderson and Boone Jenner often getting the first call to take away space, hem skaters in on breakout attempts and disrupt passing lanes.

And for a B’s club that tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals allowed at a whopping 15, be forewarned, as Columbus tallied eight goals on the PK during the regular season — and speedsters like Anderson and Atkinson can make you pay in a hurry.

It will be interesting to see how John Tortorella maps out his PK unit’s overall structure in its own zone. Toronto managed to find some success at times last round by sticking three skaters on Bergeron in the bumper — preventing pucks from getting to him in the high slot while also putting bodies in front of Boston’s trademark seam passes to a waiting Pastrnak at the left circle.

If Columbus opts for a similar strategy in order to negate Bergeron and Pastrnak’s efforts on the man advantage, primary puck-handling duties on the PP will likely fall to Torey Krug and Marchand at the half wall and along the blue line. It certainly worked in Game 6 of the Toronto series, and the Bruins have seen the merit when it comes to shooting through traffic. But that sets up another potential conundrum:

4. Can Boston survive Columbus’ block party?

The Blue Jackets follow the usual Tortorella blueprint when it comes to instilling a  willingness to sacrifice the body in order to prevent a shot attempt from becoming an SOG. Look no further than the Columbus-Tampa series, in which a Lightning offense averaging a league-high 3.89 goals per game was limited to just eight goals en route to their four-game sweep.

Of course, having a goalie like Sergei Bobrovsky as your last line of defense helps quite a bit, but the Blue Jackets are one of the best in the league when it comes to suppressing quality scoring chances by simply getting in front of offerings. During their victory over the Lightning, the Blue Jackets managed to compile an impressive 62 blocked shots — with Jones and fellow blueliner David Savard taking six pucks off the body in Games 1 and 2, respectively.

(A look at Seth Jones’ event map from Game 1 against Tampa. That’s A LOT of blocked shots — and a ton of quality scoring chances by Tampa that didn’t amount to much).



Boston will need to choose its shooting lanes wisely with players like Jones and Savard on the ice — not only in order to avoid wasting a stint in the O-zone, but because the Blue Jackets have the speed to turn a blocked shot into a counter rush in short order if Boston ends up getting caught on its heels.

A reliable F3 with speed like Sean Kuraly will be invaluable this series when it comes to countering any of those potential rushes by adding another layer to Boston’s defense. Columbus may not have the end-to-end speed that Toronto displays, but they can make you pay in a hurry.

“They’ll score off the rush,” Sweeney said. “They’ll forecheck in an aggressive manner. Their blocked shots have dramatically increased. They were in the top 10 anyways, but they’ve dramatically increased in the four games, so they’re invested.”

5. Does Boston counter brawn with … more brawn?

Things got a bit chippy at times between the Bruins and Maple Leafs over the last two weeks, but Columbus promises to be a whole different animal when it comes to the Jackets’ ability to wear down the opposition with a punishing forecheck. While Toronto’s speed often gave Boston fits both during the breakout and while attempting to establish some steady zone time down the other side of the ice — Columbus is just as liable to lay you out as it is to beat you in a foot race.

For as much speed and skill that Columbus features up front, it also employs plenty of snarl — with players like Anderson (214 hits), Nick Foligno (175 hits), Jenner (158 hits) and Dubois all capable of steamrolling a couple of players when they get them squared up. Columbus’ willingness to batter around the opposition and bully their way on the forecheck proved to the difference against a smaller, skilled Lightning team in the first round, at least if you ask Cassidy.

“They were heavy against them,” Cassidy said of how Columbus was able to topple Tampa. “That was our issue with them last year. Teams change over the course of a year, but if we’re going to talk about what we ran into last year, they were physical against us, much more than we thought. (Tampa’s) a skilled team, but they’ve got some big bodies that were banging.

“We couldn’t get inside of their D. Obviously Columbus found a way this year. Like I said, there’s always some different chances and good for them. They found the formula.”

Now, Boston has the personnel that can handle themselves out on the ice, but could Columbus’ physical style of play force Cassidy to look to his bench for some added brawn?

A hard-nosed blueliner like Kevan Miller is certainly missed in a series like this, with Sweeney confirming that the veteran is still week to week and will not be ready for the start of this series. Given the fact that Miller has yet to return to skating and had a brace on his knee just a week ago, it seems unlikely that he will be cleared for game action until much, much later this spring.

Miller is out of the equation, but what about Chris Wagner and David Backes? Both are possibilities, and have the reputation as physical wingers that can both take and dole out punishment over the course of a long series. But does their addition to the lineup merit sitting players like Karson Kuhlman and Joakim Nordstrom?

Kuhlman’s speed has been a solid add to Charlie Coyle’s line, with the rookie’s forechecking efforts leading to Marcus Johansson’s unassisted tally in Game 7 against Toronto, while Nordstrom has been strong on the penalty kill and chipped in with a goal in Game 7 as well.

While Wagner’s mix of physicality (247 hits) with a scoring touch (12 goals, 19 total points this season) would seem to make him a good fit for a series like this, he still seems to be nursing a lower-body injury that kept him out of action over the final week of the regular season — as his skating tailed off during the Toronto series and he failed to get on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, Backes made a sizable impact in Game 2 against Toronto, punishing the Leafs while continuing to provide a key veteran presence on the bench. But since then, the results have not been there for the power forward — culminating in an outing against the Leafs in Game 5 in which Backes only logged 4:36 of ice time. He has yet to play in a game since.

Boston has the luxury of having competitors like Wagner and Backes on the bench. But for now, look for Cassidy to keep his Game 7 lineup intact. Of course, that could change very quickly with a heavy collision or two in Game 1.

6. Which power play shows up for Columbus?

So what’s it going to be? A Columbus power play that ranked 28th in the NHL during the regular season with a 15.4 percent success rate? Or a power play that converted five of its 10 chances against the top-ranked Lightning PK during the first round of playoff action?

Perhaps planning for something more in the middle is the best course of action for the Bruins, because Columbus has the personnel — both at the blue line and up front — to make things go south real quick during 5v4 play.

In total, Boston killed off 81.3 percent of its penalties during its series against the Maple Leafs, with Brandon Carlo, in particular, standing out. With smaller skaters like Panarin (5-foot-11, 168 pounds) and Atkinson (5-foot-8, 179 pounds) often standing as the first option on the power play for Columbus, Boston’s big bodies on the PK like Carlo, Zdeno Chara and Kuraly will need to close in fast and put the Jackets under duress before playmakers like Werenski can get set up in the O zone.

7. Who blinks first in net?

How is either one of these evenly-matched clubs going to get a leg up on the competition? It might just be which netminder tips his hand first — as both Tuukka Rask and Bobrovsky were outstanding in their respective first-round series.

Rask managed to negate the usual chorus of chirps that head his way every postseason thanks to his 32-save performance in Game 7 against Toronto — with the veteran netminder posting a G.A.A. of 2.31 and a save percentage of .928 over seven games against the Maple Leafs. Rask’s showing stands as his best overall postseason series since he posted a .961 save percentage against the Detroit Red Wings back in 2014.

A two-time Vezina winner, Bobrovsky hasn’t exactly found much success in the postseason so far in his career. In his first 24 playoff appearances — spread across five seasons — the 30-year-old goalie posted a record of 5-14 and a … less-than-stellar ... save percentage of .891. But against the Lightning, Bobrovsky was stout — posting a .932 save percentage during Columbus’ four-game sweep.

If we examine regular-season performances, both Rask and Bobrovsky have a bit of a murky history when facing off against the Jackets and Bruins, respectively. Rask is 9-4-2 in his career against Columbus, but with a so-so .904 save percentage – while Bobrovsky is 3-6-2 with an .889 save percentage against the B’s in his career.

While Rask obviously featured a much higher volume of shots in a seven-game series, he also dealt with numerous high-danger chances generated by the Leafs — with Toronto creating 13 rebounds on shots on goal and finishing the series with an expected goals mark of 17.34. Rask only relinquished 15 goals in the series.

Meanwhile, Bobrovsky only allowed eight goals over four games against Tampa – with the Lightning generating an expected goals mark of 9.798. Both goalies answered the call in the first round, but just one fluttering puck or costly rebound could end up being the difference in what will likely be a highly contested series.



8. Who will stop the Duchene line?

Panarin draws most of the attention up front for Columbus on a top line anchored by Dubois and Oliver Bjorkstrand, but Columbus’ deadliest goal scorer in the regular season lies on a revamped second line with a couple of deadline additions that are panning out right when the Jackets needs them the most.

While Atkinson (41 goals during the regular season) has been steady all year long, the Ottawa imports of Duchene and Ryan Dzingel have put Columbus’ top-six over the top so far this postseason.

While Duchene only scored one goal in his first 10 games with Columbus after getting dealt in February, the speedy pivot has dominated in the postseason. Making his first playoff appearance since the 2014 season, Duchene tallied three goals and seven total points during the sweep of the Lightning.

A dynamic center that can cut through the neutral zone with ease, a locked-in Duchene is bad news for the Bruins — and pretty much any NHL club that could face Columbus down the road.

While the Bergeron line and Boston’s top D pairing of Chara and Charlie McAvoy will likely be tasked with shutting down the Dubois line, the matchup that Cassidy might pursue to stop Duchene involves the Kuraly line up front and the pairing of Krug and Carlo on the back end.

Since returning to the B’s lineup, Kuraly has made a sizable impact on Boston’s bottom-six. During Boston’s victories over Toronto in Games 6 and 7, Kuraly logged 22:15 of 5v5 TOI — and during that stretch, the Bruins had a plus-2 goal differential, outshot Toronto by a 12-6 margin and posted a plus-9 differential in terms of shot attempts. Mind you, plenty of those minutes were also recorded with both John Tavares and Auston Matthews out on the ice for Toronto.

Getting Kuraly, Noel Acciari and Nordstrom humming on the forecheck could cause issues for a Duchene line with an average height that’s under six feet, while Brandon Carlo has been a vacuum as of late for Boston — with the young defenseman credited for five takeaways (and zero giveaways) over his last two games while averaging a whopping 23:53 of time on ice.

If Kuraly and Carlo can continue to build off of what they showcased during the Toronto series, Columbus’ top-six could be facing quite the uphill climb.

9. Rest vs. Rust?

I expanded on this topic quite a bit in Wednesday’s column, but it remains a fascinating facet of the series to keep tabs on. While the Bruins only had one rest day — and zero time to organize a full team practice — before Game 1 on Thursday, the Blue Jackets have mostly been staring at the clock.

Having bested Tampa Bay all the way back on April 16, Columbus passed the time with four full days off, three regular practices and an intrasquad scrimmage. They’ve done what they can to keep the rust from forming, but it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if the Jackets are a bit flat to open this round.

Boston has some momentum after Tuesday’s Game 7 triumph, but how soon until the B’s legs start to lag in what should a competitive, dragged-out series?

“That’s not up to me and our players accept — if you asked me, my honest answer would be, of course,” Sweeney said when asked if he wanted a bit more of a gap between series. “I’d like a little more turnaround time, but maybe they would say, you know, maybe you end your series early and you get turnaround time. So, it’s not something we control or worry about. Coaches are preparing. We’re preparing for what we need to do, players, staff, move forward.”

10. Who wins?

It won't be easy — but when is it ever easy this time of year? Bruins in seven.

All stats via Natural Stat Trick and Sean Tierney.