The threat of elimination might not hover over the Bruins until the NHL’s augmented playoff format is whittled down to 16 teams, but that doesn’t mean that Boston plans on simply shaking the rust off during the league’s scheduled round-robin tournament.
There’s still plenty to play for during the competition — which features the top four teams in each conference and will be held during the “play-in” round featuring 16 other clubs.
Even though some of the advantages of home ice will be negated due to neutral-site venues this year, the seeding at stake for these four teams in the round robin still holds significant sway — both in terms of determining last change and the perk of reseeding taking place after each playoff round this summer.
As such, the onus should be on the Bruins to fight tooth and nail to hold on to their No. 1 seed, given that Boston could make it all the way to the conference finals before having to square off against a club like the Lightning or Capitals in the best-of-seven series.
But it won’t come easy for the B’s, given that they need to sit atop the standings against the likes of Tampa, Washington and Philadelphia if they want to put themselves in the best possible position for a deep Cup run.
With the Bruins now in the midst of Phase 2 of the NHL’s return, here’s an early preview of how the Bruins match up against the rest of the field in the round-robin tournament. Let’s wrap up this series with a look at Boston’s top hurdle in the East — the Lightning.
Here's a list of our other early previews of what awaits Boston in the round-robin tournament:
Flyers
Capitals
Tampa Bay Lightning
Record: 43-21-6 (92 points — 2nd in Atlantic Division)
Team Stats:
Goals Per Game: 3.47 (1st in NHL)
Goals Against Per Game: 2.77 (8th in NHL)
Power-play Percentage: 23.1 (5th in NHL)
Penalty Kill: 81.4% (14th in NHL)
Bruins' record against Tampa Bay this season: 1-2-1
Oct. 17, 2019: Lightning beat the Bruins, 4-3 (SO)
The Bruins’ top line managed to land a few punches against the Bolts in this matchup, with David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand generating a combined three goals and seven total points in this TD Garden matchup.
And yet, despite Boston cashing in on three of its five chances on the power play, the absence of David Krejci due to injury and the lack of any additional secondary scoring allowed Tampa to hang around in the contest, which eventually went to a shootout.
https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1184992151404498946
As has been the case throughout the 2019-20 season, Boston was unable to exit the shootout with a pair of points secured, as Tampa emerged with the victory against Tuukka Rask, who still turned aside 33 of the 36 shots that came his way — including three stops in a frantic OT stretch.
Dec. 12, 2019: Lightning beat the Bruins, 3-2
A slumping Bruins club ran into the buzzsaw that is the Lightning’s power play in this matchup — with the B’s PK relinquishing a pair of goals in an eventual 3-2 loss.
Yes, at this point in the season, the Bolts had cashed in on an absurd 34.5% of their power-play bids at Amalie Arena, but Boston didn’t exactly make it tough on the home club — as highlighted by this blast from Steven Stamkos.
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1205298656452194305
With this defeat, Boston dropped five consecutive games for the first time since March 15-24, 2016.
March 3, 2020: Bruins beat the Lightning, 2-1
After close to three months without any head-to-head matchups, these two Atlantic Division titans crossed paths again down in Tampa Bay — with both clubs featuring a slew of new faces in Ondrej Kase, Nick Ritchie, Blake Coleman, Zach Bogosian and Barclay Goodrow.
While the box score might tell the story of a slim, one-goal victory for the Bruins, Boston spent most of this contest hemming the Bolts in their own zone.
David Krejci’s line held an 18-5 edge in shot attempts and a 12-3 advantage in scoring chances against Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point in 10:34 of 5v5 ice time through the first two periods. Sean Kuraly and the B’s fourth line generated five scoring chances in just 2:25 of 5v5 ice time in the first period.
And even after Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk gave Boston a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes, the Lightning failed to land much of a punch in the final period of regulation — with only seven of their 22 shot attempts even making it to Tuukka Rask.
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1235021573674938368
March 7, 2020: Lightning beat the Bruins, 5-3
What ended up being the final regular-season matchup at TD Garden this season was, to put it lightly, a complete clusterf***.
As I phrased it ever so eloquently that night, the highlights in this showdown were already extensive, even before you factor in the eight tallies on the box score.
“94 total penalty minutes.
Five misconducts.
Four fighting majors.
And Mikhail Sergachev’s stick in a pear tree.”
While Boston was unable to overcome a hot start for the Bolts (three unanswered goals in first 26:50 of ice time), this melee was the closest we might get to experience the frenzy that is playoff hockey on Causeway Street this season.
“You’ve got two teams fighting for the top of the standings, obviously,” Sean Kuraly said postgame. “I think it’s a little more than that, too. We want to set the stage for what could possibly be to come. Two competitive teams that don’t want to give an inch.”
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1236467840091291649
Stanley Cup Odds (Via William Hill): 13-2 Favorites
Injured Players:
Steven Stamkos (core muscle surgery)
Jan Rutta (lower body)
Victor Hedman (lower body)
While skaters such as Rutta, Hedman and Ryan McDonagh are all expected to be 100% and recovered from the various bumps and bruises that kept them sidelined for stretches in February and March, the Lightning’s top return is in the form of captain Steven Stamkos.
One of the few teams that was set to really benefit from this extended break, Tampa Bay was unsure what they were going to get from Stamkos had the 2019-20 season carried on as expected. Even though Stamkos’ surgery opened the door for him to return in time for the first round or two of playoff action, it was a given that the 29-year-old forward was still going to be hampered by an injury that has a tendency to linger, even following a procedure.
But with an added three months to rest and recover, it seems as though Stamkos will be given the green light with no restrictions once the playoffs do resume, with Jon Cooper given the option to either overload his top line and stick Stamkos with Point + Kucherov or balance things out by slotting his captain down to the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn.
Whichever route Cooper takes, it’s bound to cause issues for the Bruins, who have been torched by Stamkos repeatedly over the years (23 goals in 41 games against Boston).
Two Lightning Players To Watch
Anthony Cirelli, Center: The last time the Bruins and Bolts met in the postseason, Tampa Bay made quick work of the B’s — dispatching them in five games during the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
While Boston was out-manned and out-gunned for most of the series, it wasn’t actually Tampa’s big guns up front that did most of the damage during these contests. Over those five games, both Kucherov and Stamkos only tallied a combined three goals and six points — a byproduct of getting regularly matched up against the likes of Bergeron, Chara and occasionally the Kuraly line.
And yet, while Boston had an answer for containing Tampa’s top line, they struggled to contain 21-year-old pivot Brayden Point, who tallied seven points (three goals, four assists) of his own during the series while preventing the remainder of Boston’s top six from breaking out.
These days, Point is one of the engines that drives Tampa’s top line, and draws plenty of attention whenever he hops over the ice. But Cirelli could very well be the next man up in Point’s place – excelling as a second-line pivot poised to make the opposition want to pull their collective hair out.
Even though Cirelli (16 goals, 44 points in 68 games) may not have the offensive ceiling that Point possesses, the 22-year-old forward has emerged as a key cog in Tampa’s lineup thanks to his shutdown ability against top-six foes.
Much like we did when scouting the Flyers and their defensive ace in Sean Couturier earlier this week, Point has dominated against players described as “elite” competition — described by Puck IQ as players with:
Points/60 > 2.21
Time on ice per game > 75th percentile
Relative Corsi > 40th percentile
Relative Dangerous Fenwick > 40th percentile
Cirelli is cut from a similar cloth as Couturier, with his lines scoring 62.5% of all goals during 5v5 play against these “elite” players — giving Cooper the option of rolling out his second line as a shutdown trio while the big guns in Kucherov and Point take care of the heavy lifting down the other end of the ice.
In a game that’s often dictated by matchups, especially come the postseason, Cirelli’s defensive impact — especially outside of a top-line role — could be an X-factor in the coming months.
(For reference on Micah Blake McCurdy’s individual impact charts via Hockey Viz — On the offensive side of things, you’d want to see a player providing positive numbers — with the red blobs signifying where the team is generating a majority of their shots from whenever said player is on the ice. Defensively, negative numbers are a sign that a team is snuffing out opposing scoring chances whenever said player is on the ice. As such, the blue blobs represent where the opposition’s shots aren’t regularly coming from. As seen above, opponents are generating fewer shots, especially around Grade-A ice, when Cirelli is on the ice).
Blake Coleman, Wing: Much like many other deadline pickups, Coleman had yet to really mesh with his new club at the time of the stoppage — recording just one assist in nine games with the Lightning.
It remains to be seen if Cooper and the Bolts will have much of a window to see where best to utilize Coleman in the lineup this summer. But even without a defined role, the Texas native’s blend of size, snarl and scoring touch make him the type of player that can turn the tide in an extended playoff series.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1246139150467768322
Well on his way to a second straight campaign with 20 goals and 200 hits, Coleman already ingratiated himself to his new teammates in the Bolts’ last meeting with Boston — earning a misconduct during the various brouhahas that broke out in that March matchup.
After getting pushed around and embarrassed by the Blue Jackets last postseason, the Lightning made an extensive effort toward beefing up their lineup in 2019-20 — adding Patrick Maroon in free agency before adding Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Zach Bogosian in the winter.
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1236448562139054081
Complimenting the tangible skill on a roster with some size and heft worked wonders for the Blues last postseason, as the Bruins can attest to. But can Tampa Bay execute a similar game plan this summer?
Chara highlights second day of Bruins voluntary workouts
Just a few days after Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron took to the ice at Warrior Ice Arena for voluntary workouts, the list of Boston's Phase 2 participants expanded — with Zdeno Chara, John Moore and Par Lindholm getting the green light to skate on Friday.
Even with Friday's news of a Bruins player testing positive for COVID-19 (and subsequently returning a pair of negative tests), the protocols put in place ahead of the transition into Phase 2 should keep these practices running rather smoothly, as the player that tested positive was not allowed entry into Warrior Ice Arena.
Here's a look at some video from Friday's skate, courtesy of the Bruins.
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1271841476901777408
NHL preps for trip to Sin City
While the NHL announced earlier this week that Phase 3 (full training camps) are tentatively scheduled to get underway on July 10, there's still plenty up in the air in regards to what awaits players in Phase 4 (resumption of games), especially in regards to where said matchups will be held.
It looks as though we might get some clarity on venues in the near future, however, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal posted this week that Vegas will indeed by selected as one of the NHL's two hub cities by June 22. While Columbus has often been in the mix as a viable hub city, keep tabs on some of the markets up north — as it wouldn't come as much of a surprise if a Canadian city is selected as one of the hosts, especially if certain provinces begin loosening restrictions (or making exceptions to the NHL) in regards to Canada's mandatory 14-day quarantine for those entering the country.
Pastrnak takes home top Czech honor
Just a few weeks after bring recognized as co-winner of the 'Rocket' Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer, David Pastrnak needed to make room in his trophy case for another impressive piece of hardware — as the B's winger was awarded the Golden Hockey Stick as the Czech Player of the Year on Thursday.
https://twitter.com/zdenek_janda/status/1271163036624130048
This is the fourth straight year that Pastrnak has captured the award — matching the record held by Jaromir Jagr. Pastrnak, a native of Havirov, Czech Republic now ranks third in overall victories for the Golden Hockey Stick - tied with Vladimir Martinec and behind both Jagr (12) and Dominik Hasek (5).
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, Sean Tierney and HockeyViz.