2nd Round Match-up? Boston vs Pens

Chara and Momma Chara

Counting down the final days of the regular season I presented DR Hook’s Previews of the first round possibilities but never got around to Boston because we finally honed in on our beloved FLYS. Speaking of those FLYS… aren’t they the sweetest for rolling over and playing dead for the 2nd year in a row. God Bless America.

Boston is a possibility and the bear has been hibernating for what seems to be months. The following is a Q & D review of DR Hook’s view…

How Boston can win the series: They possess some pretty decent offensive depth behind three fairly decent centers… Savard, Krejci, and Bergeron.

Chara and Momma Chara

Boston generates a pretty decent transition game and their defense moves the puck quickly. The backend is led by Chara and Thomas and either can be a major factor.

How Boston can get Beat: Boston is very small up front. I don’t think they have more than (3) forwards over 200 pounds. Lucic is their bad-boy but if he plays…

… on any of the first two lines they aren’t that strong. Lucic is a weak link and we may have to dress Godard one game (late in the series) just to kick his ass for olde time sake.

Lucic is no Cam Neely

It’s not that they don’t try but they did struggle against bigger, physical opponents especially during the 2nd half of the season. So they might have to move Lucic to one of the first two lines.

On defense, their size isn’t a factor but mobility is… so if the forwards aren’t coming back to help they can really look bad. We will wear them down.

Boston’s concerns: The Bruins struggled down the stretch and don’t kid yourselves they are concerned that some of the younger players pooped out when they only won 7 games in a 20 game stretch. Montreal wasn’t a test at all so it’s hard to tell how they will play like they were the East’s top team.

Individual STATS don’t tell the story: Boston puts two distinct PP’s out so although statistics indicate that they don’t have players up in the PP stats their PP as a whole was one of the NHL’s best.

As soon as we find out who our opponent actually is (and it will be Boston if the Devils and Capitals win tonight) I will provide a re-do of what I thought during the first round previews.

This is DR Hook… carry on

DR Hook