Sweep Success! B's Beat Pens 1-0

Sweep Success! B's Beat Pens 1-0

If the Pittsburgh Penguins are the NHL's gold standard, where does that leave the Boston Bruins?

The brooms were out Friday night at the TD Garden as Bruins fans were hoping for a 4-game sweep of Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Finals.  The B's didn't disappoint.

Adam McQuiad scored at 5:01 of the third to break a scoreless tie and Tuukka Rask played another stellar game lifting the Bruins to a 1-0 victory over the Penguins advancing Boston to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years.

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For the series, Boston outscored the Penguins 12-2.

Unlike games 1 & 2 of this series, game 4 was an old fashioned rock fight between these two heavyweights.  But, as was the case in the double overtime thriller that was game 3, it was Boston that found a way to win.

The game could not have been more evenly played throught the first two scoreless periods.  Pittsburgh held the slight edge in shots on goal (20-17) and in hits (22-20).  However, Boston showed a marked improvement in the face-off circle winning 23 of 40 faceoffs through two periods.  Each team had three power plays coming up empty on all three.  Through the second period of game 4, the two teams were a combined 0-28 on the power play with Boston going 0-13 and Pittsburgh 0-15.

But in a tightt-checking scoreless game, one mistake, lucky bounce of the puck or big play can mean the difference between a win and a loss.  In this case, it was a solid play by Boston on a line change.  Brad Marchand wisely decided to stay on the ice as his linemates went for a change because he had the puck skating up the leftwing boards.  As he entered the Pittsburgh zone he served a centering pass to Adam McQuaid who was fresh off the bench trailing the play.  McQuiad's one-timer defelected off the stick of Jarome Iginla beating Tomas Vokous high over his right shoulder at 5:01 of the third for a 1-0 lead.  What also helped make the play work was David Krejci who first skated down the middle of the ice.  Krejci drew the defense by continuing down the slot toward the Pittsburgh goal leaving McQuaid wide open just inside the blue line.

 

NOTES:

-For those, including yours truly, who were concerned about whether or not Tuukka Rask could adequately fill the shoes of Tim Thomas between the pipes for Boston, it would appear that he has answered those questions.  Rask has been sensational this postseason, particularly against the high-powered Penguins in this series.  Entering game, Rask had a playoff record this year of 11-4 and a save percentage of .940.  He also had a goals against average of 1.85 which was mistakenly listed as 2.85 by NBC Sports Network prior to face-off.  After doing a pregame piece on Rask, you would think that NBC Sports would have got that right.

-For all of the talk about the Penguins high-powered offense, is was shut down by the Boston defense.  Stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jarome Iginla posted goose eggs across the board.  Or, as Dean Werner from Animal House might say, "Mr. Crosby, 0.0!"  They were a combine -11 when on the ice in the series.

-Just two nights after Boston's Gregory Campbell stayed on the ice with a broken leg to help kill off a penalty, another display of toughness by a Bruin was witnessed Saturday night.  Rookie defenseman Torey Krug took a shot to the face which resulted in a split lower lip stayed on the ice until the puck cleared the zone so he could get to the bench.  He was stitched up and right back out on the ice in a matter of minutes.  

-Studio analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury succinctly pointed out arguably the biggest key to Boston's success in this series which was a disciplined, layered defense.  Very seldom did the Penguins get good, clean, quality shots off on Rask.  It was clearly frustrating for the normally high-powered Pens.

-If, as expected, the Blackhawks (lead the Western Conference Finals 3-1) can finish off the Kings, they would have the home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals over Boston by virtue of their NHL-best 77 points during the regular season.  If Los Angeles were to rally and win the series, Boston would have home ice by virtue of out-pointing the Kings 62-59.

-Many Bruins fans and sports radio talking heads like the Sports Hub's Michael Felger have been very critical for the past couple of seasons of Claude Julien's style of coaching and the play of his team.  The feeling being that Julien is a bit too conservative and defensive-minded which sometimes holds the team back offensively.  They argue that he is also to blame for a subpar power play.  While the power play continues to be underproductive from a goals scored standpoint, it is hard to argue with what Julein is preeching.  His team's style has stymied two of the best offensive teams in recent memory (Vancouver 2011 and Pittsburgh 2013).  Regardless of the outcome of the Stanley Cup Finals, Claude and his style has been vindicated.

-Rask gave up 2 goals in 4 games (plus two overtimes in game 3).  He stopped all 26 shots he faced in game 4.

-The two teams finished a combine 0-30 on the power play in the series.

-It is often hockey superstition that no one touch the conference finals trophy and, after posing for a picture around it following the win, not a single Bruin went near it.

-Just wondering as we write this game story if Jarome Iginla is still happy with his decision to choose Pittsburgh over Boston?  Be careful what you wish for, Jarome!

-It's the 19th time in franchise history that Boston has made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.