OTTAWA -- So what does interim coach Bruce Cassidy think the Bruins' playoff series with the Ottawa Senators will come down to?
It will be about scoring goals 5-on-5 against the constricting 1-3-1 trap employed by the Senators, and it’s as simple as that.
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The Bruins went 0-3-1 against the Senators in four regular-season tries this year and only scored six goals in those four games at a clip . . . way below the 2.8 goals per game they averaged against the entire league.
Even worse, the B’s managed just one goal scored during 5-on-5 play against Guy Boucher's trap. It was essentially a meaningless first-period Patrice Bergeron score in a 4-2 loss to the Sens early in Cassidy's reign.
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“We’re confident,” said Cassidy. “I like our group. There’s a lot that goes into it. Who is going to make the key play at the key time? I think both goalies are solid. Who makes the big save at the big time? I like our special teams.
"So our issue, if we’re just going to look at the regular season against Ottawa, it would be our 5-on-5 scoring. We need to have more pop there. It’s whether we finish or not, but whether we create a little more there. We’ve talked about it internally and a little bit here about how we can do that.
“There’s a lot to like about their hockey club. They’re a good team and they’ve got good players. They play their game well, so we’ve got our work cut out for us. So it’s one game at a time and hopefully we’re the better group tonight.”