Bruins may find an easier playoff path by staying in the wild-card spot

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BOSTON -- The Bruins currently hold a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, which could result in a first-round playoff date with a member of the Metro Division.

Considering the strength of both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division, that might not be the worst thing in the world considering the results of the last couple of games.

After struggling through a stretch of five losses in six games sandwiched around the bye week and NHL All-Star Weekend, the Bruins had a couple of big, heavy and physical wins against tough Metro teams in Washington and the New York Islanders. The latest was Boston’s 3-1 victory over the Isles on Tuesday night in Patrice Bergeron’s 1,000th game as an NHL player -- a game that featured a visit from the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

More importantly, the Bruins put forth a rugged, playoff-style performance before an electrified crowd, including Brad Marchand getting in the face of Mat Barzal and limiting him to one of his worst games of the season, and an old school, spirited net-front battle between Islanders captain Anders Lee and 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara.

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Then there was 23-year-old rookie Peter Cehlarik using his size and strength to get around the front of the net and shovel in the game-winning goal in the third period . . . the kind of score the Bruins could use more of from their forward group.

After struggling at times over the last few years against the big, heavy teams, it was almost as if the Bruins decided to make a statement against Washington and New York.

“They play hard and play strong. We talked about it before the game that it’s the kind of games we’re going to have to win along the way, especially down the stretch and in the playoffs,” said Bergeron. “We need to get used to that and I thought we did a good job. There were a couple of tough shifts in the third, but we got right back to it, stuck with it and played a pretty solid battle-of-the-trenches kind of game.”

If so, the message was received after the Bruins played solid, mostly mistake-free defense against two quality teams and also showed just enough offense to be able to potentially beat those teams in the postseason. It may be a case of being careful what you wish for, given that the Bruins had lost the previous 14 straight games to Washington prior to last weekend’s shutout win, but the two straight victories against big, tough Metro teams is certainly worth nothing.  

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“This was a bit heavier than the first game that we played against them, I thought,” said Tuukka Rask, who stopped 28 of 29 shots in the win over the Islanders after blanking the Capitals on Sunday. “They are a heavy team. They play a North/South game and they really grind it out and try to get those point shots to the net, and try to create traffic so it was one of those old school games. It was good for us that we can handle that kind of game. The last two we battled hard. We make the play when it’s there but we don’t force them, that helps. But I think the way we battle and block shots and sacrifice, I think it’s great.”

This year's Lightning are just as good as the team that dusted the Bruins in five games in the second round of last year's playoffs, and the Leafs -- whom the B's beat in seven in the first round -- are demonstrably improved with the additions of John Tavares and Jake Muzzin. It might be better for the Boston to stay in the wild-card spot with a chance of moving over to the Metro Division in the playoffs. That might be a bit of an easier path, considering the way the Bruins played in each of the last two games.

There are no easy roads to the Stanley Cup, obviously, especially with teams like the defending Cup champ Capitals, the Penguins and the big, heavy Islanders in the Metro. But it’s certainly something to think about over the next few months for a B’s team that appears destined for the postseason.  

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