In case you haven't noticed, the Bruins are on the fast track for the No. 4 seed in the NHL. They've got zero points through two games and are the only round robin team without a point.
It was fair to guess the No. 4 seed would get No. 5 Pittsburgh in the first round, which would be a tough matchup for any team. Were it not for a real surge by the Flyers leading up to the stoppage, the Penguins would have been a top four team, one that also added Jason Zucker at the trade deadline.
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Well, maybe the Presidents' Trophy winner sucking should have been an indication that weird things are happening in the NHL. The No. 12 seed Canadiens — a wonderfully incomplete team — are one game away from eliminating the Penguins after taking a 4-3 victory in Game 3 Wednesday night.
If Claude Julien's group can finish the job, they'll inadvertently be doing the Bruins a favor by sparing a struggling Bruins team Sidney Crosby and Co.
Instead, should the Bruins get the No. 4 seed, they would face the No. 6 Hurricanes, who swept the Rangers in their play-in round.
Boston Bruins
And really, the Hurricanes aren't anything to sneeze at either, considering how the Bruins look right now. Though the Bruins swept Carolina last season, the Hurricanes, who were 11th in both scoring and goals against, boast a group that could be a tougher matchup for Boston this season.
Plus, Carolina loaded up on defensemen at the trade deadline thinking that they'd be without Dougie Hamilton, who was on track to be a Norris finalist before getting injured. Hamilton could be ready for the first round of the playoffs, meaning a Bruins team that looks offensively impotent right now could face a team with a strong blue line.
The Bruins beat the Hurricanes in their only meeting this season, a 2-0 Jaroslav Halak shutout win.