Bruins' Current First Round Matchup May Be The Toughest Possible
With first place locked up, the Boston Bruins will face the second Wild Card team, and supposedly, have the easiest matchup; however, that may not be the case.
If the Playoffs Started Today
Based on the current standings, the Bruins would face the New York Islanders in the opening round if the postseason started today, and it may not be as easy as we expect.
As @chrisjdavis11 shared on Twitter, Islanders have a goalie in Sorokin who could steal a series and a style that bores teams to death.
According to JFresh Hockey, he's the only netminder that's possibly been better than Linus Ullmark (in a way he's had to bail out a worse team more often, too).
The Bruins did go 3-0-0 against the Islanders this season and out scored them 14-6, but faced backup Semyon Varlamov all three times.
Were the Islanders keeping Sorokin away from the Bruins, in case of a playoff meeting?
When it comes down to it, Boston has to beat every other team to win the Stanley Cup, so there should be no excuse for having to face any team. No matter what, the they'll be the overwhelming favorite in any series.
Every team in the hunt for the Eastern Wild Card has four games left, and with one point separating three teams, there's still a lot that could happen.
| POLL | ||
Who would you rather have the Bruins face in round one? | ||
| Islanders | 55 | 21 % |
| Panthers | 56 | 21.4 % |
| Penguins | 151 | 57.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
