What Would be the Ideal First Round Matchup for the Bruins?
Barring a monumental collapse, the Bruins will win the President's Trophy and face the second place Wild Card team in the first round, but what's the ideal matchup?
Right now, there's three teams directly in the hunt for a Wild Card spot, that being the Islanders (WC1), Panthers (WC2) and Penguins (1 point out). Along with three other teams that are behind the pack but not out of it, including the Senators, Capitals and Sabres.
Who Does Boston Matchup Best Agaisnt?
Conor Ryan of Boston.com and Evan Marinofsky of New England Hockey Journal recently filmed an episode of Bruins Rinkside to discuss which teams they'd like to see the Bruins play in round one:
Ryan: �'If you wanna do for like pure entertainment value? I'm gonna go with the Florida Panthers.''
Like Ryan noted, a matchup with the Panthers would be the most entertaining, but they're a team that has beat them twice this season.
The Islanders might be the scariest out of the Wild Card teams. They play a playoff style, shutdown game all season and have a goalie in Ilya Sorokin that could steal a series. They are without their top player in Mathew Barzal, who has been out since February 20th.
The one matchup that might benefit the Bruins would be the Penguins. Pittsburgh has been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NHL this season. At the same time, they have an older core - like the Bruins - that knows how to win and has.
Check out the full clip below:
| POLL | ||
Who do you want the Bruins to play in the first round? | ||
| Islanders | 28 | 22.4 % |
| Penguins | 66 | 52.8 % |
| Panthers | 23 | 18.4 % |
| Other | 8 | 6.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
