For the first time in 34 years, two of professional hockey's original six teams meet to fight for the Stanley Cup.The Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks kicked off the grand finale of the NHL season Wednesday night in Chicago with both teams coming into this series with a ton of confidence and momentum.
Both won their final games by a single goal: the Bruins in regulation to complete a sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Blackhawks in overtime to squelch any chance of a comeback for the LA Kings. The Blackhawks took game one with a late comeback effort in the third period and a miraculous goal in the third overtime off two deflections of a Michal Rozsival slapshot.
Both teams have incredible goaltenders, so the rest of this series is likely to be decided by multiple one-goal deficits. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask posted two shutouts in the Pittsburgh series against a team who scored the most goals in the NHL during the regular season. The Bruins defense as a whole kept the Penguins to just two total goals for the duration of the series.
The Blackhawks averaged 3.1 goals per game in the regular season, but they didn't face a goalie like Rask every day. Chicago does have a hotshot goalie of their own, though. Corey Crawford actually did a hair better than Rask through the postseason in one major category, earning him a 1.74 goals against average to Rask's 1.75.
On the other hand, Rask enters this series with a .943 save percentage to Crawford's .935. Both teams will have to be very crafty and look to score on unconventional plays, using unique angles and assaulting the net from every side. The first game proved both teams are capable of doing just that when it counts.
Offensively the Blackhawks are well-balanced with 11 of their players coming into this series with at least five playoff points. Their last game against the Kings also proved that just one player can make a huge difference depending on the circumstances. Patrick Kane scored a hat trick in the final victory for the Blackhawks, and that included the game winner in overtime.
The Bruins offense is just as stacked with 15 players scoring at least one goal in the playoffs. David Krejci leads the squad with nine playoff goals with 12 assists, followed closely by Nathan Horton's seven scores with 10 assists. Johnny Boychuk (one assist) and Patrice Bergeron (five assists) both came into this series with five playoff goals each.
There's one Bruin who's also bound to break out of a goal-free playoff slump this series: Jaromir Jagr. The Bruins were averaging 36.4 shots on goal in the playoffs leading into game one of the finals, and they showed no signs of slowing down Wednesday with 54 more shots on goal in that contest.
Both teams are playing strong hockey and should provide NHL fans with a thrilling series. If their recent play is any indication it could be a back-and-forth series with no team having any clear edge. All that adds up to huge potential for a deciding Game 7. There really couldn't be two better matched teams in the finals.
Prediction
Bruins win the series, 4-2, with Rask playing better than ever moving forward from this tough loss and turning away the best shots the Blackhawks have to offer throughout the series. Most of the games will be one-goal wins, and look for two or three more games to go into overtime for the deciding goal. It will be a hard-fought series with the Blackhawks tying it up at two games each going into Game 5 where the Bruins will gain their separation and never look back.
Schedule
Game 2: Saturday, June 15th in Chicago @ 8PM EST on NBC Sports Network
Game 3: Monday, June 17th in Boston @ 8PM EST on NBC Sports Network
Game 4: Wednesday, June 19th in Boston @ 8PM EST on NBC Sports Network
Game 5: Saturday, June 22nd in Chicago @ 8PM EST on NBC
Game 6: Monday, June 24th in Boston @ 8PM EST on NBC
Game 7: Wednesday, June 26th in Chicago @ 8PM EST on NBC
