Red Wings at Bruins
A dominant second half of the season carried the Boston Bruins to the best record in the NHL, but recent history suggests they have plenty of reason to be wary of their first-round playoff opponent when they host the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 on Friday night. The Bruins stamped themselves as a Stanley Cup favorite with a dazzling 15-0-1 stretch that finally came to an end in Detroit on April 2. In fact, Boston lost three of four matchups this season to the eighth-seeded Red Wings.
The Bruins, who won hockey's most coveted prize in 2011 and fell to Chicago in the Stanley Cup final a year ago, will be squaring off against their Original Six rival in the playoffs for the first time in 57 years. Detroit was shredded by injuries to a number of key players, but still managed to extend its streak of postseason appearances to 23 straight seasons - the longest active run among the four major professional sports. The Red Wings have dominated the series with Boston, winning seven of the last eight meetings.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports, TSN, FSN Detroit, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (39-28-15, 4th in Atlantic Division): With captain Henrik Zetterberg and standout Pavel Datsyuk out for long stretches, Gustav Nyquist emerged as a star by scoring 28 goals - 23 during a stunning 28-game span. Detroit dressed 13 players who helped Grand Rapids win the Calder Cup with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League last season, including rookies Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco. "The young guys add a big element to the team," center Darren Helm said. "They’re going to be important guys in the playoffs." Datsyuk returned in early April to join veterans Daniel Alfredsson and Johan Franzen, but the onus will be on Jimmy Howard, who had a sub-par season before winning four of his last five starts.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (54-19-9, 1st in Atlantic Division): The only team to win at least 30 home games (31-7-3) en route to capturing the Presidents' Trophy, Boston features a deep, balanced attack, one of the top netminders in Tuukka Rask and a defense anchored by towering captain Zdeno Chara. Patrice Bergeron, one of five Bruins to score at least 20 goals, may have supplanted Datsyuk as the league's premier two-way player following a 30-goal season that tied rejuvenated veteran Jarome Iginla for the team lead. "It's not by accident you hear his name in the Hart Trophy conversation," Boston coach Claude Julien said of Bergeron's MVP chances. Rask registered a league-high seven shutouts as the Bruins posted an NHL-best 84-goal differential.
OVERTIME
1. Rask is only 1-4-1 with a 3.51 goals-against average versus Detroit while Howard is 4-1-0 against Boston.
2. Zetterberg is not expected back until the second round of the playoffs, giving a decisive edge to the Bruins' third-ranked power play.
3. Boston, which has not won in Detroit since March 11, 2007, has played a seven-game first-round series in each of the past three seasons.