The Boston Bruins will once again be a significant Stanley Cup contender in 2019-20 and their model is one the New York Rangers should pay close attention to.
With an aging roster following their Stanley Cup success in 2011 and their run to the Final in 2013, the Bruins opted to retool their team on the fly and the New York Rangers can take some inspiration from what the B’s have been able to do year after year.
With a franchise goalie in Tuukka Rask, a blueline still manned by the ageless Zdeno Chara and a forward unit headlined by veterans Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the Bruins have added to that core by drafting young pieces of the ilk of defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, and forwards David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk.
It is a perfect blend of grizzled old veterans and high-end young talent and it all culminated in the Bruins embarking on a deep run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018-19, only to be defeated by the miracle St. Louis Blues in seven games.
However, with an abundance of talent on their roster, a core that can produce the goods and an elite goaltending tandem, Boston should be primed for another deep postseason run in 2019-20.
And they’ve certainly made a solid start to the year, recording two consecutive wins against the Dallas Stars and the Arizona Coyotes, with both of those victories coming on the road.
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Their success on the road against the Coyotes on Saturday night was more impressive given it was a 1-0 shutout win, with Jaroslav Halak stopping all 35 shots to shut down an offense led by Phil Kessel.
The Bruins are carrying on from where they left off last year, where they posted a 49-24-9 record, going 29-9-3 at home and 20-15-6 on the road.
They ranked 11th in the NHL in 2018-19 in Goals For with 257 (3.13 Goals For Per Game) and 3rd in Goals Against with 212, which translates to an average of just 2.59 Goals Against Per Game.
Boston also had one of the best power plays in the NHL with a conversion percentage of 25.9 percent, which ranked third in the league, although their penalty kill was average and ranked 16th (79.9 percent).
It was no surprise that the Bruins racked up the goals last year given the abundance of talent they can boast in the offensive zone.
Brad Marchand amassed 100 points (36 goals, 64 assists), David Pastrnak tallied 38 goals and 43 assists for 81 points, Patrice Bergeron recorded 79 points (32 goals, 47 assists) and four other players had 30 plus points.
Their cause was also helped significantly by the fact that Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak split the workload last year, with Rask going 27-13-5 with a 2.48 Goals Against Average and a .912 Save Percentage, while Halak had a record of 22-11-4 with a 2.34 GAA and a .922 Sv%.
They powered their way through the postseason by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, the Columbus Blue Jackets in six before sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes, although the St. Louis Blues proved too tough a nut to crack.
Boston is well-equipped to bounce back and be a dominant force in the Eastern Conference once again this year, however, and don’t be surprised if they make another long run in the playoffs given their elite goaltending, solid defense and their glut of potent offensive weapons.
Against The Rangers
The New York Rangers didn’t face the Boston Bruins until January 19 and it was a road trip to remember after two goals from Mika Zibanejad and an unassisted effort from Filip Chytil gave the Blueshirts a 3-2 win at TD Garden.
It was a victory for the Rangers again when Boston headed to Madison Square Garden on February 7 with Tony DeAngelo scoring the winner in the shootout to secure a thrilling 4-3 victory for his team.
However, the Blueshirts couldn’t sweep the regular season series after the Bruins exacted revenge in emphatic fashion on Mar, 27, 2019 with a hat trick from David Pastrnak powering Boston to a 6-3 win, although Mika Zibanejad did collect his 29th and 30th goals of the year.