Here’s How Bruins Can Beat Sabres In Round 1 NHL Playoffs

Here’s how the Bruins can beat the Sabers in the first round of the NHL playoffs, originally broadcast on NESN. Add NESN as your preferred source by clicking here.

The Boston Bruins were not expected to make the playoffs in year one under new head coach Marco Strum. After losing six straight games in the first month of the season, they were written off again in what was falsely characterized as a rebuilding year.

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But after going 11-3 in the first month of the new year, Sturm’s Bruins have emerged as contenders in the East. They finished the season with the fifth-most wins in the Eastern Conference and now prepare to face the first-place Buffalo Sabers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It’s a tall order, but given the Sabres’ record, this may be the best draw of the playoffs. ESPN writer Rachel Kryshak broke down how the Bruins can beat the Sabres.

“Make no mistake, the Sabers are truly the Cinderella of the NHL this year,” Kryshak wrote. “But the problem with Cinderella is that the clock always strikes midnight.

“Can the Sabers keep a goaltender from falling back to Earth, a power play that doesn’t produce, or a finishing that dries up when scoring chances are harder to come by? If they can, the glass slipper might fit.”

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Sabers goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been inhumane since taking over full-time in net after Alex Lyon was injured. He is 11-2 in net since the Olympic break and barely allows two goals per game.

If the Bruins can figure out Luukkonen, the Sabers don’t have a replacement to turn to. The offense will be scrutinized during the first two games of the series in Buffalo.

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