Conference Quarterfinals: #2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals

[JKidd]

Records:
Boston: 49-29-4 (102 points) Home: 24-14-3 Away: 24-15-1
Washington: 42-32-8 (92 points) Home: 26-11-4 Away: 16-21-4

Head to Head:
Jan 24th: Capitals 5 / Bruins 3
Feb 5th: Bruins 4 / Capitals 1
Mar 10th: Capitals 4 / Bruins 3
Mar 29th: Capitals 3 / Bruins 2 OT

Caps took season series, 3-1

Fights:
Feb 5th: Adam McQuaid vs. Matt Hendricks

Lineup:
Goaltending: win Boston
Scoring: Edge Boston
Defense: win Boston
Coaching: win Boston
Grit: win Boston

Schedule:
Thu, Apr 12 in Boston 7:30PM ET
Sat, Apr 14 in Boston 3PM ET
Mon, Apr 16 in Washington DC 7:30PM ET
Thu, Apr 19 in Washington DC 7:30PM ET
*Sat, Apr 21 in Boston 3PM ET
*Sun, Apr 22 TBA
*Wed, Apr 25 TBA

Prediction:
The Capitals enter the playoffs with great news, and terrible news. Great, is that Nicklas Backstrom appears to be playing his best hockey since a return from a concussion. Rest assured the physical Bruins will see if he’s really recovered from said concussion. The terrible news is that with a couple games left, number one goalie Tomas Vokoun went down with a groin injury and will not be ready for the playoffs. This means the Caps playoff lives are down to Braden Holtby and Dany Sobourin. The Bruins will have their hands full in stopping Backstrom and Ovechkin, especially with Backstrom returning to form. But, in the end, physical play, timely goaltending, and scoring depth prevail, and the B’s have all of those categories in hand. I’ll take the Bruins in 5.

[mikebflorida]

Bruins in 4, maybe 5.

Caps have no heart in my opinion, can't believe they even made the playoffs but welcome to the NHL where almost everyone, even bad teams make the playoffs.

Bruins are just too deep and tough to blow it.

[Broons66]

Im going with the Bruins in 5. Chara and Seidenburg will put the clampdown on Ovie and his line i think. Extra time for McQuaid to get healthy,and Rask should be healthy for his back up role to Timmy T. For the B's,its in Timmy we trust!

[D Y B FLYERS]

I honestly don't see this being a very difficult series for the Bruins. They are better in every aspect, it isn't even close in my opinion. As someone else stated, the Caps don't seem to have an identity this year, they play with no emotion, no heart. I'd say Bruins in 5.

[lakingsfan19]

Bruins in 5.

Boston should be able to push Washington around all series.

[I_am_Belak_2]

Bruins in 4.

But who knows. The playoffs always create an unlikely hero, usually a goalie(Giguere, Roloson, Halak) . That could be Holtby this year

[Janssen25]

I see the Bruins pulling this one out although I don't think it's going to be as easy as some are predicting.

Washington has some lethal scorers and are getting Backstrom back. Can't ever count out a team with talent up front like they do and need to be considered a dangerous opponent.

That being said Boston's been down this road before and knows what it takes to win.

Boston in 6.

[FrontLineAdmirals]

I can see AO being a beast and scoring like 10 goals...but as a whole, I cannot envision Washington winning four games.

Something tells me the Caps will win, but I voted for the B's anyway.

[Isles4life]

A lot of people seem to think this will be an easy series for the Bruins, but if I'm Boston, the Capitals are not who I was hoping to face in the first round of the playoffs. Washington is still loaded with offensive talent, and even if they're inconsistent as all heck, the firepower of Ovechkin, Semin, and the recently returned Backstrom, is not fun to have to deal with. If Washington gets the goaltending needed to make this competitive, don't expect this to be a cakewalk for the Bruins by any means. I still think Boston will be able to pull it out in 6 games, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this go 7 and would consider this a dark horse upset candidate.

[V12_Bi-Turbo]

Caps have no chance. Poor OV looks like he will never win the Cup

[bupz91]

Not my upset pick. B's won't repeat, but will make it through this round.

B's in 6

[mikebflorida]

Ovechkin, Semin, and Backstrom are ALL the Caps have. Their defense is atrocious and they have a 3rd string goalie, and they have that puke, Dale Hunter as their coach. That guy was a loser his whole career, he couldn't coach the Caps out of a wet paper bag, much less the first round against the Bruins.

Bruins D is way too good and they have that knucklehead Thomas stopping everything in sight.

AO is thinking about worlds, or strippers, or cocaine, I'm not sure but he isn't the player he used to be, he looks like he doesn't even care right now and still scored 40 goals.

The Caps are half as good a team as the one that lost to Tampa Bay in the first round last year. They suck. Bruins sweep.

[ProbieRules]

I'll take the Bruins in 6. I think the B's might come out slow in this series. Washington has some talent, but no heart. Bruin's need to stick to their game and play sound physical hockey.

[youthattack]

Washington has been playing better lately, but I can't see them pulling this out. Bruins in 5.

[Orr4]

The Caps took 3 out of 4 so they obviously can beat the Bruins.
I'm not willing to make a prediction until I see game one.