The Bruins-Rangers series may have been five games but no matter what way you look at it, Boston is the better hockey team in every way.
In almost every aspect of the game, the Bruins dominated the Rangers. This was very apparent in their series-clinching 3-1 win over the Blueshirts in Game 5 at TD Garden this afternoon.
Offensively, the Bruins were all over the Rangers. Boston wasn’t afraid to throw pucks at New York’s all-world goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, they controlled the play along the boards, they used their point-man extremely well in this series and ultimately, were able to cash in on their opportunities.
This was the case in Game 5. Down 1-0 in the second period and awarded a power play when Mats Zuccarello took a two-minute minor for hooking, Bruins’ defenceman Torey Krug came through once again and scored his fourth goal of the series to tie the game.
The Bruins also went to the net a ton this series and made life miserable for Lundqvist. In Game 1, Brad Marchand won the game in overtime when he drove to the net and put in a beautiful Patrice Bergeron pass to win the game.
Tonight, the Bruins did the same exact thing but it was a different player that came through. This time around, it was Bruins’ forward Gregory Campbell — two goals tonight — who scored his second goal of the series by driving to the slot and beating Lundqvist to his blocker side to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins’ defencemen also dominated this series, especially when it came to scoring goals. In five games this series, Bruins’ defencemen combined to score seven goals, with Krug scoring four of them.
The Bruins also proved to have a lot more depth than the Rangers. Every line contributed for Boston as guys like Marchand, Campbell, Daniel Paille, Milan Lucic, Tyler Seguin, Krug, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, etc., all scored goals.
Simply put, the Bruins were the better hockey team. They generated a lot more offence, played a much better defensive style of hockey, played more physical and were much better in cashing in on their opportunities when they had them.
The Bruins will meet their match in the Eastern Conference Finals as they will take on the first place Pittsburgh Penguins. Only time will tell if they can prove to be the better team in that series.
