Story by
Bruins’ win sets up a first-round playoff series with an old-school rival
- Story by
- Bruins’ win sets up a first-round playoff series with an old-school rival
BOSTON — The Bruins know who they’re playing in the playoffs and where. The only question left is when.
By beating the Devils on Tuesday, Boston clinched the No. 1 wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. That set up an old-school Adams Division playoff showdown against the Atlantic Division champion Buffalo Sabres .
Advertisement
This will be the teams’ first playoff meeting since 2010. The Bruins are 6-2 in eight previous series vs. the Sabres.
Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 will be in Buffalo. Games 3, 4 and 6 are in Boston.
The Sabres have been one of the NHL’s best stories this year breaking a 14-season playoff drought. But more than that, they’ve been one of the league’s best teams.
The Sabres won the Atlantic with a 50-23-8 record. Their 42 regulation wins are second-most in the NHL behind only Colorado .
They entered Tuesday’s action with the fifth most goals per game in the NHL at 3.46 per game.
Tage Thompson has had a career year with 40 goals and 41 assists, while Alex Tuch has 32 goals and 33 assists.
Advertisement
Rasmus Dahlin is one of the NHL’s premier catalyst defensemen with 19 goals and 55 assists.
Buffalo has gotten great years out of both of its goalies led by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen , who is 22-9-3 with 2.52 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
Their penalty kill is fourth-best in the NHL at 82.1%.
The Bruins were 3-1 against the Sabres this year, 2-0 in Boston and 1-1 in Buffalo. Three of those games came before New Year’s. Two of the wins went to overtime.
-
Oct. 11: Boston 3, Buffalo 1
-
Oct. 30: Boston 4, Buffalo 3 (OT)
-
Dec. 27: Buffalo 4, Boston 1
-
March 25: Boston 4, Buffalo 3 (OT)
Joonas Korpisalo started three of those four games for Boston and was 2-1.
More Bruins content
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
