(AP photo/Elise Amendola) Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins look to close-out
this series against the Sabres in Game 5 tonight at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.
What: Game 5 Eastern Conference quarterfinals
When: Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 7:00 p.m.
Where: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.
Watch: NESN (HD) CBC (HD)
Hear: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub
|
Tuukka Rask |
Playoff numbers |
Ryan Miller |
|---|---|---|
| 3-1-0 | Record | 1-3-0 |
| .939 | Save-percentage | .927 |
| 1.80 | Goals-against average | 2.26 |
| 131 | Shots-against | 137 |
| 123 | Saves | 127 |
Coming off a thrilling 3-2 double-overtime victory at the TD Garden on Wednesday night, the Bruins have taken a commanding 3-1 lead as they head into the HSBC Arena tonight. With the momentum rolling along, the B's could close-out this series and, akin to last season, look at another extended period of time off between series.
Buffalo outplayed Boston for a better part of that Game 4, but Bruins' net-minder Tuukka Rask was the X-Factor once again. The 23-year-old has been nothing short of sensational, not only in this series, but all season long. Rask (see above) is edging-out Vezina nominee Ryan Miller in major statistics, including the most important one of all: wins/losses.
As anticipated, this series between these two Divisional rivals has been...
- Physical: 334 total hits - BUF: 171, BOS: 163
- Low scoring: two 2-1 games, 5-3 (one ENG), and 3-2 (2OT)
- Battle of the goaltenders: 250 total saves on 268 shots-against
One question mark entering this playoff series was Boston's blue-line, or lack thereof. With Dennis Seidenberg (wrist/forearm) out for essentially the rest of the season, and Mark Stuart (finger) out for the first round, AHL call-up Adam McQuaid and banged-up (groin) Andrew Ference have had limited ice time this far -- 11:38 and 15:31 minutes respectively. Aside from Zdeno Chara -- who we knew was going to get the bulk of the time on ice, 29:58 avg. thus far -- but Johnny Boychuk, Matt Hunwick, and Dennis Wideman have stepped-up and logged more minutes than accustomed. Boychuk jumped from his 17:39 minutes average over the 2009-10 regular season to 26:38 in this quarterfinals series; Wideman from 23:33 average to 26:16; and Hunwick's minutes went from 17:57 to 24:07 of average ice time.
On Tuesday afternoon, Marc Savard passed his neuropsychological testing. He will continue to work towards regaining his game shape, and will have a final meeting with Dr. Kelly McInnis at MassGeneral Hospital before being cleared to play in games. There is no date or time line
Odds n' ends:
- The Bruins are 25% (3-for-12) on the power play in this series. At the end of the regular season, Boston's man-advantage was an anemic 16.6%
- On the penalty kill, the B's have killed-off all 14 times short (100%) over the past four games this series
- The Sabres have lit the lamp first in all four games in this quarterfinals' series. During the regular season, Buffalo held a 31-6-4 record when scoring the first goal of the game; and the Bruins went 11-22-9 when allowing the first goal.
- The Black-and-Gold are 28-15 lifetime when winning Game 4 of a best-of-seven series; and 14-1 when they are up 3-1 in such series'
Bruins' playoffs leaders:
Points: Bergeron (4)
Goals: Bergeron, Chara, Recchi, Ryder (2)
Assists: Hunwick (3)
Shots on goal: Chara (16)
Penalty minutes: Andrew Ference (14)
Plus/Minus: Bergeron (plus-2)
Hits: Sobotka (23)
Blocked shots: Boychuk (11)
Time on ice: Chara (29:58), Boychuk (26:38)
Sabres recalled eight players from their AHL affiliate, Portland Pirates
Thomas Vanek skated again on Thursday, and will be a gametime decision
For more Sabres news, check out David Olesky and Co. over at Die By The Blade.com from SBNation.com
Get all of your 2009-10 NHL Playoffs news and notes here on Examiner.com
Follow Mark on Twitter and over at his blog, The Hub of Hockey.net
Comments