When the Bruins, who struggled down the stretch to even qualify for the playoffs, won the No. 2 overall pick for the upcoming draft, it was widely accepted that any playoff run that followed for the B's would simply be gravy. Maybe they'd get matched up with Pittsburgh or Washington, get bounced early and move on to the offseason, where they'd await the arrival of either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin.
A funny thing happened, though, and the Bruins went ahead and started playing playoff hockey. After ousting the Sabres in six games, they now look to be favorites to take advantage of home ice and advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1992.
Yet while the Bruins appear to be in the perfect position to roll through the seventh-seeded Flyers, they must keep their focus on the task at hand. As they learned last year, looking past any opponent can result in an early, unexpected exit.
When the puck drops on Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden, it will be precisely one year since the Bruins hosted the Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Boston rolled 4-1, and the high-powered, unbeatable Bruins were well on their way to a heavyweight matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was then, though, that the dreaded "C" word may have reared its ugly head — complacency.
"We had nine days off last year," Mark Recchi said after the series-clinching win over Buffalo on Monday. "Nine days was a long time. I felt like we did lose our focus and our competitive edge, and that hurt us in the first few games. By the time we found it again, we had to scramble back."
Scramble they did, climbing out of a 3-1 hole to force a Game 7, but in the seventh game of a series, a hockey team's fate is determined by the hockey gods. They decided it would be heartbreak in Boston, courtesy of one Scott Walker goal (his first and only tally in 30 career playoff games).
While plenty of lessons were learned last year, the odds seem even more in the Bruins' favor this season. First and foremost, the Bruins welcome back their most talented playmaker in Marc Savard. They're once again riding the hottest goaltender in the league, though this year it's Tuukka Rask instead of Tim Thomas.
They're also getting help from across the ice. Jeff Carter (who led the Flyers in goals with 33), Ian Laperriere and Simon Gagne are all out; Brian Boucher isn't nearly the goalie that Cam Ward was last year; and the Bruins earned five out of a possible eight points against the Flyers this year, coming out on the winning end of an emotional victory at Fenway on New Year's Day and a lopsided affair in Philly in early March.
On top of all of that, the sixth-seeded Bruins somehow will have home ice on their side. They'll also have something even more valuable: experience.
"I mean we kind of sat back when he had those days of rest, and we lost our focus and it kind of took us until we were down 3-1 against us going in that series against Carolina," Milan Lucic said Monday night. "So it's good that we have that experience and we have to make sure as a team that we can't make that same mistake. We have to get ready and be ready from that opening puck drop going into this second series."
As is clear in the words of the players, last year's loss still stings. It's something that was devastating last year to the team that was the class of the Eastern Conference, but it's something that will undoubtedly drive this team that's been stuck in the middle of the pack all season long.
Still, the Flyers are a bruising, tough team, and if the Bruins let off the gas pedal for even one moment — as New Jersey did in the first round — it could again be heartbreak in Boston. The fact that the sixth, seventh and eighth seed knocked off Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the opening round only serves as a reminder that it really doesn't matter who is favored heading into a series.
By every measurable factor, it should be a five- or six-game series win for the Bruins. Anyone who's ever watched playoff hockey knows it won't be that easy.
