In fact, the team was only the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and no playoff team had scored fewer regular season goals than the Bruins had. The East, too, was considered to be the much tougher conference than the West.
While the Bruins are likely to improve upon their 2009-10 form, the titans of the conference aren't going anywhere. Washington ran away with the conference with 121 points, but their most impressive figure was their 318 goals scored, 112 more than the Bruins. They have the league's most dominant offensive player in Alex Ovechkin among a litany of stars, and their only missing piece is the lack of elite goaltending. Even without such, they are among the NHL's best teams.
Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were Stanley Cup winners, and this year's version isn't significantly different from that squad. They still have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and streaky goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, and it's tough to imagine that they will be outside of the league's elite in the coming years. This year, they're moving into a new rink, The Consol Energy Center — not that they need any extra motivation to put on a show for their fans.
The New Jersey Devils actually finished ahead of the Penguins in last year's standings with 103 and 101 points respectively. The Devils were the league's stingiest defense, allowing just 191 goals all year, and they will again have the ageless Martin Brodeur in net to go along with offensive stars like Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrick Elias. The Atlantic Division's third-place team, Philadelphia, was the one that actually won the Eastern Conference, and it's hard to believe that they won't be around to defend their title.
So, which team will be the toughest competition for the Bruins in the Eastern Conference?
Which team will be the toughest competition for the Bruins in the Eastern Conference?customer surveys
