'There is no question that a team like that can take a run for it'
The Boston Bruins are considered big longshots to make the postseason with only 19 games left in the regular season after their tilt with the Nashville Predators at TD Garden Tuesday night.
Currently two points out of a wild card spot, FanDuel Sportsbook listed the Bruins at +900 to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
But once a club gets in, a hot goaltender can be all a team needs to make a deep playoff run, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has often said this season that the Black and Gold are built for the playoffs and three-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Recchi couldn’t agree more.
“I think they’re kind of built for the playoffs,” Recchi told NESN.com. “They got bigger. They got stronger. They got some sizing and a little more depth in the middle, bringing in (Elias) Lindholm. If they get in, they could be tough.”
The Bruins have had their share of injuries this season. Top defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm are out of the lineup, and interim head coach Joe Sacco announced today that Brad Marchand is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
“If they get healthy, that’d be awesome,” Recchi said. “Charlie and Lindholm are both studs in the back end. That’s a pretty good one-two pair you’re missing. Marchy is the heartbeat of that team. He’s the captain. If they get those guys back and (Jeremy) Swayman can really find his groove, there is no question that a team like that can take a run for it.”
The regular season is certainly a marathon and if a team is lucky enough to make it to the playoffs, 16 wins will secure a Stanley Cup championship. Everything changes in the postseason. More often than not, the game is even faster and even more physical, which Recchi says only benefits the Bruins.
“They’ve got the size, and you play every other night in a seven-game series,” Recchi added. “They can play a physical game. They can play a skill game. The number of teams, if you look over the years, Vegas is one, Florida has been there a couple of times, and just the teams that have won in the last number of years are the bigger, stronger, physical, they can skate and Boston has that.
“Their back end’s big and that wears on you in a seven-game series. If you look at their whole back end, I think the smallest guy is what, 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4? And they can all skate. You’re playing against that every night. That’s a grind. That’s a hard grind.”
