Lightning vs Bruins - NHL Playoffs - Eastern Conference Final

This is it! 1,230 games have been completed and the 2nd season begins. 16 teams participate and 1 will hoist the most coveted trophy in professional sports: the Stanley Cup. This is one of the toughest tournaments in the world and P&B will be your round by round guide.

St. Louis sliding by Thomas (photo via zimbio.com)

3

VS

5

2011 Season Series:

Boston won 3-1

What's the story?:

The Lightning are players. They have surprised the puck out of me cause I did not expect them to make it this far.
I know that they are the 5th seed in the East but I've labeled them as dead since the first round, even against the Pens without Crosby and Malkin. Their second round victims, the Capitals, could not match their desire to win and Tampa's uncanny ability to score timely goals. Ovi played well against the Lightning as he was their best player by mile. One man a team does not make. Boudreau needs to understand that the long bomb, hail mary, home run outlet pass barely works. The looked like the Russian Olympic Team at times, and we can remember how much success they had in that tourney. (SPOILER ALERT: Crosby scores the overtime winner and Canada wins the gold medal on home soil). A little grinding goes a long way...the way of a 4 game sweep of the top seed in the East. Here are some of the reason the Lightning are making fools out of me and all the pundits/bloggets in the webosphere: role players have been playing like all-stars (Bergenheim, Downie), Roloson continues to be a brick wall, and Boucher is punking other coaches with kutcherian results. Mix all that up and you have a team with youth, experience and, most importantly, the belief that they can take it all. If they continue to execute their game plan at this level, Tampa might need to plan a parade route this year.

The Bear has been awoken from its slumber. The Bruins looked sleepy vs the Habs, but carnivorously man-handled the 2010 Stanley Cup finalist Flyers in sweeping fashion, taking it in 4 consecutive games. A few lessons can be noted from the Bruins/Flyers series with the most important one being: you cannot win a series by starting 3 different goalies. Chara looks healthy again and will continue to be a force on the Bs blueline. The absence of Mr. Everything Patrice Bergeron will be a huge loss for Boston. He will miss at least one game but is skating on his own conducting light practices. His concussion history is coming back to haunt him at the most inopportune time. Drawing in will be the 2nd pick in the 2010 Entry Draft Tyler Seguin. I was wondering where the kid was in their first round battle against the Habs. I'm looking forward to seeing him play since he brings great speed and a nice offensive touch. But don't get it twisted. Seguin is not a replacement for Bergeron. Expect to see Tyler center the 3rd line and get limited minutes. On the bright side, it finally looks like Lucic has found his inner beast. He had a good series versus Philly and the Boston faithful are counting on him to carry the offensive load.

Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before you pick a winner:

Can the Bruins win without Bergeron? Will Tampa continue to get the lucky bounces? Will Boston's powerplay finally click (they are 2 for 37 with the man advantage, coming in at a cool 5.4% efficiency)?

Key Playas and Pretendas to watch:

Lightning Playas: St. Louis, Bergenheim, Stamkos, Lecavalier, Ohlund

Lightning Pretendas: Gagne, Malone, Bergeron

Bruins Playas: Chara, Marchand, Horton, Kelly, Lucic

Bruins Pretendas: Campbell, Kaberle

P&B Prediction:

I called Boston to make the Finals when the Playoffs started and I will continue to ride this horse til the end. The Bruins difficultly take out the Lightning in 6.

-Paqman