Lucic

The prevailing opinion among many of the stories I’ve read picking the Flyers to dump the Bruins, usually in six or seven games, is that the deep, big Philadelphia defense corps will stifle the somewhat inept Bruins offense en route to a win in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series that starts Saturday.

Well, last I looked the Bruins disposed of a Buffalo team that was much better than Philly all season by scoring just enough in support of their own stifling defense corps and lights-out goaltender Tuukka Rask. Plus they did it without a contribution from Marco Sturm or Milan Lucic yet.

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The Bruins’ offense was last in the NHL in the regular season and only a shade better average-wise in the first-round series win over Buffalo.

Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher doesn’t want to think about any of that as he gets ready to face Boston in a the Eastern Conference semifinal series that starts Saturday at TD Garden. (more…)

Halak

All anyone wants to know is, can he keep it up?

Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak is the flavor of the month in the NHL after he nearly singlehandedly orchestrated a first-round upset of top-seeded Washington and potential league MVP Alexander Ovechkin in the first round of the playoffs.

But what I ask is, if he keeps it up, will it still be enough to take down the defending Stanley Cup-champion Penguins? And my short, sweet answer is: No.

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Ference

BOSTON — If there’s a Bruins player that knows what it’s like to return from a lengthy injury absence, it’s defenseman Andrew Ference.

The veteran has had to battle back from numerous ailments the last three years, including the groin/hernia problem he is playing through right now. After practice today, Ference provided some insight into why Marc Savard, who will play Saturday against Philadelphia in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series, should be all right for his first game since March 7.

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Thornton

BOSTON — At both Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, Mass., and at TD Garden, Shawn Thornton’s dressing room stall is in a corner.

But regardless of the situation, he never sits in that corner and pouts. He handles every inquiry with professionalism and keeps an upbeat attitude that rubs off on his teammates. Even the notion that he might be a healthy scratch for tomorrow’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with Philadelphia hasn’t ruined his disposition. In fact, it’s made his work ever harder — if that’s possible.

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Stuart

BOSTON — There’s still hope the Bruins could get Mark Stuart back during the team’s playoff run.

The veteran defenseman skated on his own for a second straight day under the watch of strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides today at TD Garden after his teammates went through their practice in preparation for tomorrow’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with Philadelphia.

“I’m still undergoing treatment right now for the infection,” he said before taking the ice. “But I’m allowed to get on the ice, which is huge because for a while I wasn’t allowed.”

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The Blackhawks’ weakness entering these playoffs supposedly resided in between the pipes. However, with the exception of one bad goal in an opening-game loss, Chicago’s Antti Niemi did nary a thing to damage his team’s chances in a six-game triumph over Nashville in the first round.

I see no reason why Niemi’s hot streak shouldn’t continue in the second round against Vancouver. (more…)

Ryder

There are so many reasons to be leery of head coach Claude Julien’s apparent decision to place Michael Ryder on Marc Savard’s right wing as the star center makes his return to the Bruins’ lineup after a Grade 2 concussion.

While nothing is written in stone with Julien’s line formations, he skated Ryder next to Savard for two straight practices, including today, while swapping out Vladimir Sobotka for Daniel Paille on the left flank from one day to the next.

The Bruins signed Ryder in July 2008 with the initial attention of him providing the set-up sensation Savard with a perennial puck-burier. That didn’t quite work out, so by putting those two back together to start the Eastern Conference semifinal series with Philadelphia, Julien is taking a bit of a risk. (more…)

No two teams are annually more different when the season shifts from the regular season to the Stanley Cup playoffs than the Sharks and Red Wings.

Historically, San Jose goes south, while Detroit soars in the postseason. Although the Wings started their typical playoff ascent a little early to surge all the way to fifth in the Western Conference,  they proved that they didn’t get hot too early by ousting Phoenix in seven games. (more…)

Let's get ready to rumble

WILMINGTON, Mass. – Are the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers going to stage an Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series over the next two weeks, starting Saturday, or an old-fashioned alleyway rumble?

For the Bruins’ sake, they better hope they can keep the majority of the action related to hockey in order to get past the Flyers and into the conference finals. Seemingly since the dawn of time, the Flyers have carried the moniker of “Broad Street Bullies” with them, and they’ll no doubt be trying to maintain that reputation while trying to take out the Bruins. (more…)

Stuart

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart skated separate from the team under the watch of strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides today after Boston practiced at Ristuccia Arena.

It was Stuart’s first time on the ice since he was diagnosed with a finger infection April 3. (more…)

Update with Julien quotes.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Bruins head coach Claude Julien switched up his lines a bit this morning during practice at Ristuccia Arena. Perhaps the identity of an opponent, which the Bruins didn’t have yesterday, affected his decision.

Here’s how Boston could line up for Game 1 vs. Philadelphia, as per today’s practice:

Paille-Savard-Ryder
Sturm-Bergeron-Recchi
Lucic-Krejci-Satan
Begin-Sobotka-Thornton/Wheeler

Yesterday Sobotka skated on Savard’s left side. (more…)

Bartkowski

The Bruins announced that defenseman Matt Bartkowski has decided to relinquish his two years of remaining NCAA eligibility and sign an entry-level deal with the club.

Bartkowski, 21, was acquired at the trade deadline from Florida as part of the deal that brought Dennis Seidenberg to Boston. As a sophomore at Ohio State, the former Panthers seventh-round pick skated in 39 games and posted 6-12-18 totals. (more…)

Sturm had success vs Philly

The regular season was anything but classic, for the 2009-10 Bruins or Philadelphia Flyers, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively, after starting the season with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations.

Upsets galore, however, have set up an Eastern Conference semifinal series rematch of the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park, which Boston won in dramatic fashion 2-1. Now the two longtime rivals have a chance to stage a classic spring showdown.

Yes, those were the days (or the New Year’s Day) for the Bruins. Marco Sturm, the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer, scored the game-winner in that amazing game. It seems like he hasn’t scored since. (It’s actually only been a one-goal-in-22-games slump). (more…)

Gill

At the risk of giving too much love to the hated Montreal Canadiens — after all this is The Bruins Blog — I believe the Habs’ upset of Washington amazing enough to merit a few more of my thoughts.

•I still can’t get over how well Hal Gill played in this series. We saw flashes of his ability to be a shutdown defender and massive shot-blocker with Pittsburgh last year, but I chalked that up to playing with Rob Scuderi. Now he helps bottle up Ovechkin. The Bruins, who now have home-ice advantage, owe a debt of gratitude to their former blueliner. (more…)